Steadfast Coffee — Restaurant in Nashville-Davidson

I’m a regular and live in the neighborhood and was excited to bring my friend here. The service the past few visits hasn’t been great but I was willing to give it one more chance.

Once again I was disappointed and won’t be back. I ended up feeling embarrassed that this was where I chose to bring my friend. If you want cold food and rude service, this is the place for you.

I got the last clean mug so my friend was given a paper cup for her coffee (we saw a stack in a dish bin waiting to be washed.) We ordered food and waited 30-40min. They forgot us. When I investigated, our food had been sitting in to-go boxes. I asked for plates (This has been an issue with multiple past visits - food sits in the window, we have to go find it ourselves, or they run out of dishes and bring our food in little paper boxes.)

I could understand if they were slammed and understaffed. Coming out of the pandemic that’s what I kept telling myself. But now, the past few visits, they aren’t super busy and employees act like I’m a bother being there. It’s actually confusing why they are so rude.

When we received our (very cold) food, I asked if there was a mug for my friend to drink her coffee in. The gal with the short dark hair was extremely rude and looked at me like I was asking her for her kidney. She snapped back and said she was going to wash some. My friend was humiliated and said “don’t worry about it.”

Don’t waste your time here. Barista Parlor and Red Bicycle are great...

tl/dr: tasty food and good atmosphere but a few service problems kept it from being great.

Food: really, really tasty breakfast food. I had the breakfast plate and everything was really well seasoned (maybe a bit heavy on black pepper for some). Price was reasonable for the amount and quality of food. 5/5

Drinks: I'm not a coffee drinker but it all does look good. My tea was very flavorful. On the pricier side but fair for the quality. Not Rating.

Location & atmosphere: cute space with a good amount of outdoor seating. Pretty standard upscale coffee shop décor and vibe. They could use more wayfinding signage. One big annoyance was how smoky it was inside from the kitchen. Definitely lowered the vibe. 4/5

Service: friendly staff with quick service but there were some issues. My table was dirty when I sat down and the adjacent table had dirty dishes on it for nearly an hour before getting bussed. The tables didn't get wiped down between customers either. They were steady but not so busy they couldn't get to the tables in that timeframe. They didn't allow me to substitute tea for the coffee in the breakfast special which was a bummer. 3.5/5

Neighborhood: quieter part of the city within a short trip from downtown and the popping East Nashville. Nice area to visit as a tourist, but depending on your reason for visiting it may be a bit...

Summary: Yet another amazing coffee shop with some of my favorite outdoor seating and incredibly espresso drinks.

Nashville, y’all are spoiled! You have so many really good coffee shops that I don’t even know how I would decide what my favorite would be, maybe I would just rotate every month or so. They all seem incredible for very different reasons and in my opinion Steadfast stands out for its unique drinks, and outdoor seating space.

I don’t know if they do pour-overs but traditionally when we go to Steadfast we get an espresso-based drink. Often that means a cappuccino and one of their seasonal drinks. Occasionally we do get food here but every time we’ve done that I feel like it’s a little over priced for how much I’m getting. I imagine that makes sense because you don’t want your coffee shop to turn into a restaurant but I really only order food here if I’m super hungry I need something to tide me over for a little bit.

I think one of the key components of the magic of steadfast is their outdoor seating. There’s just something about sitting under the trees on the picnic benches sipping your coffee and enjoying a good view. The barista‘s are also always friendly super helpful and every time my wife and I go to steadfast we love the experience and the coffee. So I really don’t think you could...