Bongo Java — Restaurant in Nashville-Davidson

First time ever visiting Nashville, trying to get brunch on a Sunday. Obviously this is a difficult task, as other successful business like BMR and Frothy Monkey have over an hour long wait. We decided to go here, because we heard that there was no wait.

We were not surprised.

Trying to order was borderline embarrassing, they were out of bread (which is on half of their menu), and also out of avocado. It's almost exclusively a breakfast and brunch restaurant. The food was well priced, but the flavor left much to be desired. This isn't the main issue, though. It took 30 minutes to get a plate with hashbrowns, a bagel, and eggs. The worst part is, when it actually got to the table everything was cold and was obviously sitting on a table for a while. There was a table of young women next to us, who also took a long time to get their food, and I overheard them saying "there's no way it should've taken that long." They literally had to put their food in a to go box the second they got it.

Service is almost nonexistent, the front counter people were kind, but other than that they were just there. If you want water, have fun pouring it yourself. If you want silverware for your meal, have fun getting it yourself, because it won't be brought to you with your food. What exactly did I tip the servers for?

There was zero pest control outside, there were wasps, bees, flies. We are outside, but this shouldn't be an excuse, it's obvious there is no up to date pest control, as the wasps are flying into nests established in the ceiling. There is no justification for it, I usually eat outside at restaurants and never deal with the issue.

I almost never leave reviews online, but this experience just left me and my girlfriend disappointed, wishing we ate at a different brunch place. I'd spend your...

My husband and I have been coming to this place for about a year, but unfortunately will never be returning after today. My husband and I enjoy getting bagels from Proper Bagel (next door) and then getting coffee from Bongo Java and sitting on their outside porch area. We’ve done this many times and it’s never been a problem. Today, however, the owner of Bongo Java himself, Bob Bernstein, interrupted our breakfast and told us that we could not bring outside food. When I showed him our coffee from his literal restaurant that we payed for, he replied that it doesn’t matter since we’re spending more money at the other place. This was the only reason he gave. (Would’ve been more understandable if he had given literally ANY other reasons besides just money) ?????? Mind you, there were PLENTY of seats so it’s not like we were inhibiting higher-paying customers. He then said that he would allow us to finish our current meal but we were to never do such a thing again. Obviously we didn’t feel comfortable continuing our meal there after getting berated by the owner, so we got up and left. I understand that it’s his place and his rules, but I just wanted to say that I think this is very bad business. Rather than making me want to purchase food from this establishment, it actually made me want to never come back there ever again. Thus, I really think that whatever he was trying to accomplish backfired and I’m sure that if other people were told the same thing, they would definitely feel the same way. So just beware that you may or may not be confronted by the owner and asked to leave if you bring outside food EVEN IF you’re a paying customer. Perhaps readjust your approach, Bob Bernstein.

Food/drink is decent, would maybe give it a 3.5 out of 5. I enjoy the variety of their...

My family and I have been frequenting this coffee shop since it first opened and have been regular customers for many years. Over the last decade or so the quality of the food had been declining steadily and so we would only visit about once or twice a year, reminiscing the earlier years when this was once a thriving coffee shop, enjoyed by locals and students alike.

A few days ago, with family visiting from out-of-town, we decided to visit for breakfast and were disappointed enough to unanimously agree that this would be our last visit.

Firstly, the tables outside were dirty to a degree that it was obvious that they had not been thoroughly cleaned in quite a while, at least many days. The porch was littered with debris, including some wet paper napkins. After we requested assistance in cleaning the table, one of the employees quickly wiped across the table, leaving it wet and with most of the dirt adhered. Some time later two other customers sat at a second table and chose to clean it themselves, though the employees were clearly not busy.

We placed three identical orders of fried eggs with hashbrowns and avocado, since we learnt that salsa is no longer on the menu. What we were served were three plates with scrambled eggs, not what we had ordered, and some tater tots which were badly oversalted. We all agreed that it was a badly prepared breakfast and almost inedible.

Noticing that only 5-6 other customers frequented the coffee shop over the first hour of the day while we were there, we were not surprised after our experience.

In summary, a once thriving coffee shop now serves badly prepared breakfast at a dirty and dumpy place. It is all the more surprising as there are now more breakfast options in the...