Nervous Dog Coffee Bar, Stow — Restaurant in Stow

What a gem of an independent coffee shop! Take a break from your standard Starbucks & stop in to Nervous Dog for your favorite coffee drink or any number of specialty beverages, all branded with cute (if not particularly descriptive) names. They serve pastries & breakfast sandwiches all day, plus plenty of other sandwiches, all of which can be done as salads instead. The staff is friendly, accommodating, & happy to answer your questions or give you a recommendation if you're not sure where to begin. Too cold to leave your car? Nervous Dog also has a drive-thru window.

The space is bright & airy, small but not too small, & there's usually plenty of space for customers who want to catch up with a friend, play a board game, or just hunker down with their laptop. The staff doesn't seem to mind hours-long "campers" (like me), which makes it a nice choice for folks who work from home but don't want to work from, you know, actual-home.

My frustration here is that one of their two main seating areas can be reserved for private parties (study groups, book clubs, whatever). This is really nice, for the people renting it - but for average cafe-goers, it means that half the seating in the place becomes unavailable, & what little seating is left is either not next to an outlet or is not the sort of table arrangement you can work from (low tables, armchairs, etc., not ideal for laptops). Sometimes, the rented space is only 1/3 full, so the room is off-limits despite much of the seating being totally open. And in my experience, the staff is not necessarily great about communicating that the room is reserved later - so I've sat down, settled in, & been mid-conference call when I've received a tap on the shoulder & a request to vacate. So frustrating!

I really like Nervous Dog but feel like I can't necessarily rely on their seating to be available when I need it. I enjoy the coffee & the vibe, but I'm looking for everyday...

Incompetent customer service! I work across the street and walked over for a midday tea break. I was initially greeted but wanted a minute to look at the menus. Another customer came in and the server asked if he could wait on him. Sure. As I stood there waiting for him to finish up the other customer's order, 2 other servers appeared behind the counter. In the meantime, another customer walked in and one of the other servers waited on that customer. (I never figured out what the 3rd server was doing behind the counter) Anyone with good training and common sense would ask "who's next" and not just pick a person to wait on. So I waited a little longer. The original server finally finished the order, saw that I was still waiting, yet took an order from the drive-thru. I stood there for 15+ minutes with only the initial acknowledgment then it was like I became invisible while 3 people behind the counter were in lala land. The place was not busy. I understand labor difficulties but this was not the case as 3 people behind the counter should be able to manage a drive-thru window and the non-busy counter - which means not completely ignoring a customer. Because times are difficult for businesses I would think employees would make it more of a priority to do their job efficiently. I guess I'll go across the street where I have 2 other choices since you don't seem to...

Their bagel breakfast sandwiches are delicious, so thanks to them for that. I can't comment on any other menu items. I gave a low rating because 1) they don't take cash as payment 2) they didn't warn me of that fact before ordering (not everyone has a card on them at all times), and 3) I had to wait for about 10 minutes before they asked for my payment and informed me they couldn't take it. Then, 4) they were not apologetic or even polite in handling the situation. Why would any business not take cash as payment? You just want to make food/drinks to be wasted when people only have cash and therefore can't pay and, while you make the food that will ultimately go to waste, keep people waiting for nothing? My time is valuable too. I don't mind waiting if I actually can get the product, especially since it's good, but I don't want to wait for no reason. Warn people you don't take cash please or better yet get a cash drawer since we do still have paper money and people do still use it. And, if you forget to warn a potential customer and end up wasting their time, at...