Lemon Grove Coffee — Restaurant in Lemon Grove

My wife and I drove by this cafe and noticed there were persons of color inside. We immediately decided to try it out. Upon entering this cafe, we were impressed with the ambience including the choice of music being played..

However, it was disappointing to not be greeted by staff upon or shortly after entry - we were the only customers present at the time. In lieu of a greeting, we were told to wait and that our order will be taken shortly.

After 3-4 minutes, the lady that told us to wait was observed shortly thereafter leaving with her young child. Then, the person that took over her post still never asked us for our order so I decided to get the attention of the barista and inquire about the menu options.

After my inquiries, we began to place our beverage orders and was told they were out of OAT MILK!

If this wasn't a black owned business, we would have taken our business elsewhere so we decided to have our drinks made with an alternative non dairy option.

The coffee here is actually good. Without question, the lack of oat milk compromised the flavor profile of their espresso coffee drinks. Obviously, any cafe that is worth their coffee beans know that having an adequate supply of oat milk is paramount to the overall customer experience, not to mention retention.

Nonetheless, This cafe could have easily received 5 stars but due to the inferior customer service yoked with overall experience, I can only provide 2 stars and I'm not sure if we will ever return.

UPDATE: Jan. 18, 2022

As far as an event, there was no indication of any kind of an event scheduled to occur other than being asked upon entry if I was there for the event - there were only 2 or 3 people in the public area and 4 people behind the counter. In fact, it appeared to be an off peak time. Moreover, it became evident that an event was about to occur because there were 2-3 persons that placed their orders immediately following our order and they were greeted with hugs and smiles.

Nevertheless, I was never redirected to leave but was subsequently told to wait and that our order will be taken shortly - I made it clear that we were not aware of or there, for an event. It would not have been a problem at all to have been informed that the cafe is closed and only open to invited guests for a private event - I really wish that would of happened because I feel a certain kind of way having to shed light on this experience because we usually support, advocate and invest in start up black owned businesses.

Going forward, it is probably a good idea to not serve the general public if you are coached to only extend exceptional customer service to attendees of your private events.

I sincerely wish you much success with your...

Coffee is decent but the customer service was terrible! We happened to chance upon this beautiful cafe during our first visit through Lemon Grove. So- being coffee lovers who are new to the San Diego area, we decided to give it a try and support a black owned business. We walked in found 2 people besides ourselves (who were both friends/associates of a woman behind the counter who appeared to be the owner or manager). No greeting.

We waited patiently as the women chatted. Once their conversation was over and the friend left, we stepped towards the counter hoping that it would prompt an acknowledgement– and crickets. We completely stopped looking at the menu and tried to make eye contact… STILL we were not greeted! We stepped closer to the counter and asked a question (thinking maybe that would prompt a welcome or greeting), and the woman who appeared to be the manager looked at us and flatly said, “We’ll be with you in a minute”. Needless to say - she never did circle back to greet us or ask us for our order. We were ultimately greeted after waiting patiently for about seven minutes by a young lady who was in training.

After placing our order, we waited for what seemed much longer than all other coffee shops we’ve tried out, but it gave us an opportunity to admire how beautiful the café actually is! I personally couldn’t wait to get out of there due to the lack of customer service that we experienced.

It wasn’t until this evening that I finally read about The Hamlett and the amazing vision to support other minority owned businesses. I would say to the proprietor that the vision behind the café is amazing and something we stand behind,! BUT- the people managing the day-to-day are not customer friendly and will ultimately drive potential customers away. We don’t plan on returning specifically due to the customer service experience. This is heartbreaking to have to do, but we have to do much better when we are supposed to be serving “our...

My wife and I went this morning (4/12/24) to Lemon Grove Coffee and were very happy with out coffees! I'm not sure how long they have been open since The Hamlett moved on, but were very impressed and will be back!!

We ordered the Hawaiian Creme Brulee and the Loco Coco latte....they were both very, very good! The HCB had a nominal sweetness and the LC was a bit sweeter (just right for me), but both were great and not too sweet!

The two working this morning were very friendly and welcoming and I put this coffee shop on the top of our list! If anything changes, I'll be sure to give further reviews.

It might just be me, but the only issue I had was the Hawaiian Creme Brulee was not hot enough and I'm one that likes hot beverages, food and soups "hot". I'm older and maybe there are those that like their drinks immediately drinkable, but I'm not like that.

I was asked how we liked our drinks and I mentioned the temperature and was offered many options to remedy my minor issue and they were very willing to do so! In the future and it happens again, by their responsiveness to my comment, I'm confident they will do whatever is necessary to...