Black & Brew — Restaurant in Lakeland

Coffee tasted fine. It was the twenty something behind the counter that earned this business two stars. I asked if there was a milk alternative without added sugar. She responded that they have oat or almond. I asked if one of them had no added sugar. She said she didn’t know so I politely asked her to check the carton or let me take a look. (I ask this at every coffee shop I visit everywhere I go and have never had an issue, until Black and Brew.) She went to the fridge, pulled out the oat milk and told me, “It doesn’t say; it just says milk.” So I asked to see the carton. The other (nice) gal brought me the carton and I saw it had four grams of added sugar and pointed to where to find that info. The not so nice gal then looked at the label of the almond milk and told me it had no added sugar.

Great! It could have ended there with my question answered and me happily getting my coffee. Instead, the gal told me, in a degrading tone of voice, they are not supposed to look at labels; she literally told me they have so many customers with dietary concerns they are not supposed to ask. (WHAT??) She said they aren’t trained to know.

Ok, all that was weird and unnecessary because she had answered my question. I felt scolded by her and I told her that and I said, “Now you know the answer next time you are asked.” She responded with a snappy and rather rude, “Yup, now you know too.” I’m not sure what that even meant but her tone told me exactly what she meant. It’s sad that a simple question turned into such a negative interaction. I walked away completely baffled and frustrated because I was looking forward to trying Black and Brew. (By the way, there was no one waiting behind me so there was no pressure to hurry.)

Serving tasty coffee isn’t enough to distinguish you from competitors; excellent customer service and people skills are. Management, please train your employees on how to work with the public and how to find out ingredient info so people with allergies and health issues can give you business without being treated like an inconvenience.

Employee, instead of acting entitled, be humble and open to learning and helping people enjoy their experience at Black and Brew. THAT’S your job. Making coffee...

This has been edited from a 5-star review. I've been going to black and brew since I've worked here in downtown lakeland for about 9 years, so I've seen my fair share of baristas and servers rotate out. I will say that lately, I think the quality of service has gone down. Today was the icing on the cake. I came in this morning, and the gentleman at the register "helped" me. All I ordered was a drink and a slice of lemon bread, one of four items prominently displayed in the case. He told me they were out of them. Well, why is it being displayed as a sellable item? Actually, he said they have them, but they are frozen and will take 20 to 30 minutes to thaw. 1. Frozen bread being thawed doesn't sound appetizing to a customer. 2. How is waiting 20 to 30 minutes for bread to thaw an even close to viable option? Why would you present that to a customer as an option? I, of course, don't want that. Let me get a muffin, toasted. Ok, I pay him 13 dollars for these two things, I get the number and stand to the side to wait. Out comes the drink, almost OVERFLOWING. I had to use a napkin to wipe the excess dripping from the cup, the barista barely looking as she handed me the drink before walking away. Out comes the muffin on a plate and fork, to me, standing... waiting by the door. He never asked me for here or to go, but from me standing with my number in the waiting area for to go orders, assumed I wanted to eat there, apparently. He apologizes, leaves and comes back with a box and a bag, then leaves and comes back and says, "Here's some napkins," so helpful /s . So I have to box and bag my muffin, as if I'm him, the person who works there. Now, is this a crime? No, I'm sure there's worse incidents of bad service out there, but again, compared to what would happen in the past, taking ownership and accountability, attention to detail, personable service, eye contact. None of those things were there. And it I'd disappointing that prices go up and customer service goes down. I'd expect that at a Starbucks, but not at Black and Brew. Guess...

The food here is good but the customer service was horrible. I ordered two sandwiches a tea and a matcha latte. The matcha latte was pretty much milk and you could tell by the white color of the drink. I asked them if I could exchange it for a coffee and I’ll pay the difference. The girl that was ringing up ordered and the guy making drinks (supposedly the manager named Aiden) seemed super annoyed that I asked. They said I would have to wait 20 minutes for it and so I patiently said it was okay and I’ll wait 20 minutes. 30 minutes go by so I decide to wait back in line to ask if it was ready. I waited 10 minutes in line so at this point it’s been 40 minutes waiting for a drink. I asked the girl with red hair if it was ready and she asked Aiden if it was and he said no your going to have to wait longer and was again annoyed that I asked about it while waiting 40 mins. I then asked for a refund instead but Aiden told me they don’t give refunds for drinks people don’t like. I never heard of a restaurant not giving refunds. Remind you I patiently waited for it and they still tried to make me wait an hour for my drink. It took them 15 minutes to bring me my original drink I ordered. He told me he couldn’t give me a refund and would have to contact the genérela manger because he doesn’t have access. I asked okay well can i talk to a manager so they can do it. Aiden claimed he was the manager. He claimed he gave me a 5 dollar refund but doesn’t have any receipt he could give me to prove it. He said I would have to call the general manager. I haven’t received my refund yet and my overall customer service experience here was terrible. Even the customers behind me that were patiently waiting thought it was ridiculous this place couldn’t give me and refund and how Aiden was being so rude and bothered. So still waiting for the refund that Aiden probably never gave me… soooo yeah...