LOVA CAFE — Restaurant in San Antonio

Upd: I wanted to thank Lova cafe’s owner for their prompt and rude respond to my honest review, I was literally on their parking lot hoping my second visit would be more pleasant, glad that I’ve seen their comment before entering. Seems like my professional opinion hit the painful spot - the days old burnt pastries, soggy merengues, inattentive service and unpleasant aroma inside the cafe are all well known problems at this eatery. Plus their rude management.

Original review: professionally bake and cook (attended European and American culinary schools), so I am always excited to see new epicurean places. And then I really wanted to support this new location (I’m sure that it’s not easy to relocate from Russia and open a new business). Upon arrival this place didn’t look or smell welcoming (was even in doubt that I’m visiting an eatery). 2 young female employees were sweet and attentive, but the pastries display completely spoiled our company’s appetite (all baked puff pastries were way overcooked (literally blackish-brown on the lower parts and corners) and at the same time they all looked stale)). Pavlova had all garnishes (and even a dollop of a whipped cream) and had moisture drops covering the merengue shell - first signs of not fresh Pavlova dessert). Honey cakes was super tiny and somehow tortured, the size was very abnormal, like a usual piece of a similar cake in Europe but sliced in half ($8.50 for a dry, not fresh looking piece of cake). The cake actually looked like it was a store bought cake and simply sliced in tiny pieces). Both fruit desserts in cups had little puddles of moisture (also didn’t look fresh). Macaroons were all different sizes (I would lie if I say that my homemade French macaroons are all perfectly calibrated, but they look more or less similar to each other, but at Lova cafe they all looked different, ones looked significantly smaller than the others, so no standards). So my group of friends didn’t want to stay and asked to write this review hoping the owners will take this seriously and make their cafe much better than our first visit. Please don’t over bake your puff pastries and garnish Pavlova just before the serving, let’s not spoil the experience of a fabulous dessert for those who’ve never tried it. I will definitely be back, I hope this cafe will learn and strive. 1* for the...

Yesterday we ordered ahead on the phone like around 9:50 am. Our order was taken, and we were told that it would be ready in about 10 minutes. We didn’t mind because we were about 18 minutes away from the location. When we arrived to pick up our order, the barista realized that the order had not been started. She asked us to give her a minute, no sorry or any mention that they had forgot to start our order. It was fine though, we waited and received our order. When we left we realized the coffee looked to be a bit too dark for being a latte with a single shot of espresso (sensitive to caffeine) but I thought maybe the milk would later blend in. We had also ordered pastries and were not given utensils with them. We had to return to ask for them. When I mixed the latte and took some sips, I noticed it was way too strong for a single shot latte, I thought maybe the barista forgot and since she was in a hurry, made the latte with two shots. We returned and let her know that it seemed too strong for a single shot, her reaction is what through us off. It was very defensive, “It is one shot, but since you have almond milk in it, the almond milk is watery and that is why it looks too dark.” I was very confused, and told her again it seemed too strong to be just a single shot. She kept staring back at me, and repeated, “I did put one shot in it.” Until finally, she offered to remake it with half of a shot, I accepted the offer. While we were there waiting for her to remake the latte, we bought another pastry. The other barista that was there, a very sweet young lady with glasses. She asked us if we wanted our pastries warmed up which was very thoughtful. We finally got the new latte, the barista handed it over to us, no “sorry about that,” or anything. I decided to write this review because maybe their single shot basket is too large, and also to explain that even a simple “sorry about that, I’m pretty sure I put one shot, but I can make it again for you and with less than one shot if you’d like,” would have made things so much better. The pastries are delicious and the coffee as well. The only issue that day for us was the customer service. We will for sure return because we understand that we are all human and have our...

Boy I had high hopes for LOVA Cafe. I was going to stay a few hours as I had school work I needed to get done and the atmosphere seemed great however this is where the issues started. I walked up to the counter after being there for 28 minutes and asked for a menu as well as the wifi password. The guy told me "l will bring it to the table when I come over there" and then said the password for the wifi is over there. I looked around and found it as he wasn't clear. I continued to wait at my table where you could see the server go up to the other tables and get them checked out. Then the server for the lady at the table in front of me came and spoke with her and still didn't say anything to me knowing I didn't have anything on the table. While they were talking, a table came and sat down outside and within 3 minutes they were greeted and brought menus by the same guy who told me he would bring a menu to the table. This place was not busy and there were for sure 2 servers who could have offered me great service and gotten a great tip. I have never experienced waiting an hour with no one greeting me, bringing a menu, or bringing water to the table. I had really high hopes for this place as it has great reviews online and I was looking for a nice cafe to study at for the next 5 weeks. To say I am disappointed it an understatement. Finally after almost an hour and a half the same guy came up to the table after I the lady at the table in front of me went up to the counter and said something as I got on the phone and was complaining about my experience to a friend. The atmosphere is super great but sadly that was the only thing I was able to enjoy.

I would've liked to try the Ube Latte and the Lobster Pasta as well as the Honey Cake as they all looked amazing online. Just an overall bummer.

The experience just overall made me cry. It's hard enough being in a city for almost 2 months when you don't know anyone but then to experience something like this,...