Lee’s Coffee & Tea — Restaurant in Laurel

Forgot my mom’s order after we explicitly asked for two of the same thing then argued with us. Asked for two sandwiches and the lady taking our order asked if we wanted cheddar on both. She forgot one but would not admit it. Woman told me we only ordered one very rudely. Staff was unkind after we brought this mistake to their attention, throwing a receipt on the table which we were not offered after ordering the first time. Rushed the second sandwich so it wasn’t cooked all the way. My mom ate after everyone else in our family did. Staff very mockingly told us to have a good day as we left and my mother struggled to walk my sick father out of the restaurant. Cute place. Good food. Terrible service. After reading the other reviews, it is clear that the owner takes no responsibility and has an excuse for everything and a bad attitude. Argues with every negative customer review which is probably why we were treated the way we were. Lead by example and take responsibility. I manage a restaurant elsewhere and this would not fly at all. You always apologize even if you think it’s not your fault. I also don’t think we were speaking with his (pregnant with twins because that’s relavant I guess) wife though that’s what he claims. I guess he just put that in to make it seem like we were the rude ones for disliking the service of a pregnant woman. Again there were at least three women working at the time so I find it very troubling that he uses his wife to shield his business from criticism. It seemed like the owner wanted us to look like jerks for a complaining since his wife is pregnant. I doubt she’s the one we spoke to but even if it was, we deserve good customer service. When one of my servers or I make a mistake, we take responsibility, apologize, and never ever argue. This is my Father’s final vacation with his family as he is terminally ill and won’t be able to do this again. Apologies cost nothing and would have avoided this review entirely but we were made to feel like we’d done something wrong and needed to leave so we did. Your response was almost as bad as the service. Learn how to own up and address the other issues in my comment or don’t respond at all. It’s called professionalism. Over 50 dollars and we got rude service, unprofessional feedback from the owner, and an absolute mess of a meal. Again my mothers sandwich was not finished but that was not addressed. Don’t respond if you don’t know how to take...

Lee's Coffee & Tea is one of the main coffee shops in the downtown Laurel, MS area right across the street from Manuscript Coffee which is a much smaller and more intimate place While Lee's Coffee and Tea offers bottomless coffee and nice spaces to work they don't have whole cream which to me is a HUGE NEGATIVE as I demand whole cream for my coffee! Lee's Coffee & Tea does offer a far wider menu with food. Lee's Coffee & Tea is also just quite large with both an upstairs and downstairs so people tend to spread out and you are far less likely to strike up a conversation with anybody.

Across the street at Manuscript Coffee they have a much smaller space but you can certainly find space to do some work or anything else you might need to do at one of their tables. Manuscript Coffee is far more intimate and gives off more of an urban small coffee shop vibe where you might actually meet people and have conversations. Overall if you want a full meal and bottomless coffee Lee's Coffee & Tea will be the better choice. If you want a more intimate traditional coffee shop experience then Manuscript Coffee might work better for you. If you DEMAND whole cream for your coffee like I do you MUST go to Manuscript Coffee or bring your own whole cream to Lee's Coffee and Tea. Manuscript also tends to close far earlier than Lee's Coffee so that might also factor into your decision. So ultimately it will be a contest of size, menu and what is open for you to determine which choice will make it the best coffee shop choice for you in downtown Laurel, MS.

I have no way to respond directly to the owner's comment other than here so this is my reply: Unless the addition of whole cream is a more recent addition I have made multiple visits over the past year and a half and whole cream has NEVER been available when I have asked. There has ONLY been half and half during all of my visits which isn't whole cream. If there is actually whole cream then I'm happy to make a return visit to confirm it and update my review. So far the only time I've been able to have whole whipping cream at Lee's is when I...

Just went to Lee's and ordered my wife a London Fog. Simple drink, just steamed milk, foam, earl gray or some English breakfast tea. What we got was tea, with milk. I tried to let the person know it wasn't correct and they said it was. Not feeling like I wanted to argue I threw it in the trash and went elsewhere. I used to really like this place but lately it has gone downhill. Not sure what is happening there but there are other places I can spend my money.

-Response to the owner: Yes the drink I received was hot tea with milk. The milk was not steamed there was no foam, it looked like normal tea with milk would look like. Not like the Earl Gray Latte, or London Fog. I have made these drinks before and know what they look like, this was not it. We have also had occasion to have a drink not come out right. But at those times, when I bring it to their attention they attempt to make it right. This time I was told it was right and no effort at all was made to make it better. So with that in mind I threw the drink out and we left.

Elaborating on the 'going down hill' We have been coming here since 2023, since we moved to Laurel. I understand turn over, but during that time I have seen the baked goods change drastically. The last cinnamon roll I had from there did not taste good at all. It tasted like it was a frozen roll, that was heated up and baked. Not what I am used to at all. The last time I tried a muffin it was very similar. I understand a while back you had lost the baker and had to find another, but this is a part of the place which I refer to. Other things appear to have changed, like the crust less quiche, I used to get that almost every time I visited, but now the taste is different, not at all like it used to be. I know things change, I can understand that, but I think the main reason for this statement was the customer service. I am not unreasonable, I can understand people having a bad day or whatever, but when someone comes to you saying this doesn't look right you do not expect them to say it is and have...