PhiloÇoffee — Restaurant in San Antonio

Mid-tier coffee at a high personal cost

I have been to this shop numerous times since it has open, and it has yet to have impress me at this point. I continue to return to this place in hopes it could be good this time, but that feeling never came. I have two major pain points with this shop:

The coffee fails to stand out from the competition.

When looking at other coffee shops within a 10 minute drive I often find myself wondering if I want to taste PhiloCoffee today. The last of the base coffee is standard for locally sourced beans, but the way they are utilized is subpar. The best example of their lack of skill is the latte. Many times when I order a latte is has a subdued taste to, almost as if they are not really preparing the beans properly to bring the best out of their roast. If I were to add any additional flavors into the latte, such as vanilla, the addon permeates above the coffee rather than blending with it. The latte art is also amateurish making the latte visually unappealing, and therefore I am reserved to sharing that beverage with others that might want to see what their coffee is like. I would rather them not focus on the latte art and spend the time ensuring the coffee is properly blended to give me a desire to want to order more or come back.

The shop's location is detrimental to the experience.

When entering Philo, the place gives off a cozy comfy vibe that is supposed to draw you in, but honestly it's like walking into your grandmas house made before 1920. Small, cramped, and messy. As a place that is designed to be sat in, PhiloCoffee lacks much space for anything. A single seat does not allow more than yourself and a laptop, and as a result customers place their other belongings on open seats that could be used for more customers. The tables are narrow, unbalanced, or so low to the ground one cannot comfortably sit there without risking dropping or spilling their order. There is also a lack of visible and clear signage that customers should place their trash in designated areas, and due to this there is trash at open tables that I would not want to risk cleaning myself. There are two to three employees there at any given time; One at the register, one making the coffee, and one doing, uhhhhh, something. When there is period of downtime employees should try and maintain the appearance of the shop rather than standing staring into space. One might suggest I sit outside, but I would ask them to look at what city we live in and the average weather on any given month not ending in -ember. These are relatively easily mendable issues that require management to step-up and critically look at their shop as a customer.

I am imploring that management please try and correct one of the two issues. If the time is spent to make one of those aspects great then the other can be overlooked, but as it stands now I cannot recommend this place to anyone. PhiloCoffee has great potential, but is squandering it by being too comfortable with what they have. By taking the initiative to change and grow the shop you can a place that is worth recommending. At this time there are more and more new shops popping up around you, so it would be best to act now before they swallow you...

Trying out a new coffee shop is always an interesting experience. Often small mom & pop type places like this are filled to the brim with college students studying and the staff are comprised of the like. Okay, fine. But when you don’t fit that demographic that’s when the overly pretentiousness really shows its true colors.

The first this was being told by the clerk, who appeared to be the manager, to wait so she could tend to one of her employees, that should have tipped us off to what we were in for. Thankfully the employee had some kind of customer service skills to know we supposedly came first. Next the same “manager” lady who laced her decidedly open dislike of us with saccharin sweetness barely answered our questions. Every coffee shop names their exotic drinks or potentially trademark infringing drinks, something different, which is normal, so to get snippy answers to all my questions was the second tip to know to put my money elsewhere. But, when I asked for half decaf she gave me a straight-faced answer that they don’t carry decaf. A coffee shop that doesn’t carry decaf. That’s a first. But when I asked if she was joking she just stared me blankly in the face and said that they don’t carry such things. A coffee shop that doesn’t carry decaf nor sugar free vanilla, as it turns out. All in that same barely veiled despisal of us glossed over with fake sweetness.

I tried to ascertain why the open hostility pretending to have manners and I suppose it had to be what I was wearing. I guess “tolerant” folk aren’t so tolerant after all.

TL;DR: If you fit the coffee snob vibe, then you’ll likely love this place and fit right in, but if you no longer subscribe to that pretentiousness or you you might want to...

Went to Philo Coffee Saturday 9/27/24 morning at 11am. No pictures on the wall, seating seems extra sparse. Chairs missing, plants gone, and walls with blank paint. Staff took my order, I left a 10$ tip before receiving my Order, which included a double cappuccino, a latte, got a single cup( had to ask for a correction), never got my order for a crossiant sandwich and bagel for my date. After 10 minutes I asked watz up.. they were the worst bunch of worker's I have seen in a while.. ohhh, the ambience was non exsistant. Ask about the music... oh, it's- on pause. So, in the past my sandwich came with chips? I didn't even bother to trouble these over worked kids. They seem more intrigued with their phones. There was no ice for the water. Really ashamed my favorite coffee spot is a just a hole in the wall with over priced food and service. Oh, the coffee is great if they actually make your order. Horrible experience today. I question if it had anything to do with my date, as she was of color? I think my money is worth a lot more than wat I received from this...