Mill Mountain Coffee & Tea — Restaurant in Roanoke

I've been to this coffee shop a hundred times, but the attitude of the staff I encountered this morning will make it my last visit.

Today, my friend and I came in for a mid-morning coffee and it was busy as always. I ordered my coffee and we immediately stepped out of the way to make room for other customers. In the hustle of things, I didn't notice a barista (brunette chick) had made my coffee and set it on the front counter on the opposite side of the room. Not only were there people and the rest of the counter blocking my view, but there was the general noise of people talking/ordering and machines running so I couldn't hear the order she had called. I also didn't expect the order to be delivered to an area I'd never picked up my coffee at. I continued waiting. I wasn't pissed, bothered, or aggravated whatsoever. I was just standing with my friend waiting.

I then heard her yell an order again and, although I didn't understand anything but "latte", I thought it had to be mine because I had been waiting for a few minutes. (My friend never heard the exact order called either.) I asked her what she said and she snapped back with the name of my coffee. It was like I had insulted her family. I was shocked and responded with "Oh! I didn't know it was over there." She again snapped "Well I called it multiple times and it's been sitting over here for a while!" I can't even put into words how rude she was for no apparent reason other than she was just annoyed that I didn't hear her call my order. In the hopes of helping her understand what the mix-up was (to prevent future mix-ups), I told her "I couldn't hear you over the machines and I was just waiting where I've always waited." She was rolling her eyes and talking back as I walked to grab my coffee (because heaven forbid she would actually hand deliver it to where I had been waiting). My friend and I couldn't believe how absolutely rude and entitled she acted. We've both worked in customer service positions and even tried seeing it from her side to figure it out. All we came up with were questions:

Did she think I was just straight up ignoring her? Why would I do that? Isn't it in my best interest to get the coffee I paid for? If I was standing in the wrong space for deliveries, albeit the same spot I've always stood in, why wouldn't an employee have pointed me to the correct pick-up area? If I've been standing there for a while and a coffee had been sitting on the counter for a while, wouldn't it be common sense to put two and two together? Like, maybe these two things are related? And instead of yelling the same order over loud machines from across the room to no avail, maybe it'd make sense to approach me and ask nicely "Hi, did you have the caramel latte?" or "Hi, what were you waiting on?" or insert any Customer Service 101 phrase here.

Either way, if that's how she truly operates then making drinks with her back turned to customers is probably the best spot for her. I couldn't imagine if she interacted with customers like that on a daily basis. She'll be the one to single-handedly push all of the customers to the new coffee shop that just moved in next door. From now on, I'll be paying the extra dollar there in exchange for a staff that's less "idgaf" and more "thank you for...

The quality of the customer care is wonderful, the staff is very friendly and understanding & do there best to make your order as fresh and quickly as possible. There are plenty of outlets if you need them to study, relax or simply charge your phone while you tweet, the coffee is always fresh, never burnt & you can taste the flavor in every drop, there is limited bike space, but parking is available (for a price) out back, fellow customers are quiet yet friendly & helpful if asked. The overall enviroment is very tame and progressive yet offers quiet conservative space, in the back or by the window, for those who need to study. There are large speakers if you prefer a coffee shop with more atmosphere don't be afraid to inquire about it, perhaps a song request can help liven the mood for everyone. Their pastries come in fresh daily I believe & are reasonably priced given the decadence & size of them (try the cinnamon bun they're 2.60) staff when not being helpful are often busy but available, when not sweeping up to maintain cleanliness or cleaning the bathrooms, windows, dishes, outside patio or wiping down tables. They can be found typically having interesting conversations with each other or briefly checking social media.

So if you're a student, an office worker who's trying to get in and out of a coffee run or just a run of the mill person who wants to take some time off and relax, feel free to head on over to mill mountain. Do me a favor and tell em romeo sends his regards if you don't mind. Like myself I'm sure you'll find it to be a quick hometown favorite of yours; and don't forget to check them out at night time too, have a smoothy before bed to get some late night vitamins into your body to prep you for another day at the grind...

Clean coffee shop (visited when they opened; the cleanest hour of any establishment). I didn't notice their names, but I was served by a man and the cashier was a woman.

He got my order wrong, (hot mochas instead of iced) but that happens. Instead of making new coffees, he doctored the incorrect drinks, they still weren't quite right, but I was starting to feel overly critical. Considering the other customers, I accepted the drinks.

She was condescending. Interestingly, I wasn't going to mention her behavior, because it is a subjective opinion, but then I read other reviews in which other customers have experienced the same patronizing behavior, giving me reasons to believe that my interpretation was accurate.

Regarding coffee shops, you can only justify rude workers if the service is impeccably prompt and accurate; the product needs to be fresh and tasty. With that combination, customers can overlook surly behavior. Likewise, the same forgiveness can be applied to the opposite situation (friendly, welcoming staff, sub par product/speed/accuracy). This shop combines poor attitude with lacking, product.

As a side note, the Roanoke library houses a Mill Mountain coffee shop. While visiting the library, I overheard a loud conversation between employees, complaining about the staff shortages during peak hours. After these two experiences, I cannot help but wonder if the employee's attitudes are unilateral because of poor management, higher up in the company.

The shop has potential, but as of the summer of 2017, the management may want to consider refreshing the staff...