Hub Coffee Roasters — Restaurant in Reno

I'm writing this review in response to the review posted today by Maxine Rodriguez. I was in the establishment when this person (I assume Maxine) came in to 'ask' to use the restroom. First, this is a coffee shop, not an ice cream shop. She went into the ice cream shop next door first and then came to the coffee shop. She knew they were different businesses. She did not buy anything at the coffee shop and demanded to be directed to the restroom. When the barista kindly said that the restroom was for customers (which is standard practice in most businesses in the United States), Maxine said she was a customer. She clearly wasn't, because she walked in directly to ask for the restroom. She did not say that she was pregnant nor that it was urgent. The barista repeated that restrooms are for customers. Maxine stomped out and stood around outside with a man.

After a few minutes, Maxine's Man came in to the coffee shop (with ice cream in his hand) and started cursing at the barista, who responded calmly and repeated that the restrooms are for customers of the coffee shop. Maxine's Man continued to curse and threatened to fight the barista, who remained calm and professional, and asked Maxine's Man to leave. Maxine's Man did eventually leave, while continuing to berate the calm barista and threaten to fight him. Outside, Maxine's Man walked to one of the large windows, pounded on the glass, and gave the middle finger to everyone in the establishment, all while holding his ice cream and while Maxine stood outside waiting for him.

After reading her review below, I am confused as to why she'd stand around waiting for her man to harass the barista, if she was about to wet herself in front of "many strangers." To be clear, there were two people outside the coffee shop engaged in their own conversation when she would have allegedly "wet herself," so even if she did (which she obviously didn't) then it would have been in front of her aggressive man and not "many strangers." Also, it's not discrimination to be treated the same as everyone else. That's called equality.

I was impressed by how the barista retained his calm even when Maxine's Man was aggressively cursing at him and threatening to fight him. The barista remained professional throughout the exchange with both Maxine and Maxine's Man. That level of professionalism in the face of such absurdity requires commendation.

I love this establishment and I visit regularly. Whenever I'm scheduling a casual meeting with a friend or colleague, this is my go-to place. I love the atmosphere and design, and the location next to the river is fantastic. The staff are calm and friendly, going out of their way to learn and remember the names of customers, and build rapport and relationships with customers. I have observed numerous instances of longtime regulars coming in to chat, to discuss current events, and to connect with the staff and other customers. It is a community of people who care about each other, care about our town, and do our best to do better by the people around us.

In summary: The earlier one-star review from Maxine Rodriguez today was a fabrication that was clearly designed to be hurtful to the business and the staff member who treated her just as respectfully and kindly as he treats everyone else. I was there, I witnessed the entire exchange, and I congratulate the barista for remaining calm and collected throughout the incident.

If you're looking for a beautiful place to get coffee in Reno, where the drinks are tasty, the baristas are friendly and welcoming, the (actual) customers are kind and connected, and the environment is beautiful and relaxing, then Hub Coffee Roasters on Riverside is the place to go. Get a drink, chat with some friendly folks, sit by the river, and enjoy the day.

I will absolutely be returning to this establishment, probably tomorrow, and I will continue to bring my friends, family, dates, and dog with me, to experience the community that this coffee shop...

I have visited the Hub 3 times in 3 years and have had middling experiences. The products are good but the ordering system is very frustrating. The ordering system isn't intuitive. Every time I have come in, I have had to give my coffee order to one person, who also makes my coffee, and then move over to another line and order any food with them and pay. The first person is almost always in front of a coffee machine and not in front of the register, like at most establishments and coffeeshops, so it's not my first inclination to go to that person first and I have to remind myself that it's different here. It also makes me potentially have to stand in two separate lines (aside from just ordering and paying with the same person and then waiting for my order) depending on how busy they are, which is incredibly annoying. Additionally, the last time I went to the Hub I ordered coffee and a pastry with the first person because the register person was doing something, then the woman came to the register to ring up my order and I had to restate my pastry order with her, otherwise it would have been left off. It just seems overly complicated and could be easily simplified by having one person take orders at the register while the other makes coffee. I have always had my order correct, but I have gone twice with someone who has gotten their order slightly off both times--they order a Red Eye (aka shot in the dark) and have to explain what it is (not egregious considering it's off-menu--so at least they are willing to make it). It's a shot of espresso in a cup of drip coffee, but he receives it in separate cups every time. Not the biggest deal, just kind of a quirk. The coffee is good and the atmosphere is fine--good for people who are in very small groups or especially if you are by yourself (studying or working on a computer--they also have a free printer, which is very cool [I've never used it but it's nice that it's there]), but not necessarily the best for having a private conversation because of how the seating is set up. I gave the Hub 3/5 stars almost exclusively because the ordering process is inefficient and...

Nice atmosphere. Coffee was excellent. Pastries were spot on. What I didn't like is my browser closing every 5 minutes. When I'm using public WiFi in coffee shops I use a VPN to protect myself from people who exploit hapless victims on public WiFi. It seems like their WiFi does some sort of timed reboot or reset or something which forces my VPN to close Chrome completely, forcing me to reopen it again. It happened about every 5 minutes. This is a pain in the butt when working on a coding project that relies on a browser.

Also, the eggplant sandwich was like chewing through shoe leather. It tasted fine but I was like a dog eating spaghetti and shoe laces as gobs of the eggplant kept coming out of the sandwich only to hang from my mouth like I was a goddamn savage.

If you just want good coffee and atmosphere and you don't mind WiFi without a VPN (you should use a VPN), then this is the place for you. But if you have a VPN and have work to do, I suggest heading somewhere else. Personally, I'm heading over to Kona Gold where the internet is dependable...while writing this my browser closed 4 times and the server froze up once.

Lastly - the entrance into their parking lot looks like a missile strike zone in Aleppo. Not a fan of driving my car over multiple pot holes. But again, the coffee was on the money and the staff were good to go. So, I'm unsatisfied with pretty much everything that wasn't coffee, staff...