The Sentient Bean — Restaurant in Savannah

EDIT IN RESPONSE TO OWNER, ORIGINAL POST BELOW* Since my last review, one month ago, I have spoken to MANY customers of the Sentient Bean. The general consensus is consistent: the Sentient Bean is producing water-down, burnt tasting, foam shrouded "espresso" drinks. Their brewed coffee is only just better than drinking luke-warm tap water. The food is severely lacking in flavor - and being "vegan" and "organic" is no excuse for the lack of spices. Spices are vegan, no? Salt is a mineral. Not to mention the place is never clean. There is something severely wrong with the business practices of The Sentient Bean and I hope the community starts speaking out about it. If you go back through reviews, extending to 2016 on yelp and google, the problems are consistent and the business owner never takes responsibility. Instead she, Kristen Russell, gaslights customers in her response and continually blames the pandemic, employees, and "bad luck" for all issues. ...below are my responses to the owner;

"I'm guessing you got some just out of the refrigerator which is not the best way to experience it" -Kristen Russell (owner)

A. The coffee cake was not cold as you imply... Just gross and OVERLY dense and dry. B. Why are you allowing employees to take product from a fridge and serve it to customers if you KNOW it is not of good quality? Seems like poor practices and lack of procedures. ....

"I would posit that almost everything in the world has gone downhill recently due to the instability of staffing recently despite the best efforts of me (the owner) and our core senior staff." - Kristen Russell (owner)

This is a strange response. As a business owner, especially with a 'senior staff', it is your responsibility to make sure your new staff is trained properly. ....

"But there is light at the end of the tunnel as we have gotten to a new level of stability and have really great people in training right now." - Kristen Russell (owner)

A. Clearly, based on reviews after my original post, that isn't the case as issues still persist. B. As the BUSINESS OWNER you are implying that the entirety your previous staff, that you had hired and trained, are the reasons for all of your problems. ....

"If we mix a batch of cold brew wrong, we love it if a customer tells us so we can fix it." - Kristen Russell (owner)

So it's my responsibility as a customer to fix consistent issues with your coffee? hm.

Where is that "light at the end of the tunnel" you speak of, Kristen? I certainly don't see it...

ORIGINAL POST Every time I come here I'm disappointed :( Ordered an Iced Latte with honey - couldn't taste the espresso at all and the honey wasn't stirred into the espresso and instead added to it cold, making the honey chunky at the bottom of my drink. The coffee cake was dense as a brick and tasteless unfortunately.... Last time I got a black iced coffee and it was so watered down it was gross. Not sure if I just have bad luck here or if Sentient Bean has just gone down...

Lord of the Flys

I come to Savannah pretty often, and there aren’t many vegan restaurants. So, I was excited when I found Sentient Bean (cute name). They sell ‘vegan options,’ so I wasn’t expecting them to specialize in vegan food, just some decent vegan options and a hipster atmosphere. Even with the bar that low, they still missed.

During multiple visits here, there were flies, flies, and more FLIES. The first time I came, there were literally dozens of dead flies piled in ONE of the windowsills. I avoided looking at the other windows. This time, flies in the glass case, crawling on the pastries (both the vegan and non-vegan options) I got my order to go.

It doesn’t help that I’m spending minimum $40-$50 bucks every visit (food for the road) and this is some of the worst vegan food I’ve ever had. Vegan food can be expensive, fine, but it shouldn’t be consistently bland, tasteless, and sometimes disgusting. I always regret going here. The servers REFUSE to bag my food (multiple boxes of food), or greet me when I walk up to the counter unless I initiate, and placing an order is like pulling teeth (will you take my money please?).

Why did I go back? Finding any vegan options in Savannah is difficult, if you want a decent one open on weekdays, you’re out of luck (I’ve tried other places open on Mondays). Flies, bad vibes and bland food. From now on I’ll load up on my own snacks and chick-fil-a fries if I’m desperate. Take a look at the photos. Breakfast burrito (always bad, it’s harsh but true), and a quinoa salad? (Not even gonna bother. Veggie heads, would...

I don’t know what’s going on at the bean, but I’m tired of the disrespect. I’ve let a lot slide up until this point, but now I have to say something. I’ve been going here for over a decade and the service has never been so poor. I don’t even hang out there anymore, but even my experience of placing Togo and pickup orders has been extremely subpar. For one, why are the baristas acting like catty high schoolers. The person in front of me there all smiles and friendly. Then I get to the front and they’re frowning and acting upset. I don’t bother these people. Why do I get the attitude? It feels like some sort of racial tension or something. That’s my only explanation. They’ve gone as far as ignoring me and taking the order of the person I’m with, but the latest issues seem to be the final straw for me. I’ve been vegan for a decade and this is a place that purports to accommodate that, but the baristas have repeatedly given me non vegan items my past few visits. First it was the vegan breakfast burrito, and I should have just stopped going there then, but I know people make mistakes so I gave them grace, but today was a bridge too far. I ordered a cold brew with oat milk, and the barista made it with whole milk, luckily she labeled it, so I just asked if she could fix it. Instead of getting a new cup she just tossed the old coffee out and made the new one in the same cup. I don’t even think she rinsed it out. Disgusting. Terribly disrespectful as well. I can no longer spend my hard earned money here, and would suggest that any other black people in the area...