Bowls N Brews — Restaurant in Santee

he quality of the food is pretty good. The service from the owner can be terrible depending on his mood. Looking at the other reviews here it looks like i'm not alone in that. I went back and looked at my bank statements. Since March of 2023 to Aug 2023, I have visited Bowls N Brews 32 times. As of late becoming a regular and spending on average $21.38 per visit. Usually this is a large Acai bowl and a large cold brew. Two visits ago my food and drink was delivered to me somewhat passive aggressively but today I got a verbal lashing from the owner. Straight up yelling at me about tipping. He expects a regular to tip. He said "Help me pay my people" but also saying he doesn't "need the money". Yelling at me to "tip at least a dollar so I can help my people". If I tipped $1 for every time I have been here I would have contributed a whopping $32 over 5 months. The prices are already pretty high for the product but evidently someone does need the money because other negative reviews here mention him yelling about tips. The end of this conversation was "if you cant tip then go somewhere else". my response was "okay i'll go somewhere else". As i'm walking back to my car he is staring at me through the window yelling "he says he'll go somewhere else" followed by maniacal laughing. It's sad to see how unhinged he can get but I really feel for the coworkers who have to deal with that behavior. Judging from the other reviews I am not the first to deal with this. I think i'll personally drop off $32 as a tip to help the workers and this is the last...

I loved this coffee shop. I brought all my friends and family here because i loved their coffees and acai bowls, not only that supporting a local business means a lot to me as well. As someone who has not only worked customer service for 10+ years i’ve worked at multiple coffee shops and currently manage a grocery store…the customer service I received today was appalling. I have supported this business since it first opened and order from them very frequently. Like most consumers, I work…I don't always have the luxury of going 30 mins out of the way to get a coffee. I pay a premium for postmates, not only that when I order from them off of postmates one item is typically $15.00 which I have happily paid multiple times. Adding another item typically makes my order 30+ dollars and on top of that being at work doesn't allow me time to enjoy a second item from them. Regardless, I don’t think this shop cares about you as a consumer unless you are spending a chunk money at their shop and with the current climate of the economy I have reason to believe i’m not the only one ordering a single item when their coffee is already $9.00. This note is extremely out of touch and suggests that I should spend my money else where and that I don't matter to this shop unless i’m paying 30+ dollars in a transaction....

I’ve enjoyed the açaí bowls at this location, and my wife is also a fan, but unfortunately, the service has consistently been a letdown. I’ve often overlooked minor service issues, especially given it’s clear that the owner who runs the business is overwhelmed. We’ve been patient in these situations, offering understanding when things seemed hectic. However, our most recent experience with the owner left a much more negative impression. I placed an order online and arrived at the designated time, only to be told by the owner that my order hadn’t been started yet. I wasn’t in a rush and reassured him that I was fine with waiting the additional 20 minutes. Unfortunately, the situation took a turn when the owner expressed frustration over my decision not to tip in advance. He then proceeded to cancel my order, telling me that if I wasn’t tipping, I should take my business elsewhere, citing his “loyal customers” and rewards program as justification. While I’m more than willing to pay for a quality product, I find it difficult to support a business where the owner treats customers with such a lack of professionalism. The attitude displayed in this interaction is exactly why I believe tips are withheld. It’s unfortunate, as the açaí bowls are good, but the overall customer experience is no...