Kitanda Espresso & Acai - McKenzie — Restaurant in Seattle

tl;dr - subpar service experience. They might no longer even want your business. We have patronized this business since it first opened in SLU. We their smoothies. We always found the service to be satisfactory on the account of them always being understaffed. So when I say we’d grown accustomed to our orders taking longer than it does at other businesses nearby, I mean it. This morning was different though. I walked in with two customers ahead of me and three staff members behind the counter(for a change). I’ll call them X,Y,Z. It appeared the first customer was waiting for his order and the next customers in line had just received theirs and were on their way out. After they moved I went and stood in front of the counter and waited my turn thinking I’ll give the staff enough time to finish what they’re doing before they can attend to me. More than 5 minutes passed and not one out of the three people had acknowledged my presence or even looked in my general direction( I was wearing my sunglasses so I wasn’t expecting them to make eye contact). By now one of them had commented(negatively) about the previous customer being difficult. I continued waiting. 10 minutes passed. Meanwhile, the guy nearest to the counter, the short guy with the man-bun(you know who you’re but I’ll call you X), had gotten busy doing I don’t know what. A couple entered after me and X said, audibly, “Welcome in”. They looked around for a couple of minutes before I saw X gesture them over to a screen asking them to order on it. I was still there, waiting for someone to ask me if I’d like to place an order because I knew exactly what I wanted. And because during all my previous visits someone behind the counter has had to interact with a customer. In fact, I’d say what X did with the couple who came in after me, was an interaction. So I asked the staff if I was expected to use the screen now. And that’s when I finally heard at least one of them acknowledge my presence and respond in the affirmative. I followed up with another question, asking them if they were not expected to let me know that or at least ask me what I wanted. At this point the couple who was invited by X to “skip the line” felt bad for me and asked me to go ahead and order ahead of them. But what had transpired wasn’t their fault. May be the business has hired incompetent staff and may be the business doesn’t want to spend any time or money to train them. And since none of this is my problem, I responded to this kind couple “No it’s ok, they just don’t get my business” and walked out. So I’m asking the business owners here, if you change the way of doing business aren’t you supposed to train your staff to effectively communicate this change to your customers;Or at the very least hire people who can - so as to provide a seamless experience to...

Out of all the kitanda espresso's that I've been to I would say this is my favorite one. I can also say I've learned that acai bowls for breakfast was not invented for people like me, but their baked goods are. I absolutely love coming here for breakfast or lunch.

Beware this place is in the Amazon zone right ok the edge of construction so trying to maneuver this area can be a bit tricky. If u miss a turn u may end up many blocks away before turning around in the right direction. Parking is super limited but I've literally always gotten a decent spot. Once you make it inside, smell the food, and see all their options, your realize why its worth it and still better than most smaller cafes you've been to.

I always order something sweet and savory when I come. The bread is just amazing. No yeast, yes this is right up my alley. It's so hard to find a yeastless bread that isn't all the way flat. I'm tempted to go almost every day, but I don't out of fear of somehow overdoing it.

Did I mention this is a Brazilian inspired cafe. Oh yea makes sense that this bread is so special. They even have the good brands if drinks. My date almost cried when she noticed they had her childhood favorite chocolate milk. That alone was worth it.

What about their pricing? Yes it's a Brazilian cafe, but their prices are spot on. Pray they keep it this way so I can keep coming. I've had to stop eating at a lot of my goto spots in the area and have started cooking much more. Well, this place is one of those spots that I can even eat at more than once in a day. Thank you to the people that opened this location. Not even sure how long it's been around, but I can say, I've been taking full advantage....

Starting off I think this is a much needed idea in SLU. My partner and I waited our turn and then when I went with my order the cashier kept interrupting and saying is that all? I then said whatever my partner wants and he started ordering his drink and she proceeded to shush him! Literally like a child shushed him and said she isn’t ready. That was the first raised eyebrow. The price is at what you would expect we ordered the Kitanda bites, a pastry and two drinks. My partner stayed at pickup and the cashier told him the last smoothie will be out shortly. No worries we get working short staffed and having business! We waited outside and five minutes later I stepped in the door and immediately got shouted at that I can stay outside because my smoothie isn’t ready and she will let me know. So I went back outside and 10 minutes later I came in just to make sure I didn’t miss hearing anything but the cashier who had an attitude both times literally said what are you waiting for? What kind of smoothie? And then proceeded to make it in less than 30 seconds and then tell me she’s out of coconut water so she made it with almond milk! Which I’m sorry but is something you should tell someone prior because I have an allergy. But I took it and left. Will I be back? Yes, but being in hospitality who gets asked by guests all over the world where to eat I won’t recommend Kitanda until they work out their...