Brewed Awakenings Cafe — Restaurant in Pittsfield Charter Township

Update 7/25/23: This is still my favorite cafe in the greater AA area! This large cafe has homey, approachable vibes rather than trendy or pretentious ones. Solidly good food and drinks and such friendly service and friendly atmosphere!! They support local businesses, and I do, too!

Parking is a bit of a mess right now, because the landlord of the place is constructing some new stores in the out-lot, and half the lot is fenced off. This is, of course, not the fault of this business at all.

Previous review in 2022: Lovely independently run café that serves delicious home baked treats and offers very affordable breakfast sandwiches all day plus soups salads fruit cups and even an array of gluten-free choices in their cooler. Some favorites are the chocolate chip cookie the apricot oatmeal cookie and the peanut butter bar. Iced espresso drinks are delicious, too. They offer a full menu of sandwiches as well so it's a good spot for a lunch date. Now with post Covid shelter in place/indoor area closures, they have outdoor seating and indoor very socially distanced seating. Very friendly servers and baristas. A Saline/ Pittsfield neighborhood gem. Update: they carry a lot of gluten free options, something I really have come to appreciate after developing some food intolerances. You can pay a dollar to switch to gluten free bread. They let you do exchanges for cheese to tomato, hummus, or guacamole. They label soups as gluten-free, or vegetarian. Finding out if things are dairy free (or vegan) is a little bit more work, but they have a book with the ingredients to the dishes available upon request. They also offer a selection of individually wrapped desserts in the cooler such as cookies and fruit bars that are all gluten-free and top eight allergen free (made by Tasty Bakery...

I was going here a lot, probably about 3 times a week. I ordered by phone hoping to save time when picking up my order. I generally enjoyed the girls who worked there. For the past 3 months or so however, when I called in my order and arrived to pick it up, the girls working there now would not check me out right away and told me that I had to wait behind a long line of people waiting to order. What is the point of calling in an order if you have to wait in line behind a bunch of people who are ordering in person?

It was quite unpleasant and the girls were whispering about me behind the counter and “eye rolling”. It was very disappointing. I used to love this place , but that encounter was very unprofessional and unpleasant.

Update and Response to owner: I appreciate your kind and professional reply. To be clear, the staff was definitely whispering (with eye rolls) to each other about me asking for priority, absolutely and without a doubt. Some of the staff there are excellent and a few are not so good. I do appreciate the explanation of services, and again ordering via phone or online will not be an advantage if you have to wait in the same line as the customers ordering for in restaurant service (eating there). If a different pickup arrangement can be provided for an online or call in order for pick up, that would be worthwhile. Thank you for your concern. It’s a nice little...

The panini was decent, but can someone give me some context for this establishment? I had super tense interactions with the staff. Is it that type of bigoted Christian place? I get the Christian vibe from the books on display, and the behavior of the staff just puts two and two together (not all Christians are bigots of course, but it's obvious that some are). I came here because it seemed like a nice place in Saline to check out. I honestly did not know I wouldn't be welcome here. I avoid those places, obviously, why put yourself through it? The staff did that whole take your order (cuz they have to) but make a great effort to do so stone-faced, unpleasant, no friendliness whatsoever. They were smiling and being nice with the ppl before me, their demeanor changed when they had to serve me, UGH! You can see why I try to avoid it. If they want to fix it, fine, but if they don't that's important to know because I'll stay away. Way too tense, icky, and overall unwelcoming. Is this something that people in this area are generally aware of? If so, let me know. I'm not aware of the local culture here. Edit Okay now there's a young woman giving me looks like "wow are you in the wrong place, but okayyy..." This makes me think this is something ppl here are aware of. Can someone let me know what the deal is...