MRKT SPACE - La Jolla Shores — Restaurant in San Diego

I have been going to MRKT for the past few months multiple times a week as a private tutor, meeting high-school aged students for an hour-long session. Up until today, it was totally fine. However, today ensured that I will never be visiting again, and will be encouraging all of my clients' families to never visit either.

I had a session at 4:15, but my student arrive early, around 3:30, with two friends. They each bought a meal and a drink, spending around $60. When I arrived at 4:15, my student and I moved to another table to begin working. When we started, an Australian man (presumably the owner?) came up to us letting us know that the table we were at was a "no-laptop zone" and that if we needed to work on our laptops to go to another seat. I think "huh, that's kinda weird, but whatever." We don't need our laptops for this session, so we continue to work. Two minutes later, he comes back and says "Hey so what I meant was that this table is a no-work zone. it's reserved only for our customers who are eating." He then explains the same thing two more times and lingers until we move. I say something along the lines of "Oh sorry, we were confused" and we move. Again, I think this is a bit odd, especially since cafe is nearly empty, but I smile and move.

At our new table, not five minutes later, the owner sends a cashier over to us to ask if we want to buy anything. This alone is a bit odd to me, because it is not a restaraunt, it's a counter-service cafe. However, since my client already spent $60 on meals and drinks, I tell him "no we're okay, she already bought food and a drink, thanks though" and he walks away. My student and I look at each other confused, but just carry on. Then, a minute later, the Australian man comes back to us and says something along the lines of "if you're going to want to work here, you need to buy something, this isn't a free work space." I was kind of taken aback, but just reply "hi yeah, she actually already ate her food and drink." and then he says "yes, but if you want to continue to work here, we'd like you to order another drink. this isn't a free work space." he then repeats himself a third time and walks away.

We stick around for a couple of minutes, but the Australian man by now is glaring at us, so we become so uncomfortable we go outside. We find tables outside of the building, and finish up our session out of sight. But I have NEVER been treated like this at any establishment before. If we had been there for 5 hours and ordered a single water at their busiest time of day, I certainly would have understood. But my student arrived 45 minutes before me, and the entire cafe was nearly empty except for two other couples, both of whom were working on their laptops without any food or drink present!

I'm not sure exactly why we were targeted and treated so poorly, but rest assured they have lost myself and many other families as customers...

We’re been coming here the entire last summer both Saturday and Sunday to work a little bit before going to the beach, and we loved the place, the food and the portion sizes. We’re sad to see this place going downhill very fast. We came in today, and were told that the Wi-Fi cannot be shared with guests anymore, despite having 5 active locked Wi-Fi networks. We were explained that it’s the new policy that was implemented recently. Since we’re been coming here to work, we won’t be coming again just for this reason. The portion sizes decreased in half during the last year as well, now for $20 you get a tiny sandwich. Finally, we’re ordered a toast with an egg today, and when the toast came out without an egg, we were told that eggs ran out in the kitchen, but no one warned us about it when we paid for it. Finally after 15 more minutes of waiting, the egg was found and we were able to get our order. The stuff is nice, but uncoordinated, the orders coming chaotically, we were delivered two lattes by two different people, while we ordered one. We would like for this place to work out, because we love the location and the vibe, and it used to be a great place to work before going to the beach, but definitely not any longer. We’ll stop by in 3 months to see if there are any changes, but for now this place...

I like the Mrkt Space (MS), but had a very bad experience last time I visited. First, the tables were all filled with dirty dishes from the earlier customers. Although they had enough staff at the time, they are usually slow cleaning. We were there at 2:03 PM, and I ordered a Smoked Salmon Toast, my favorite dish. The cashier said that I can't order a breakfast item after two pm. I asked if they can make an exception, and she simply said no. I think in a customer centric place, the answer is defiantly should have been a yes. Or better again, why not serve their best menu items (Smoked Salmon Toast and Avocado Toast) all day. I ordered a herbal tea. MS serves really good tea, and they simmer it perfectly, and bring it after taking out the tea bag. After waiting 10 minutes, I went inside, and asked if the tea was ready. They told me that we can wait in our table, and they'll bring the teas to us. However, after waiting 15 more minutes, and the tea not arriving, I went back inside and asked when the tea would be ready. I was told that the tea was ready, waiting on the counter. It waited there for a while and was getting cold already. I like the place, and would like to see the service get better, and I can update my rating. But so far, they are failing in being customer focused, and...