11th Hour Coffee Westside — Restaurant in Santa Cruz

I’ve been a supporter of 11th hour since they first opened their Center street location, and I’m bummed to leave a negative review. I work nearby the Ingalls location and always order ahead for pick-up. I always tip and I’m patient as hell, I understand things get busy. Maybe I’m just forgettable, or our bad days have synced up… it is Friday the 13th, after all. The last couple of times I’ve come in, the baristas have made direct eye contact, flat-out ignored me and turned away every time I speak up or ask for help. Today was the end of a rough week and decided that I deserved a treat, and the confused hippie always cheers me up. I walk in and the food portion of my order is sitting on the counter, they call it out and I stand there patiently waiting for the drink. Everyone else in line picked up their orders and left. Another person was standing by me and she had the same worried look on her face, patiently waiting. She tried to speak up and the barista completely ignored her and turned away from less than 2 feet away. The patient customer looked at me with the same kind of redness in her cheeks that comes with the embarrassment that I was feeling. The barista starts talking to a friend who put herself directly between me and the espresso machines. Both baristas made direct eye contact with me at least 5 times and then continued talking to their friend. You would think that it’d be pretty obvious that I need help when I’m standing there for 15 minutes trying to wave you down from 6 feet away. Someone from the kitchen saw me through the window and also made eye contact a couple of times. She came out and asked if I needed help, I told her I was waiting for my drink. She asked if I had told the baristas and I told her that I had been trying to but haven’t been able to get their attention. My voice cracked by the end of the sentence. The barista turns to the kitchen staff and gives her a look and shooed her to the back counter where my lonely confused hippie sat, lukewarm. The lovely kitchen staff gave me a smile and handed it to me. I walked away with tears in my eyes. Sure, maybe I’m extra sensitive after a messed up week, but I still think this service was awful and embarrassing. My food was cold by the time I got to my car in the parking lot. My drink was lukewarm. Their food is good, the drinks are great. But the service left a bad taste in my mouth. Ordering coffee shouldn’t leave you with tears...

Staff were inhospitable during the ordering process. No smile or pleasantries returned. 20 minutes after placing the order I noticed others had table numbers, so I approached the pick up counter and learned that someone else took our food and informed I made a mistake by not clarifying that we wanted it "for here". The cashier never gave us a "for here" or "to go" option. Operations could be dramatically improved with a consistent order number system for customers, regardless of "to go" order status. As I observed the pick up counter to ensure no one took my food order again, I overheard staff say the next order was for "the guy staring over here". Then staff brought the food over. I certainly was made to feel like I was intruding and had to get involved in the service operation. It was not a pleasant community vibe from start to finish.

Bottom line, it took 30 minutes to get a bagel and breakfast bowl. The staff acknowledged the problem and eventually corrected for it, but they were rude at every possible...

I came here to use the wifi because my internet is out. I unintentionally ordered the most expensive mocha of my life because I got it with oat milk which apparently is a $3.5 upcharge. And also because I ordered oat milk my coffee was cold, as the oat milk was not steamed. Should have walked to verve, but I needed an outlet because my refurbished work laptop doesn't have good battery life (#regrets). And on top of it all, the wifi at 11th hour did not work (huge fail). After I sat down with my cold and v expensive coffee and attempted to login with the password it said "connected with no internet." I asked the other barista and she said, "oh yeah, our wifi is terrible, I can't even get wifi to work on my phone." And they close at 5pm--also strange since they are called 11th hour. Anyways, writing this review from verve. The coffee is way better and the wifi is kicking and they do not up-charge for oatmilk. Peace and love to everyone and maybe don't go to 11th hour if you want wifi and a hot coffee...