Mitchell's Coffee House — Restaurant in Lakeland

TL;DR: On the surface, Mitchell's Coffee House resembles the ideal local coffee scene with great tasting coffee and equally pleasing interior, but poor customer service, lackluster food and high prices drag it down.

Whenever my husband and I try a new place, we'll typically visit 3 times before deciding to continue supporting it. We understand that sometimes places have off days. However, this was the 3rd time and the last.

Pros: -Mitchell's Coffee House is in a great location for people walking around downtown or who work nearby. -When your coffee order is correct, it's VERY good. -Mitchell's nails the casual coffee house aesthetic. It's very cozy inside with plenty of space and local artists display their work inside which adds to the local flavor.

Cons: -The employees have little to no sense of urgency when completing orders. -Employees have poor attention to detail, making incorrect drinks (i.e hot when it's supposed to be cold) -Employees show very little care in what they do.

Our first visit during the morning of the farmer's market went perfectly. We ordered 2 drinks, received said drinks correctly in a timely manner.

During the second visit, we arrived earlier in the morning (about 45 minutes after they opened), ordered 2 drinks and 1 French toast plate with scrambled eggs and bacon. Inside there was one barista behind the counter, one customer in front of us and one customer after us. The customer after us got her hot drink before we received ours, but we rationally thought maybe it was faster to make that hot drink than ours (one was a frozen coffee and one was iced). We waited for 20 minutes before the plate showed up. Somehow the barista fumbled the plate just prior to setting it down on the table and the food dropped to the floor. She said, "I guess that food wasn't meant for you" which we chuckled and said it happens. My husband promptly grabbed handfuls of napkins help pick up the food from the floor and we continued to wait. After another 15 minutes she came back out with the food. My husband had to remind her that we were still waiting on drinks. We could understand the delays if Mitchell's was bustling at this time, but there wasn't anybody else waiting. We have worked in the food industry for some time so I don't want this review to sound like some entitled person who's never worked in the service industry, but Mitchell's customer service is exceptionally poor. At no point during that wait or when the food was dropped did the barista apologize once. We only got a weak self-deprecating joke and that was it. If that wasn't bad enough, the food wasn't worth waiting for either. You're much better off scrambling eggs at home or going to another breakfast establishment if you want food.

The third and final time was around 8am. We walked in and saw two baristas behind the counter this time, but we still witnessed a customer in front of us get her order wrong. She'd ordered something iced and she'd received it hot and had to wait for a remake. This time we only ordered the 2 drinks and my husband expressly asked for whipped cream on my frozen drink since I didn't have it during the last visit. The wait was reasonable, but the whipped cream wasn't there. My husband asked if he could please get whipped cream on mine to which the drink making barista replied that she was willing to do it for us this time, but it's supposed to be a 50 cent charge. The barista who took our order was nearby and agreed that he'd asked for whipped cream and double checked the order receipt (we don't know if it was recorded on the order or not). Still, it was a big red flag to be charged 50 cents for a very thin layer of whipped cream on top of a frozen drink.

We REALLY wanted to like this place because of its convenient location, the cozy aesthetic and tasty coffee, but we can't justify going with careless employees like that...

I am conflicted as I write, as I really love the place, and I love that’s it’s a small family owned business. I do not like what I experienced today. A group of ~15 people came in at least half children, the rest moms. I assume it was for a business owner/partner’s family event or something, but I come here to work. I don’t understand why a business which relies on people seeking a quiet sit down locale would bring their family in and proceed to unleash nearly an hour of chaos. Children running, screaming, yodeling and the like, adults yelling from the front of the shop to he back, “who’s missing a diet coke?” all dressed in Hulu gear and all in the main areas of the shop, the front, the side, not in a room or outside. I was unable to really work so I took a mental break and watched videos. Several patrons left in frustration. It was simply not my expectation of a coffee shop, and I will likely not return to do work where I need any level of concentration, as I can’t trust this won’t happen again. When the group left, it was like the volume decreased by 100x. I am putting this upon the shop and not the patrons as several of those involved appear to either work here or own the place, as they were coming to and from the kitchen and were wearing...

Had never heard of this place so I thought I'd check it out for breakfast. Staff is super awesome. They don't tell you that you place your order at one area and then you go the corner counter to get your coffee/drink. Np. Makes sense, if they had the room to accommodate a large group of people. I waited longer to order because the person in front of me was actually waiting for their order. I ordered a cappuccino, it's made without sugar, you add your own at this little corner counter by the dining area. I had to get up and ask. My breakfast came out and the 2 eggs were cooked perfectly, sausage was typical thin patty you get anywhere and then I got 3 pancakes. No butter or syrup was given with them nor was I asked. I assumed that people knew how pancakes are normally served. Once again I get up and ask the barista about it but I never got any. I spent@ $14 with tip. Sad to say I won't go back. I'm not a picky person about wait times ect. But I bam when I'm choking down dry pancakes because I'm hungry. This place is more a snack/after dinner place. Not a place to get a solid meal. Oh and please replace the stool on the corner of the bar I was sitting at. It's...