Disco Death Records & Coffee — Restaurant in Minneapolis

I was so so excited to try out this place, as I had only seen great reviews. Plus, the concept seemed amazing, and I’m always down to support local coffee shops and record stores. However, an unfortunate interaction with an employee left a bitter taste in my mouth and I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to go back. My husband and I went up to order. I asked if they had decaffeinated espresso. The employee told us no, but they could steam a canned cold brew with any flavor. I asked what flavors they had, and they — clearly annoyed — told me it was on the menu. I glanced at the menu my husband was holding and didn’t see the flavors. My husband then said “well, I know what I would like to order!” I then turned to the employee and started asking them to clarify what flavors they could add to the cold brew. At the same time, someone else got in line who clearly knew the employee. The employee cut my question off to greet the customer and ignored my husband and myself. Now I’m not one to usually see this as a red flag, and I would be happy to see the relationship between employees and regulars. However, the customer then asked the employee if they were cutting in line, and the employee said “no” and preceded to take the customers order, despite the fact that my husband and I were standing there and my husband had just said he knew what he wanted to order. I felt so embarrassed I walked away and started looking at records, but couldn’t shake the feeling I had somehow done something wrong by asking about decaf espresso and their flavors. My husband stood at the counter a little longer, but no one came to help him. Eventually it became clear that no employee was interested in helping us. I’m not sure what it is that my husband and I did wrong, but I left in tears because of how unwelcoming the environment of the shop felt. I really hope this is a fluke, but I just had to share...

Barista always seems to be in a bad mood all the last times I’ve stopped by. Doesn’t communicate, doesn’t give options for dairy or beverage temperature alternatives. Just stands there and stares, not even acknowledging if he has heard you at all.

This has caused my drinks to be prepared incorrectly and when pointed out at him, he gets snippy and advises “you have to ask for that” and the drinks being aggressively pushed to me, even when requests are done at the register and could be prevented by him repeating back to order or really just acknowledging what’s being said to him at all, a lifetime of work in customer service has taught me the job is not for everyone and this one is definitely not a good fit for that barista.

At this point I genuinely don’t know what his deal is or if this is a race/orientation issue (as there were no other POC/Queer people at the time in the shop and from what included see, other customers do not seem to face the treatment I have been facing), but sadly despite the other baristas being extremely friendly and welcoming and this being one of my go to spots in the cities, one too many bad experiences with this particular barista have left a bitter taste in my mouth and the determination to never visit this...

I have been here twice, each time I left with a sour taste in my mouth. The first time, I went to order an iced coffee, and the barista was extremely attentive and warm to the girl in front of me, but when it was my turn to order, she was cold and acted as if my presence was an inconvenience to her. It took so long for her to make my drink and she silently left the drink at the bar - never announced the drink or called for me to grab it.

It’s been almost a year later, and I decided to give this place another shot, especially because it’s close to where I live. Well, nothing has changed. The barista barely even looked at us, and when we inquired about the photo lab printing, he just said “mhm” in a condescending tone and stared at us. It felt like we weren’t supposed to be there and were unwelcome.

I don’t know if Disco Death is trying to give off homophobic and racist vibes, but when you treat your white and cis customers so apparently well in comparison to your POC and queer customers, that’s what you’re giving, especially in today’s political climate. Interesting to see this echoed in other reviews. I refuse to come...