Coffee Monster — Restaurant in Mobile

The menu and a convenient, tucked away location are really the only perks at the Midtown location office Florida Street near Publix. Coffee Monster keeps its menu fresh with seasonal oofferings.The menu is on the back wall, well organized and easy to read; no chalk writings and drawings. Food and bottled water are in a bin by the register. There are two sizes for each drink, 16 oz and 20 oz. Food is limited to pastries and bagels. It needs a good sandwich.

The atmosphere is noisy with lots of hard surfaces causing everything to echo, including conversations, coffee grinders, etc. Clunky toys are at a table and kids and adults play with them, making more noise. The music playing is absolutely irritating, always the satellite radio station called "The Coffee House" playing modern music with screeching singing and acoustic covers. It is played too loudly and I wonder who it is for. Customers are wearing earphones and studying and people are having conversations. The music's volume is loud above that, and can be heard while listening to a podcast or something in earbuds. I have mentioned this to staff several times to no avail and this turned off a nearly daily customer. Turn off the music. The previous owners had no music or soft, barely noticeable instrumental music.

Except for the occasional beggar which I have not seen in months, Coffee Monster does not attract an unruly clientele and is rarely crowded. Seating is a little cramped. There is a balance of regular professionals and college students and new customers. I can tell the new ones by how they don't know where to go at the counter to order. A lower sign would help; I even heard one of the baristas say that but it remains unchanged...

I love their coffe, food, everyhting, and the people who work here are always so lovely, but the florida st location has a major issue with their online ordering / app. Supposedly they have no way of filtering what their location does and does not have as the app favors the government st location, which has lead to me ordering ahead many times only for this location not to have what I ordered because it's only at the downtown location. It just creates a nightmare for their employees, as well as really frustrates me as a customer when the point of ordering ahead is to save time. Would be more than happy to give this place 5 stars, but not until they fix their issues that affect both their own staff and the customer experience.

edit: for example, I purchased a croissant on the app with my coffee, when I arrive I was told that that location unfortunately did not carry croissants and explained to me that it was likely an item on the menu at the downtown location and that they had no control over what the app does and does not offer regardless of this store's inventory. The women in store were perfect in offering a substitute or refund, but it's a shame that they have to do this in the...

Today is my last day visiting Coffee Monster.

I walked in to a cafe completely silent except the three employees behind the counter loudly gossiping about another employee who made the fatal mistake of verifying if her tip out was correct. The moment the cashier put my order in, she immediately turned her back to continue engaging in the gossip. I waited with my card in the machine for quite a bit, until the cashier finally turned back to process the payment. Again, I waited for my drink to be made while the barista got in on the gossip waving my cup around to emphasize her point. In the meantime at least two other guests entered the business without greeting. I observed as the next person in line received the same treatment. Of course I was shocked to see the third employee finish making her own drink then go sit in the booth, was this the manager? An owner? Wow. I hope that poor girl who just wanted to make sure she received an accurate tip share finds new employment at a place that values customer service and camaraderie. In the meantime I’ll be enjoying more coffee from one of the other MANY locally owned coffee shops...