Preserve and Gather — Restaurant in Seattle

Place has decent baked goods and coffees but is plagued with RUDE, pretentious, self-absorbed, self-righteous staff. I ordered a ham&jam biscuit and a latte. In order to unlock my phone via face recognition, to pay for my order,I held my breath and pinched my mask away from my face momentarily for what would have been five seconds, never releasing the mask from my grasp. As I’m doing this, the person who’d taken my order started back toward the counter with my sandwich and the paper coffee cup on which she’d written my coffee order. She stopped abruptly, seeing me holding up my mask and said, “We have a strict mask policy.” Still with breath held, I motioned and croaked/mouthed “Unlocking my phone,” whereupon she tossed my sandwich onto the counter at me, along with the coffee cup she was supposed to have handed to her barista, and stormed away. By then, my phone was unlocked so I proceeded with paying for the order, though shocked at the attitude and behavior I was seeing. I asked if there was a problem as she retrieved the coffee cup to hand it off to her barista. The reply I got was a repeat of how they have a strict mask policy and if I don’t like it she could cancel my order. I pointed out that I had held my breath to remove my mask for a few seconds in order to unlock my phone, that I’d done the same in multiple other similar settings with no such response and that, no, I came in for a bite and some coffee and having gone out of my way did not care to waste the trip and leave empty-handed. So I stepped back and waited quietly for my order as this person withdrew to the prep area behind the counter and engaged in some animated conversation with a co-worker. At some point, I guess she felt I was eyeing her menacingly (bewildered actually), so she turned my direction and struck the most earnest “eat sht” glare she could muster from behind an N95 at that distance. Again, I asked, “What is the problem? I held my breath an. d lifted my mask for a few seconds to unlock my phone and I get my order thrown at me? I’ve never seen anything like this.” Then, the co-worker stepped up to the counter and again offered to cancel my order (transaction?). I explained again, no, I came in here for coffee and a bite and that’s what I want and at the going rate. Also, I explained, I work in critical infrastructure *and have an extensive work history in service. I’m vaxed, have reported for work nearly every day of this pandemic - except for coming down with a breakthrough infection in October ‘21 - and had a booster. Wisely, she replied, “Well, we’d rather you use your passcode to unlock your phone… and I’d rather you didn’t get pastries thrown at you,” with which I wholeheartedly agreed and left with my biscuit and coffee which was now ready but went neglected for a good hour while I regained my appetite.

Seriously, folks, if your life is so fraught with dangers and difficulty that you can’t conduct yourself any more skillfully with people, maybe, rather than inflicting yourself upon customers in the service industry, you should just pack it in...

I guess I don't understand the appeal of this place: Walking in around 3PM on an overcast Saturday, I ordered a 12 oz mocha--which was nice, creamy, though without a deep chocolate flavor--to sip inside the shop, and to my immediate chagrin discovered there was no Wi-Fi service, a fact which other reviewers claim adds to the community appeal of the place. However, I observed no lively conversation, no caffeine-fueled camaraderie; rather, a typical set of neighborhood cafe-goers, absorbed in newspapers, laptops, books, and studious activities.

Perhaps due to the thick concrete walls, I had no cell reception (Sprint network) so I was left to gaze around amiably, perhaps desperately, until I had finished my mocha. The interior architecture and decor is minimalist to the point of post-modernist, with no discernible art direction, primarily brushed aluminum and large plate glass windows which gaze out at the dirty and busy 85th street traffic and an enormous car wash across the street, which provoked very little intellectual inspiration.

Regardless, it is in fact a coffee shop, and they have various edible goods and local bread products, a fact which may sway you from making breakfast at home, if you have neither coffee nor edible...

My husband and I have been visiting Preserve & Gather for 3+ years every Saturday morning. It used to be our favorite date spot, with delicious food and wonderful cortados. The last few months we have noticed the food quality was going down. Our regular items started to taste different and not in a good way. Yesterday was definitely our last day visiting Preserve and Gather. They no longer serve the same quality food or kinda of foods and our cortado was ok, but the sparkling water served with it was disgustingly warm. My husband searched news on this establishment and we learned it was sold. It’s so sad that they didn’t keep the quality. When I asked about certain food items, the woman said we don’t make that in the summer, which is when I knew something was wrong. They always had the items I asked about year round. It would have been better if she had told me there were new owners instead of a lie about making the food. Super disappointing to lose a quality neighborhood...