Tandem San Antonio — Restaurant in San Antonio

I gave this coffee shop a few tries and was left extremely disappointed after too many awkward experiences with their "baristas" and overpriced stale bagged coffee. Not to mention their events take over the parking lot at our complex and they make a lot of noise.

The time I went in for bagged coffee, I asked the lady behind the counter if they carried a light roast, to which she responded "they're all there, you can look at the bags, they all have descriptions." Well, they actually don't have descriptions. She didn't know anything about the coffee so I just decided on Igualidad blend and it was approximately $22. Fine for good coffee, but this was stale. I did not drink it and it's been on my counter for a month now. Instead, once a week I drive 15 minutes away to another coffee shop who carries fresh, locally roasted coffee beans.

A funny note: while I was checking out the coffee bags a customer came to the counter and asked her for another tea and she said "oh, did you save your tea bag, you can reuse it" and the customer said "no it's fine, I'll just get another one" and she insisted "well, just so you know, you can save it next time and just use it again". What?! Lol. Just sell the guy another tea!

I was going by every other morning, before 9am for coffee drinks and one of the days I saw their chalkboard sign said $1 off all coffee drinks before 9am. I assumed I had been getting the discount on my lattes this whole time but I asked to confirm and the girl (a different one this time) gave me three different reasons as to why my beverage didn't qualify for the deal:

"I think it's over the time already", to which I let her know it was 8:47am. "I think it's only on certain drinks", which I told her the sign said "all coffee drinks". Well the system won't let me add it, there's nothing I can do.

Fine, whatever, but she kept putting her whole hand on the top of the coffee cup (lip area) before she poured it and then again after the lid was on. Ew, no thanks, she was on her phone texting the whole time I was at the counter waiting for her to help us. She was also not wearing a mask. Boo. I asked her to just cancel my order and haven't been back since.

All this might be petty to someone else but the proprietors should at least know why they lost...

This is my review based on my experiance:

During my recent visit to San Antonio, where I was exploring potential business opportunities, I stopped by Tandem coffee shop which left me feeling very uncomfortable and so unwelcome. Upon entering, I was seated near the cash register with my son while we awaited his drink. I observed a barista place a drink on the counter without calling for anyone to claim it. An older woman approached, took the drink, inserted a straw, and inquired if it belonged to her, the server in a news boy hat said it wasnt hers. She then discarded the straw, leaving the drink on the counter, which ultimately turned out to be my son's. I was appalled that they would serve a drink that had been handled by a customer to another customer!!! When I requested the drink be remade and that I had witnessed the incident the man wearing the newsboy hat seemed annoyed but complied. I remained at the counter to ensure they did not simply transfer the original drink into a to-go cup. The service felt lacking, possibly due to our status as unfamiliar customers, and raised concerns about their health standards. I was at a point that I felt afraid to ask for a refund on the drink because I would be told something negative.

While waiting I inquired about the price of a bottle of water which I had wanted to purchase. Only to be told in a very curt and unfriendly fashion buy the guy in the news boy hat that I would need to wait in line despite the absence of any line of customers because there were others before me. Frustrated, I chose to take my business elsewhere.

Overall, my experience at this coffee shop was unsatisfactory, marked by unsanitary practices and poor customer service, leading me to decide against returning in the future. I highly recommend that the Health Department get involved and review their licenses and permits. Additionaly, It may be necessary to provide staff with further training on food handling policies and customer service practices. Customers should never feel unwelcome or hesitant to request the services they are paying for or perhaps a refund. I do not wish to be contacted to improve my experience, as I am not a local and do not intend to...

Came to work for a couple hours based on a recommendation. Great staff, atmosphere, and decent coffee. The food however was very disappointing.

I got the brisket grilled cheese, which I had by chance seen on their website ahead of time. It was nothing like the picture or description on the site. It is pictured with a thick volume of brisket covered by cheddar on both sides & described as locally sourced, made with sour dough & served with a slice of pickle.

What I was served was a premade & refrigerated sandwich with so little brisket the two slices of plain packaged bread touched each other through out the sandwich. The pickles were in the sandwich and it had cream cheese and one slice of cheese. It was heated on a waffle iron, which poses some challenges. It looked like some of the other grilled cheeses picture on the site but with not as nice bread.

When first heating one up, the staff member burnt it since waffle irons are super hot & not ideal for toasting thin white bread. The second attempt, which I was served, had successfully toasted the bread & partially melted the cheese. The other contents were cold. Incredibly disappointing overall & extremely over priced at $14 dollars (the most expensive item served & $2 more than the listed price on the web menu.)

Like I mentioned, otherwise the place seems fine - Id just avoid...