Maple Street Bistro — Restaurant in Spokane

Maple Street Bistro — 6/10 but with huge potential

Let me start with this: the vibe here is immaculate. Aesthetic? 10/10. From the cozy layout to the adorable “blind date with a book” setup and the display of local jewelry, Maple Street Bistro gives off the warm, artsy small-town charm I live for. The space felt clean, inviting, and really well thought out. It’s the kind of place that should feel like a hug with caffeine.

We showed up about 15 minutes after opening, and while we weren’t greeted, we chalked it up to the two baristas looking busy and another deep in the middle of an order. Totally understandable! Early morning hustle is real. It wasn’t busy as there was only one other customer in house and maybe one person came through the drive thru while we spent 25 min in house. We got our drink and food pretty quick.

We ordered: • A 24oz iced white chocolate mocha • The Breakfast Club on an everything bagel • ½ chicken pesto sandwich

Paid about $36 plus tip.

The mocha, sadly, wasn’t my favorite. The espresso had a bitter burnt edge (weird for that early), and the white chocolate used had a flavor I can only describe as “laboratory chic.” Not the worst thing I’ve had, but definitely wouldn’t write a love letter about it.

The bagel sandwich, however? Perfection. 10/10. A breakfast queen. Would return just for that.

The chicken pesto started strong but hit a soggy patch in the middle. It was giving “pesto soup” toward the end, which was disappointing because the flavor combo was solid.

Now, I’m from the Midwest, so maybe I’m just used to everyone treating you like a long-lost cousin at a family reunion, but the customer service was a bit meh. Nothing awful, just not super warm. When we went to ask for a to-go container, we waited a bit while the staff finished their convo which totally don’t mind but when the blonde cashier/barista helped us, she gave us a solid eye-roll with a lip snarl that felt like we asked for her firstborn instead of a box. Oop.

All that said: this place has MAJOR potential . It’s beautiful, the concept is on point, and with just a few tweaks to hospitality and quality consistency, it could easily be a go-to spot. I want to root for this place, and I hope to come back and give it another shot soon, especially...

Today’s experience at the Bistro;

My daughters and our friends gathered for brunch. We enjoyed the patio seating, understanding that Maple Street itself is not quiet. We all ordered food and some ordered coffee as well. While we were ordering our food another woman had to come ask the employee about the food she had ordered as she had only gotten her drinks thus far. Well we ended up waiting for at least 30 minutes for our food after we ordered it. I grant that there was a decent amount of business at that time, (around10 am Saturday) but I expected things would move faster at this sort of place. Maybe it is usually that length...none of the employees seemed apologetic about it. Now we all really did enjoy our food. I felt the breakfast sandwiches were perhaps a bit overpriced, but quite good. The paninis were well complimented and are much more food for the money. The tomato soup, pumpkin muffin and cinnamon roll were all good. I enjoyed my hot Sweet Roll Latte, but my daughters said their coffees were quite tasteless. It was a blended vanilla swirl latte and an iced maple street latte. The vanilla drink, if we understood the menu correctly, should have come with chocolate whipped cream, but arrived with regular whipped cream. Another friend of mine said she received the maple cream when she should have had chocolate. Now had I realized about the cream early in the game, I would have brought the drinks back and asked, but my daughter didn’t tell me until the drink was about gone. :. My overall thoughts are that I would go again; the complaints of today may be unusual events. I had a really hard time deciding between the 3 star and 4 star rating....tough call. But with both service and quality concerns, I...

I genuinely love this place, the fun beverages, and the food, as I have loved coming here for a few years now, but sadly experienced a significant lack of quality customer service this afternoon coupled with disappointing interpersonal skills. Good customer service would’ve been to let the remaining guests at the tables at closing time know that the bistro was now closed, which would’ve been received well with an apology for staying past our welcome and a prompt exit. Instead, the lights were abruptly turned off without verbal indication that the bistro was closed and that the employees would like the remaining guests to exit. Additionally, the staff member (with very pretty blue and black colored hair) immediately locked the doors as soon as we relocated outside and began to very audibly slam the chairs up onto the tables to the point where we could hear every chair aggressively going up from outdoors. Further, this staff member proceeded to shake her head and repeatedly glare at us and the other customer once everyone exited, which probably was not the right call or best way to handle the situation. Collectively, as a customer, this experience was not received well, and there are some visible areas for improvement regarding closing procedures that entail a swift close while still displaying good customer service and appropriate interpersonal skills. Truthfully, I am not a regular review writer, but I was disappointed and dissatisfied enough with today’s experience that I felt it was important to provide what I hope is constructive feedback. Thank you for serving the Spokane community and for the typical quality service provided, with the exception of this afternoon. I am hopeful for better future...