Georgie's Corner Cafe — Restaurant in Pittsburgh

First off let’s start with the good. The food and coffee were great, the banana bread and carrot cake loaf were moist and flavorful, the spinach puff pastry was delicious, even at room temperature. The cafe was clean, natural light filled the space and it was air conditioned. The decor was creative but not overwhelming or cluttered, I especially like the use of the whisks as pendant lamps around the bar. The blue and white with yellow accents was calming a pleasing to eye. Unfortunately, some of the staff lack tact and one was outright rude. As someone who has managed two cafes, currently works as a kitchen manager and takes pride in good work ethic and quality customer service I would hope that my team would be more tactful in how they treat our customers and speak to other members of staff while still in ear shot of customers.

My husband and I arrived about 30 mins to close and we saw the very clear signage that the kitchen closed at two. It was hot outside and we wanted a quick refresher before we had to leave town at 3, so them closing soon wasn’t a big deal for us. When we ordered our food the cashier, who was wearing a white “USAIR” t-shirt and a small mustache, informed us that it would be packaged to-go since they are closing in 30, which was fine but it felt like they really just didn’t want us there. Personally I would have asked politely if it was ok to make our simple order to-go since they were closing soon, but that’s just me. My husband gave them a 20% tip and we sat down and waited for our food and coffee. The barista, who was wearing an alien shirt and had sandy blonde hair, was super nice and I thanked them for our coffees. After we got our order we were each able to enjoy a pastry and boxed up the rest so that we would be ready to head out shortly. I had been watching the clock so we didn’t stay past close. At 2:50 an employee with a mullet and spiral eye makeup came out on the floor and announced that they were closing in 10 mins in a tone that clearly was saying “GTFO we don’t want you here.” There were only 3 tables including ours and everyone looked like they were already wrapping up, so this seemed unnecessary. The real kicker was that as soon as they were done with the announcement they went directly to the cashier and began complaining loudly about the customers in the cafe.

I get it sometimes we need to vent but the entire coffee bar is open air and people can hear what you’re saying, none of the customers had been rude or anything and after they made the announcement everyone was packing up to leave. I hope that management sees this and helps in training their staff to do better. Customer service is not for everyone and I know we all have bad days, but it was a Saturday afternoon and hot outside, there’s no need to be rude to people. I would come back again and change my review if things have improved but I may wait 6 months in hopes that a more helpful and friendlier staff...

What a wonderful spot, delicious coffee, terrific pastries, friendly staff. Sticky buns to die for! So, why only 3 stars? Because of the many customers that sit and stay in the tables way past a reasonable amount of time. I was there today Saturday between 2:30 and 3:00. Every table was occupied (many by one person) with people who clearly had consumed their goods a long time ago but were sitting looking at their phones or laptops. We almost turned around to leave (which we’ve had to do other times) but today was cold and miserable and we really wanted to enjoy coffee and a pastry in this wonderful little place. We decided to go ahead and order and hope for a table, but, no luck. So we asked to share a table with a young man who was drinking water (no sign of consumed goods) and very busy on his phone. Had to ask him to remove his coat from the empty chair which he didn’t like… in the 20/25 minutes we were there (2 coffees and 1 pastry) we saw 2 other couples walk in and leave because tables were not available. Yet, except for us, everyone there was there when we arrived and we’re still there as we left - every table occupied. This is probably a difficult issue for owners and managers to grapple with but it’s fair (imo) to request that clients vacate the place in a reasonable amount of time - especially a coffee shop. I know sometimes one gets caught up reading emails or texting but a coffee shop should not be a place where one goes to write a doctoral dissertation. Unfortunately, if your customers don’t have the common sense to realize that sitting at a table in a restaurant way after you’ve consumed is keeping others from enjoying the place and the business from making more money, it’s up to the owners to inform them that there is a limit to occupying a table in a coffee shop - especially on a weekend when the place is full. I’ve seen little signs at the tables in other coffee shops requesting that customers limit their stay to 45 minutes - next time, I don’t think I’ll have the nerve to ask to share a table again and will...

I rarely write reviews on google and we all work in customer service so we know the challenges of the industry and try to be as understanding as possible, but we did not have a great experience here. We were super excited to come to this cafe and had high hopes based on reviews and passing by. We sadly were disappointed with our experience when it came down to the food and drinks. I understand they are a small business that uses local products, however, it was way too expensive for the quality and quantity. Two of us got the breakfast sandwich and it was teeny tiny and didn't taste bad but was a letdown nonetheless.

All three of us ordered chai lattes and only one of them had a good chai and milk ratio. The other two chai lattes were just milk. When we went in to see if we could get a small splash of extra chai mix so that they all tasted good and were the same, we were met with an unhappy barista who told us that they were all made the same (even though they were clearly not SEE REFERENCE PIC) and any additional chai mix would be an upcharge. It seems like most other cafes would be much more accommodating for a simple request when a product is subpar.

Seeing all of the other positive reviews about Georgie's, maybe we came on a bad day but we will still not be returning.

UPDATE: George was so kind to respond quickly to this review and help us resolve the issue we had at the cafe. We appreciate the time and effort put into making a situation right. We will be giving Georgie's another...