Cousin John's Cafe & Bakery — Restaurant in New York

I have lived in Park Slope for 20 years and for some reason never went into Cousin John’s. Last week I went into the new larger location to get my husband something sweet for breakfast and the place was cute and bustling (love seeing local businesses thrive) so today I went in to pick up a cake for my daughter’s birthday (I had not ordered in advance). They had a 6” Strawberry shortcake for $35 which in this neck of the woods is very reasonable and it was really good! Very fresh, light, real whipped cream. Much better than $50 cakes I have gotten at bougie bakeries in the neighborhood. The only thing I will say is they need to work on their service. The woman who checked me out rang me up and then literally forgot about me. She didn’t have an attitude, it wasn’t participating busy, she just started making a latte for someone who wasn’t even in line and took forever (she was spooning out the milk, teaspoon by teaspoon, for a very long time. Then she took the cup somewhere in the back and disappeared. I suspect that a service job where hustle is a prerequisite is not the job for her. The woman who finally helped me when I asked was super nice and apologetic and definitely had hustle. But even when I came over the weekend for a sweet, they hadn’t figured out the rhythm. One person should be doing coffees, one person manning the register and getting food. Instead everyone was wandering around doing everything, getting in everyone’s way.Their system needs tweaking and they need friendly people who hustle. But besides that, the place is great. Highly recommend (even though I complained at lot in...

Horrible attitude from almost all employees working here. Has been this way for many years and has gotten even worse. The rare employees who are polite are really fake and not consistent. One day they are your best friend and the next day refuse to even say hello or thank you. Most employees refuse to say hello or thank you, are slow to acknowledge you even exist as you enter.

The new automated system or screen which asks for tips is a joke. Who would leave a 20% or more tip for pastries?

The customers here are also incredibly rude. No real people generally patronize this place, it is mostly uptight older residents or hipsters or yuppies. a lot of angry people work here and the customers also are often rude and have major anger problems.

After the renovation and move down the block, this place has become corporate. The same vibe as a Starbucks and it now has no personality. In the old place which was smaller, some employees were actually friendly, and it had a charm. The new location is too large, too impersonal, the music is too loud. Give someone else business.

Them serving beer at the new location also coincided weirdly with an attitude and corporate vibe that this place was never about decades ago. Hire employees without major attitudes! This place is all subtle hostility (the...

I’m sure the pastries and desserts are good and what this place is known for but my visit here was terrible. I went in on a Saturday morning for a latte and meal before a work shift - I placed a to-go order for a smoked salmon bowl and latte and I waited for almost thirty minutes for them to serve me anything . I had to go up three times to see when it would come out and they couldn’t give me a solid answer. The communication here with the workers is so bad. When I asked for the third time when my food would be ready, it had been thirty minutes and they still didn’t have any idea when anything was ready. I then asked if I can at least have my latte now and the girl quickly made one that was not worth $6 - I swear it tasted like coffee I could have bought at a corner deli.

When I asked for a refund because I didn’t have time to eat the meal before my work shift at 1:30 - they finally came out with a poorly made bowl with a bunch of stuff thrown in that was not worth $15. The energy from the staff was so negative too - I was kind through and through but was met with a kind of annoyed and bothered vibe. Maybe I came at a terrible time but the whole experience was awful and def makes me not want...