PRESS Coffee Crêpes Cocktails — Restaurant in Raleigh

My family and I arrived as a party of 5 around 9:30 AM. I completely understand and am aware that on a beautiful Saturday morning, there will be long wait times, especially for the terrace. However, the issue that we had was with the app, Toast, and the demeanor of the hostess. The app did not give accurate queue times and when we expressed to the hostess that the app displayed a short wait time, she told us that the app was “inaccurate,” and not to rely on it. I do not understand why an establishment would utilize an app that consistently does not display accurate information (according to the staff, even). She then briefly asked for a phone number and had a dismissive attitude. As someone that works in food service, I understand that when a business becomes overwhelmingly busy, that it may induce stress with the staff members. However, a busy breakfast rush is merely an explanation, not an excuse, for the poor attitude and service that we experienced first-hand and through observations of those around us.

There were many confused servers that did not seem to know where to deliver their orders, and we had quite a few come up to us and ask if we ordered a certain dish or drink when we did not. Yes, misunderstandings occur and yes, mistakes and learning experiences happen, but to this degree was a bit odd. One of the servers near us was also gray wearing sweatpants with lettering on it, which is unprofessional. The server we had was polite, but the service provided was okay.

We also arrived with outside beverages (2 coffees) and brought them outside with us to the table. After 10-15 minutes of being seated, our waitress then told us that we could not have outside beverages and that she could “dump them” for us or we could just “drink them fast.” First, I do understand that some establishments have a no outdoor beverage policy because they want customers to purchase from them or for health code violations. This wasn’t the issue. The issue I had was that they didn’t display signs that we could not have any outside beverages. We waited 50 minutes to be seated, and brought two small coffees outdoors that were already half gone, but were not told to throw them out until 10-15 minutes into service? Just inform customers immediately or have a sign up that says no outdoor food or beverage. I had no problem or annoyance of having to get rid of our outside beverages since that makes sense, it was only the way the situation was handled that was strange. I would’ve preferred a sign or immediate vocalization of no outdoor drinks.

The food overall, was pretty good. Everyone at our table seemed to enjoy their food and the presentation was great! The only complaint in our party was the egg filling in her crepe was minimal in comparison to the others at our table.

Despite the great food, the inaccurate wait times and unprofessional behavior of (some) of the staff members, has made a second visit unlikely. This location has amazing potential, but some aspects based on this experience...

SLOW service; WASP in food; POOR Management

I have been to Press multiple times before and have been a fan of their food - HOWEVER this will be the LAST time I go. The service was SO slow and disorganized. To start off, we got our food AN HOUR after ordering. As we started eating, my friend took a couple bites and noticed something was in her food - a WASP. After waiting a whole HOUR for our food, there was a WASP cooked within in the center of her crepe. We were disgusted and traumatized to eat the rest of our food. We flagged down the first worker we saw and she took the plate away immediately. After a couple minutes, the manager comes to the table next to us to apologize but realizes he’s at the wrong table and then turns towards us-How do you not know what table you need to address! He offered to remake her crepe, comp her crepe from the bill, and give her a $25 gift card. Our waitress comes back to our table after hearing what happened and apologizes, however everytime she checked in afterwards, she would keep bringing up how gross that was and talking very casually and jokingly about it, which made us more uncomfortable to keep eating. At the end, our friend wanted to use the gift card for the rest of our meals and then we’d pay the remaining balance. There was some technical difficulties getting the gift card to work which took 10 minutes to solve, and then ANOTHER system issue where it wasn’t reading one of our cards - so the manager comps the entire bill for us and hands us the reciept and the gift card. However looking back at the receipt, the remaining price they told us to pay after comping the crepe and including the $25 gift card - did not add up as they had claimed and they actually didn’t use the gift card even though they had said they did. And they only comped our meals because it was system issue on their end NOT even because of the WASP IN OUR FOOD.

Overall the experience was a MAJOR health and food safety hazard and the situation was handled unprofessionally management considering the severity of this issue....

This review covers dine-in and the walk-up cafe separately.

Dine in- I came here either the week they opened or the week after they opened, and back then, they were doing that thing where you don't really need a server. You could order from your phone and pay from your phone, but if you decided to go the typical service route, there was a mandatory tip or something like that.

I really disliked this model. There was something wrong with one of our meals and I had something missing. It was practically impossible to get someone to come help us since we tried the mobile ordering route, so the servers weren't really keeping an eye on us. I thought someone would still come around to ask if everything was fine, but they didn't. Eventually, we flagged someone down. It was frustrating but not the end of the world. Also, mandatory tip? That's questionable.

After visiting here, I learned that I am not a crepe person 😂. The sweet crepes were overly sweet, in my opinion. The savory crepe tasted great, but it was really just the filling/topping, I pushed the actual crepe wrap to the edge of my plate without realizing it. You'll need to see someone else's review for a more accurate view of the crepes, lol.

I came back a few months after my initial visit, and it seemed like they switched to server-first with the option of ordering from your phone. Initially, the opposite seemed recommended. Our server was great, and the food came quickly. Again, I wasn't a fan of the crepes, which is how I knew for sure I'm not a crepe person. But I still come here quite often for the walk-up cafe...

I live right next door, I have never waited for a table since I get there very early. But every weekend I see crowds of people waiting outside for a table. Plan accordingly!

Cafe: This is where I go frequently now. The drinks are delicious and unique. The pastires are also really good and unique. The scones have flavor profiles I would never have considered myself. I like to grab a coffee and a pastry and sit outside. Really nice people and a really...