Hanai — Restaurant in Peoria

My friend and I went to the Hanai Cafe inside the Peoria City Council building today for coffee and brunch. Upon my last visit with 3 other friends in January 2024, we all had such an amazing experience that I wanted to share a similar experience with this friend who wanted to support a small business/non-profit. The previous guy (before the name change to Hanai) running the non-profit was super friendly along with the young teens who worked for him. The café is still a Non-profit, but now supports children from the Foster System versus youths at risk. Both my friend and I like to support businesses of this nature, and that's why we made the extra drive. First impressions are very important, and when we entered the café, the two girls had the music blasting so loud that it was very difficult to hear or talk. Neither one of them greeted us as they both jumped up from a table in the dining area to get behind the counter. My friend is 70 and couldn't hear the girl at the register, so she politely asked if the music could be turned down. The taller girl at the register told the shorter girl to turn it down. At first even the shorter employee struggled to hear the request due to the high volume. With the second request, it was evident that she was irritated to turn down the music. Her attempt to turn it down was so very minimal that it didn't make much of a difference. (The music remained at that volume while we were visiting. She continued to demonstrate her irritation by deliberately banging the espresso machine to get the coffee grounds out, and loudly hitting other items as she prepared our drinks. At one point, the two girls laughed and it appeared they were laughing at the deliberate noises, but not sure. We were there to support their business and cause, but they were not there to support their customers with hearing impairments or old worn out ears. Simply stated, they didn't care. Sadly, the behavior demonstrated a lack of respect and consideration for others. Typically, I only post positive reviews, but also being a person of a hearing loss in one ear, I felt it was important to write something. My hope in sharing is to point out their poor service will run customers off. The shorter girl said she'd only been working there since July, but if she continues to be unkind towards elderly people in the future, she may not last long. As for me and my friend, we will not be returning to this...

I recently ordered a large matcha and a buffalo chicken wrap, and the matcha tasted okay. There was lots of powder at the bottom of the cup, I had to stir it myself till it was completely dissolved, not only to mention it's a bit overpriced. The buffalo wrap I had was 90% lettuce and only 10% of the actual chicken and other ingredients. The atmosphere of the place is pretty nice, although they have very poor customer service. Not once did any employees say "Hello" or even a "Thank you" during the two times I visited. I would not suggest going...

What a great place. The food was great. The service great. The fact it helps people makes it even better. I highly...