Black Star Bakery&Cafe — Restaurant in New York

Today,Wednesday, April 5, 2023 is the last time I ever step foot into this place. I periodically like to come here since I am a fan of their pumpkin chai latte since I love anything pumpkin related. It's nice to see that they offer this pumpkin beverage all year round. I like to make my own coffee at home/work but I sometimes like to venture to try local coffee shops once in a while like this place.

At approximately 10:25am this morning, I ordered the beverage noted in the previous paragraph. The cashiers always ask for our names and once our orders are complete, they always call our names to the cash register to pick up our orders. Everyone who came in after me had their orders made. I asked the cashier if my order was forgotten and she said "the barista is back ordered and it will be made soon." I initially let this go. At 10:38am, I went to the cashier again and she said "this woman right here has a bunch of coffees being made and this is why it is taking so long." The woman whom she was referring to came in after me and I told this to the cashier in addition to all the other customers who came in after me that got their orders done right away. I then told the cashier to either make my order in the next two minutes or give me a refund because I had to get to work nearby. Waiting 13 minutes for a coffee beverage is unacceptable. I also don't appreciate being lied to by the cashier. The barista came by and pointed to my beverager near the cash register. I then said to the cashier "why didn't you call my name once this was made?" I took the beverage and drank it out in the rain as I didn't want to even be inside this shop since I was so disgusted with the service.

I will never buy anything from this place again. I was looking to do a catering event with this coffee shop at my job but I will never entertain this thought. I will choose their competition two blocks away called Sweet Leaf. I will be reporting this shop to the Department of Agriculture and the Health Department because they allow people to bring dogs into the shop and yet they have a sign at the door that clearly states "no dogs allowed." I don't understand why the staff members of this shop are failing to enforce these laws as it can be seen here regarding dogs being prohibited inside restaurants (https://www.health.ny.gov/environmental/indoors/food_safety/food_faqs.htm). When I was here this morning, there were four dogs inside and they were all barking. Some people are also allergic to dogs and I don't want to see a dog urinating or defecating while eating in a restaurant. This is totally unsanitary. Black Star Cafe, if you get random visits from the Agriculture or Health Department and receive summons for your customers bringing dogs inside, you can blame...

The person who took my order, tall brown/dark hair lady who I saw in multiple review photos, (I wish I got her name), it was a saturday morning, took my order wrong and charge me more than what I got, i tried to ask to let her know that I got charged more holding my receipt, and all she said was “I charged it right it will show up correctly on your credit card bill” as if she did the right thing + as if I am bothering her for a small little thing. Am I wrong to even ask her for a wrong transaction which was her mistake? I couldn’t even say a word “return” or “money back” because she would not let me at all, just cutting me off by saying what she did was right.

Why do I have to feel bad asking her for something that she did wrong? And just to remind you this is an employee/customer conversation. It did not make sense to me because first I paid with my apple pay which pops up on my phone immediately as soon as i make a transaction. Second I got my paper receipt on my hand which clearly says I paid more…

I don’t know, what do I do now? Do I go back and try to get refunded for a small amount which will cost me more to even go there for gas/time and everything and still look like an asshole for demding my own money, which i am sure whoever is working will think I have no life for over that money. Like why do I need to feel bad asking for my own money? But i dont even need that, it was the attitude of the girl that I want to point out. Very disappointing, I dont know how she is in multiple photos which means she has been working for...

Coffee was good, food was delicious, downside was atmosphere and their lack of WiFi. They have a sign stating that dogs are not allowed. As a dog owner, I understand the need to have to go in with your dog to place an order. However, please don’t allow people with large, untrained dogs to sit and eat inside when there is plenty of seating outside (on a nice sunny morning). Tip to the owner: get WiFi - had to leave elsewhere to get access.

9/3/2023 Update to above review. I have attached the business’ response to my original review (in case the business admin modified their original response). I’ve like to provide additional feedback to the business’ defensive response. 1 - I was there the entire time the dog was there and nobody from Black Star Bakery & Café asked the owner if it was a service any animal. All the employees turned a blind eye and even one of the other clients who was in line, with a trained animal who got barked up closely by the untrained dog, looked toward the “café” staff, to if to see if they said anything. 2 - The title is “bakery and CAFÉ” I did not interpret it as a “bakery and RESTAURANT.” Additional tip: fix the restaurant’s title so people have more realistic expectations of what to expect of the business.

Lastly, I get that business owners may not like a low review. However, one does not “run” to Google, rather, one goes to Google to give one’s honest feedback of the business’ food, service, atmosphere, etc. and that what...