Hardy Coffee Co. — Restaurant in Omaha

Hardy's has vegan options. This is why I am a customer. Their vegan items are quite yummy. I'm giving 5 stars because I like what's vegan, the shop is a nice place to be, and the staff always behaves pleasantly. However, this review will include an important complaint that will hopefully help owners understand the seriousness of VEGANISM to their vegan customers. Whenever I order the vegan burrito in person, I'm always asked by staff if I want sour cream with it, to which I always reply, "no, sour cream isn't vegan." There is, of course, vegan sour cream, and Hardy's doesn't carry any. I ordered doordash, and the sour cream came in the bag. On the app, I didn't have an option to reject the non-vegan topping. To be vegan is to boycott all products that come from animal use. Having a non-vegan item included with a vegan order as default is a display of ignorance. Can I trust that the other things they SAY are vegan actually are? Do not call something 'vegan' on your menu if the whole order is not. Dairy items should never be volunteered to those not asking for it. Cow products are not positive for many reasons: antibiotic resistance, animal exploitation, environmental damage, etc. Consider those who are lactose intolerant. That's an allergy! In addition, it's important to connect with loss of business for limiting the vegan options. You know this to be true already based on the success of the brownie—which is always vegan. Vegans only choose animal-free foods—with no exceptions. If someone says they're vegan but they partake in non-vegan action periodically, they don't understand what the Philosophy of Veganism is. It is not merely a diet, it's an ethical way of living that boycotts all animal use, all the time, as far as possible. Now, pre-vegans DO eat vegan food. For example, I love poppyseed muffins. There are delicious vegan poppyseed muffins I buy at Whole Foods. I wouldn't cheat on my ethical standards just because I want a poppyseed muffin, I'm at Hardy's, and I don't want to make the drive to Whole Foods. I choose the vegan option instead, whatever flavor it may be. Boycotting the use of animals is more important than my taste preference for a POPPYSEED PASTRY, and the vegan option is delicious anyway. In reverse, pre-vegans aren't boycotting items ABSENT of cow's milk, chicken's eggs, honey, and anything else from an animal. Pre-vegans are who mostly buy that vegan brownie, and I doubt the majority of them even notice the LACK OF dairy, honey, and egg in it. I can't even tell a vegan pastry is vegan based on taste alone, because cow's milk and chicken's egg isn't what makes baked goods taste how they do. The plant ingredients bring them to life. If I was lied to, and told something was vegan when it wasn't, how would I know? The flavor profile isn't much different. You can't actually detect those ingredients in baked goods without a superhuman palate. What's the point of making any pastry non-vegan anymore? Animal ingredients are outdated. I also love cinnamon rolls. They are non-vegan most of the week, but on Friday and/or Saturday I can sometimes get a vegan cinnamon roll from Hardy's! Why are they not vegan all week? When desired vegan option is unavailable, vegans will leave and go elsewhere, or make it themselves. Lost business. I've gone in before for coffee and pastry when all vegan options were sold out, so I bought coffee only. If all non-vegan pastries were sold out and a pre-vegan came in for the same purpose, with their coffee they'd get a vegan pastry. No loss. By not making all pastries vegan and having default condiments for everyone be vegan, the result is lost business and waste. Aside from the ethical reasons to be vegan, I also understand that animal foods are detrimental to human health (Book: How Not To Die by Micheal Greger, MD). That cow sour cream went right down my garbage disposal. If y'all made your poppyseed muffins vegan, you wouldn't take a loss from pre-vegans who currently buy it, you'd sell more because vegans would be buying it in addition to the people...

I visited Hardy Coffee Co. a few afternoons ago when the internet at our office went out. We were told it would not be on till 6 PM so I took the chance to visit one of Omaha’s many nice coffee shops I had not yet been to. Hardy Coffee Co. is located in Benson on the corner of 60th and Maple. It’s nice that they are located on the corner so you can park on the side street and have easier access to the entrance. Some of the businesses in Benson are situated mid block and when you park on a side street there’s a longer walk to the door. So kudos for getting such a nice spot! I didn’t explore the whole building but they had an entrance on 60th St. and what looked like another one on Maple St. The space inside is quite large. It appears that it was once two separate spaces before the interior wall was removed to join them together. They had tables and couches and barstools situated around the room. The seating was fairly spread out so you could have a more private conversation. The one thing I would change in regards to seating is to have more two-person tables. The majority of the tables were meant for four people but most were only occupied by one person. They were too small for two strangers to sit together so most people took their own table. At one point a group of three people came in and couldn’t find a spot to sit because all the four-person tables were occupied by one or two people. There are five or six barstools against the wall with a countertop that individuals could sit at but I would recommend adding three or four two-person tables to help with the seating dynamics.

At the counter, they had a variety of different pastries but I didn’t pay much attention to them as I went mostly to work and drink coffee. At the recommendation of the barista, I ordered a honey cappuccino with a light amount of cinnamon on top. It was quite good and was made very quickly but I was the only customer in line at the time. I appreciated that at the counter they had a small chalkboard with instructions for accessing the wireless Internet. I liked that you access the Internet with your Facebook page or email address so that they had record of who had been there and then could send a nice follow-up email thanking you for coming in. I think it’s a fair trade - I ordered great coffee, they supplied great coffee, they let me use the Internet and now they have record that I was in. And if I get a few follow-up emails it will likely encourage me to go back the next time I’m in Benson.

I spent just over an hour working on some things before I had that leave for an appointment. The atmosphere was quiet as most people were there alone working on their laptops. There were a few small groups around the coffee shop having their own quiet conversation. The coffee was great. The Internet was fast. And the barista was friendly. Hardy Coffee Co. was a great spot to spend some of...

Hardy Coffee Co. has been on my top 10 coffee shop list for about 4 years. Unfortunately, this past Sunday I was in your Benson location and was utterly disheartened by the service, patrons and overall vibe this place has turned in to. The barista was anything but friendly and acted like guests were a waste of energy. The patrons in the store were completely awful that day. I smiled and said "hello" to a few people who looked at me as I passed, but was only given a blank stare or scowl. There was a small church group who entered, 4, who clearly thought they owned the place- frowning at others, talking loudly, only giving each-other the time of day. Another group of 4 walked in- ordered drinks, admired artwork and sat in a corner. One in the group was not a native-English speaker and the others were teaching him different words and sentences in English. This atrocious church group then began talking even louder and commenting on this man not knowing English and how he should be speaking it, although he was CLEARLY trying to learn it. Anyway, I know you can't control all the guests, but I was so off-put by all the rude people in here, ruining the vibe, when I remembered Hardy Coffee in Benson as a relaxing, welcoming atmosphere. As aforementioned, the barista was also extremely unfriendly, not knowledgeable about products, and also gave me the wrong food...