As a Lewiston local it pains me to write a less than stellar review, for a local business but after today, well--it's gotta be done. Up front let me say that the food itself--especially the excellent bagels--is truly superior, which makes Forage the standout breakfast spot in the entire area, hands down. However, the food is only half of the experience. In short, the service absolutely sucks. If you want excellent bagels you may need to prepare yourself to wait close to 15 minutes to get them--that's not BEFORE you get to the counter, but AFTER your order is placed. That was my experience this morning: I was the second person in line at 8 am when Forage opened, and even then it took 15 (I timed it) minutes for my mocha coffee to appear. Now, lest you think I'm some sort of disgruntled urban type, who's used to New York speed in getting an order filled, this is not the case. In fact, I am writing this review because today was the proverbial last straw. I have on multiple previous occasions opened this website to write a review of the abysmal service, and have always relented--owing partly to the quality of the food, and partly to my loyalty to a local business. However, I am hoping that those at Forage will read this to help them improve their business. I have certainly spoken up to employees at the time of gaffes such as those this morning, but when you "complain" to someone who operates in permanent frazzled mode because they are surrounded by incompetent co-workers these comments get lost in the chaos of the moment. I would also like to state that I am not alone in this belief. While I was waiting near the counter for that 15 minutes I had no less than 3 other total strangers chat with me about the terrible service, and how it was just the tradeoff we had to face in order to get great food. Two of them even apologized to me because they ended up getting served before I did. Which was sweet. It's easy to see the crux of the problem. Every time I go to into Forage the counter is staffed by someone new--invariably a college-aged person who's either getting trained by the very few long-term employees (which of course takes up a decent percentage of time), or these new, untrained employees are left in charge while the only trained employees are putting out proverbial fires elsewhere. Honestly, every time I go into the store I see at least two new faces behind the counter. It's time that the management of Forage stops hiring local college students, who invariably quit when their coursework intervenes. This town is full of lovely locals who'd be much more reliable and committed. I'm not trying to badmouth college employees, but speaking as someone who knows a lot about the life of the average local college student I know the pressures they face on campus and why they are not a good fit for Forage. So, the bottom line is that I implore those who manage Forage to hire competent, RELIABLE, and LONG-TERM employees. Thanks.