Jones Coffee Roasters — Restaurant in Pasadena

First: the quality of coffee is high, the cash register person friendly and quick to help me so the company's coffee and that person deserve five stars. The barista gets the one star. The barista making my cafe latte did NOT make it as requested... with no foam. I politely asked her to remove the foam when she set it down. She stared at me and said "it doesn't have any." I replied "yes, it does, on top." So she looked to see if that request had been written on the side of the cup, saw that it was, and glared at me while she stated "it doesn't have foam, it has bubbles." I politely explained that it is foam and asked she remove it. She then said "bubbles are part of the process of making it" in a very snippy way before stopping herself. She then said "fine" in a nasty tone. She turned, tossed the first latte, and began to make a new one. While she did I explained that it is important to pour the milk down the side of the cup to avoid creating foam. So the second time she added the hot milk she moved where she thought I could not see her (I could) and poured the hot milk for about 1/10 second down the side of the cup before raising her arm high in the air like the first time, creating foam Then she set it down in front of me and said "there, I assure you it is a flat coffee with no foam." I looked at it, the guy next to me looked at it, and it was clear: it had foam on top. The barista was rude, argumentative, and made me (the customer) feel as tho I were the problem. I debated insisting she removed the foam, but saw a long line and a lot of people listening so I left and gave the coffee to a friend. Why do I request no foam? It gives me a stomach ache so I am not just being difficult. The proportion of coffee to milk in a "flat white" is not the same as a latte... I know, I've tried them. I see this as a "do you want to insist you know everything?" or "do you want to learn something?" situation. I do have a choice and going forward will go elsewhere to buy my cafe latte made with freshly roasted and ground coffee prepared by a barista who gets the idea of customer service. I wished I had asked the woman if she ever drank a beer on tap in a bar and if she saw how they poured the beer into the glass before handing it to the customer with a smile. Again, quality of roasted coffee at Jones is great and there are nice people working there, just not...

I go to another spot for coffee but figures I would come by Jones since it was the very first coffee spot I visited when I moved to Pasadena.

The bagged coffee has the name and aromas labeled but nothing stating what kind/type of roast it is. Kinda inconvenient but the employees are nearby. So I asked what light roasts they have and I was told a couple of names. Grab one kskt to find out the info was incorrect and it wasn't a light roast. Back to the shelves to try again. I wish they labeled the shelves so I can just browse on my own and not have to ask and get misinformation.

The employee tells me I get a free cup of coffee with my purchase. Love that so much.

I waited near a customer who seemed like a regular. She was talking to an employee and the dude made the whole situation awkward. The woman was asking how work has been, usual small talk. He tells her work has been so busy and people have been so rude and on top of all that the bathroom flooded. I get it. We've all been there with work. Then she asks if he has any plans for the 4th of July....and he goes on and on to say that he's not doing anything and he doesn't want to do anything at all, nothing. She tries to be kind and invites him over for a BBQ and then his tone changes and said he doesn't want to do anything and "doesn't want the pressure of having plans." Her and I share a look and I decide to wait in another area.

The employee I handed the coffee beans to and paid asked me what I was waiting for. Just my stuff.

Either bad day or just bad. Don't care enough...

Value is great. Espresso is $3, which seems to be getting rarer these days. Beans are also in the $18 range for 1 lb, which is actually pretty good. They have a lot of options and also make custom blends for local cafes. They have a featured coffee bag that is discounted in their store - they don't have it online so I think they're the last of the bags for that coffee (this time, it was a Nicaraguan!).

They don't offer sparkling water with their espresso, which was surprising (but they sell some). The espresso blend they use is their JC Espresso, which is intense but floral and light at the same time.

They have options for their drip. This time was their dark Madison blend but they also had a medium Colombian on rotation, which I got. It was bright...but that's about it. For $1.70 for 8 oz and under $3 for 16 oz, it's a cheap and high quality coffee option. It looks like they might give you a free cup of drip with the purchase of beans, though they don't advertise that. Latte prices are about $5 with all the works, so pretty typical prices and good quality.

They only have outdoor seating, but plenty of it. It seems to be a popular place so there may be a line, but service is very fast. They only have to-go coffee options currently.

Overall, I would buy from them again to try their other bean options, but I felt that in-person service was a bit atypical or rushed and I didn't feel like I could talk to the baristas about coffee (but I went on a Saturday morning). (Tl;dr good...