Dapper Owl — Restaurant in Murfreesboro

I’d love to leave a good review here but I am saddened I cannot do that today, and it is due to the way a female employee (wasn’t wearing name tag but maybe 20-25, lighter hair, working at around 2:20pm Saturday 11/16 with a man with shortish brown hair the same day) treated and discriminated against myself and my group.

I walked in with my wife and mother in law at 2:15-2:20pm. Keep in mind, they close @3pm. They posted online that very day that their hours were until 3pm. I have gotten here before @2:50pm when they close @3pm. Being here FOURTY FIVE minutes before close, we step up to order a flight and a few drinks. We are told by said employee to be aware they have shut down the espresso machine because they are “CLOSING soon”, to which my wife asks to be sure they close at 3, and employee nods. We decide to get the flight and sub hot drip coffee for espresso. We step up and try to order. I am cut off and told they can’t do the flight because they are “closed”. Okay, so they were closing and now they’re suddenly closed? We say that was not what we saw online, she says it is for an event. (This will come back later.) Okay. That’s fine. Last time we were here we got a flight to go. I have a picture below from LAST TIME to prove. She says she can’t do it to go. I say yes, we have done it before I’ll show a photo. She says “oh we don’t have those small cups”. I say that’s fine, put it and fill up your smallest cups half way (I know if the cup is bigger it won’t fill up). She then flat out says she is unwilling to do so by now. She is being short and agitated. We say fine, we will do a pumpkin cold brew with HALF filled up with cold foam (as in double extra). Note, my mother in law got the same thing as it comes. I saw how much cold foam comes in it normally because hers was the order before ours and prior to this ordeal. My wife’s drink comes out looking like her mother’s. I tell the employee that isn’t how we ordered it and asked if we can get a side of cold foam. She ROLLS her eyes, walks off, pours something out of this carton into a small water cup, filled maybe 1/4 of the way, no pumpkin flavor or toppings, slams it on the counter, walks off again. Says nothing to us at all. Her male co worker then jumps in to say have a good day, I’m assuming because he knew she wouldn’t be bothered. Now. I must note I haven’t had an experience like this before. My wife also usually doesn’t come there with me. We are gay, and that is the only conceivable reason I can think she would treat us so negatively without provoking her. We are always nice to service workers, I do and have done service work.

To mention, the pumpkin drink was not sweet. At all. No vanilla syrup. No pumpkin topping, so not what we ordered. I will call about getting my wife this drink remade.

This pair also walked out of the closed store at exactly 3pm. They got in their cars and at least one of them were still sitting in their cars on their phone when we pulled off @3:20pm. (We were all talking outside, after we were not welcomed to enjoy our drinks inside the store that was actually open according to Facebook and Google). Not sure if they just wanted to leave early on a Saturday. We also did not get one of our stamps on our punch card, we realized this in the car. This is cheating us out of something we paid for, with the stamp and the drink.

I expect more, and I hope management can speak to...

Yum food, lovely atmosphere, and friendly service!

What I love: Food is delicious! Easily my favorite bagels in town, and the hand pies are hearty and very comfortingly British! I love the rotation of various food and drink options (the chocolate chip bagel, whenever they have it, is amazing). Atmosphere is chill with plenty of seating and nice, unobtrusive music in the background. Staff are always super nice!

Suggestions: Air quality: I seem to be the only one of my friends experiencing this, but I have an allergic reaction to something in the inside air every time I come (it’s lessened if I sit near the front door). I’m not sure, but I think some kind of air filter could be helpful. Food/drink quantity: it seems like they haven’t figured out how much business to prepare for yet. We had to leave twice recently because they were out of literally everything that we wanted to order by lunchtime. Reflective tape on the tricky step outside so people don’t keep falling! They have a sign facing one direction, but it would help both directions to have a visual marker of where that step is. I fell going down it, someone else tripped going up. Internet: internet is good, but when a lot of people are working there, there isn’t enough to go around. My friend and I had to take turns connecting our devices while we worked because it wouldn’t let us both on at once. Lastly: maybe consider having a water station for people to refill water bottles while we work?

On the whole, when personally choosing a coffee shop, there are a ton of things that I love about Dapper Owl, but enough downsides that it’s not yet my absolute...

I have lived in Murfreesboro for a couple years now and have always lamented the fact that we don’t have a solid coffee spot. We have franchise coffee shops, big brand coffee shops etc… but not a specialty, unique, LOCALLY OWNED place to sit down, bring a laptop to work, or bring an out of town guest! FINALLY Dapper Owl is on the Murfreesboro scene and it’s exactly the coffee shop we’ve been needing! Their owners, management and staff are SO friendly. When you walk in, the decor and vibe is fun and calm - down to the artwork, no detail has been overlooked! Most importantly, the coffee is EXCELLENT. They are brewing Frothy Monkey which is one of the best Nashville coffee brewers to begin with, and their signature drinks are no joke!! I’m excited for fall just to see what kind of seasonal drinks they put out! I’m already working on my second “Buy 9 Drinks Get One Free” loyalty card because they are quickly becoming my favorite spot in town. But I haven’t even mentioned the food! They have this cheesy scone that is sooooo good. I was also really pleasantly surprised by the Chicken Hand Pie, I had never had something like that before; it’s such a good and hearty comfort food! If you haven’t stopped by already, make a point to go in there and say hi. Im looking forward to their hours getting a little longer in the fall and I’m under the impression they may also serve some local beers in the evenings and host live music! All in all I’m very impressed, very pleased and can’t wait to watch Dapper Owl become a well-loved part of the Murfreesboro landscape...