Cafe Amico — Restaurant in Suwanee

First, I will share all of the good things before I get to the downside of visiting this establishment. The coffee beverages are excellent and deserve a 5 star rating. Hands down I would say it is clearly one of the best in the Suwanee area. We were greeted by a friendly brunette with a big smile behind the cash register. She politely answered our questions but I could tell she may have been a little overwhelmed, because there was a long line and she had other guests waiting. Because of her politeness and welcoming smile under seemingly high pressure moments, I gave several dollars in gratuity before receiving our food and coffees. Our coffee came rather quickly (less than 5 minutes) and was perfect. This is the third time I have ordered food at this location and it always takes quite some time to arrive on the table (roughly 10 minutes). The food is good, but it's not a place that I would come just for the food. I had the pesto chicken sandwich; a little dry and not much flavor but the roll was fresh. As I was researching this restaurant, I found that back in February 2020, they received a score of 42 on their restaurant inspection. So I would say that you may want to take a look at their current score before ordering food. I did not have a chance to do that today. There is very limited seating in the cafe. The day we went it was raining hard and difficult to find a seat. This is where my frustration comes in. I noticed that huge tables were taken up by 2-3 people already finished and did not sense that they should move on as the cafe was becoming crowded. The same thing outside on the patio. I noticed a customer finished with their drink but was tapping away on their laptop. I took it upon myself to move a outdoor table underneath the entrance overhang so that it was out of the rain. A staff member came out and told me that I could not have it there near the door. I apologized and asked if I moved it further away from the door if that would be okay. She seemed very annoyed and said "yes, but put it back when you are finished." I completely agree on cleaning up after one self. And I planned to put things as I found them. But honestly, I was left feeling unwelcome and unaccommodated. I visited the cafe with a special needs adult. My expectation is to have a staff member aware of this and willing to accommodate him. This is why I have bumped the rating down to two stars. I feel this is not a welcoming, accomodating place. If I were the manager of this establishment, I would have a hostess or staff member available to clean and rearrange tables. I was given a to-go bag as if it was time for us to move on, yet I had an important sit down meeting with my guest. With it raining and us having ordered a meal, there was nowhere else to go. When this conflict happened with the table, I nearly went back inside yo send the food back and request a full refund. Overall, I feel as though the owner should consider making some seating changes and accommodations for guests wanting to enjoy their food offerings as dine-in. At the very minimum, staff should be trained on how to diplomatically serve all and ensure guests feel...

My first two experiences here were amazing (I went on the weekend). The barista on shift was attentive, big on details, went all in with the presentation (designs in the hot chocolate)...the works. Considering the fact that this place is pretty pricey for a café (1 tea, 1 hot cocoa and 2 pastries will run about $17), these touches are important. We're paying for the experience. I tipped the barista on my way out and was happy to come back again.

Today however (my 3rd visit) I had a different barista. He didn't bother with presentation at all. My pastry was barely warm when I got it, and he refused to heat up my daughter's cheese danish. He insisted it would come out soggy. The only problem with his statement is that a few days before, the other barista warmed up the cheese danish for my husband and it came out crispy on the edges, with gooey cheese in the center...it was perfect. So I'm not sure what the deal was with this guy―what he said just wasn't true at all. I did not experience the quality service I received with the weekend barista, and I left there thinking I should have saved my money, had tea at home, and warmed up a pain au chocolat in my own toaster oven.

If they get around to providing a consistence customer experience, then I would totally recommend this place. It's cozy, the tea, coffee, and hot cocoa are top-notch and the seating...

UPDATE: It is appalling that this business would make up a FAKE story to try to invalidate an honest customer review, and try to paint the reviewer in a bad light. The owner did not interact with us at all except to take our order at the counter. Nothing in the owner's response actually happened. This kind of behavior really speaks volumes about this place. Never coming back here again. I would update to zero stars if it was possible.

Five stars for the coffee! I've only ever had americanos and cappuccinos here. The cappuccino was good, but the americanos here are excellent. High quality beans. Going by the americanos, I expect that all the coffees here would be pretty good, and I would come back to try them. This place is unique in that it offers London Fog, vietnamese coffee, etc. that aren't commonly found around here. The interior is small and cute, with long tables and limited seating. One star off for the uncomfortable interior situation - I wouldn't recommend drinking inside. The owner/manager sat on a chair at the back very close to the tables, within earshot of everything, and it was so uncomfortable to have him sitting right by us in an already small space, to the point that we didn't feel like we could have a conversation. Maybe ok for studying alone, but I would never come here with...