Buddy Brew Coffee — Restaurant in Tampa

Update 4/20: Another day with no chocolate chip cookies because they are sold out but have plenty of every other pastry. It’s like they don’t know how to run a business. I could still buy coffee, but what would be the point. I guess I’ll drive all the way back to Zephyrhills and just get Starbucks.

Update 1/15/25: Stopped by today and not only is it freezing inside the coffee shop (it’s pretty much the same temperature as outside where it’s 55 degrees). They are again out of chocolate chip cookies… the most popular item

Update 1/14/25: It’s become a bad freaking joke, the inconsistency of the experience of this god forsaken business. I would rather drive from Zephyrhills to Tampa in order not to go to Starbucks… but at least Starbucks is consistent. I have driven all the way here to find cold brew is back but they are completely out of THE MOST POPULAR ITEM… FREAKING CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES. This is not the only time and the business is open for another 4 HOURS!!!!! What is going on????? I drove an hour for this crap and it just doesn’t end with buddy brew. Please God give a local coffee shop that’s good. Just close at 2pm.

Update: both cold brew and nitro cold brew taps are now broken. They haven’t had nitro cold brew for months and no cold brew now for weeks.

I’m not really sure what to say. The service and offering here at buddy brew are wildly inconsistent. I generally like the cold brew here over Starbucks. I would prefer to support a local coffee shop. I regularly drive from Zephyrhills on my days off to come here. I enjoy a good chocolate chip cookie with my cold brew, but half the time the ones here are way over cooked. I like the eggs on toast but they are constantly under cooked. Im talking about the white part of the egg not cooked. If you can’t cook eggs then maybe you should take food off the menu. The avocado on my toast looks like a quarter of a small avocado. Where are the owners? I’ve stopped tipping because I’m constantly having to ask that my order or drink be corrected… when it’s good it’s good but it’s bad way too often. I don’t know if the employees are just not being trained or they aren’t being given the right tools and resources. The employees are usually kind but half the time they seem uninterested. I blame the owners of buddy...

Lately, Hyde Park location has been going downhill on customer service.

Love Buddy Brew since moving to Tampa. I love this Hyde Park location, but lately, the staff isn’t as great as it once was.

My folks have been staying in Hyde Park due to be displaced so we’ve been meeting them here quite often. There’s times where they are “closed” with 30 minutes left. When you walk in, they won’t acknowledge you, they’ll ignore you. Just so they can do their closing tasks early and go home right after close.

Trying to use the app, which you have to scan before the transaction. They will often “forget” or not listen so after the transaction they will tell you, “Oh it’s too late now.”

When brought up to the manager, not much was done. They zeroed out the transaction to give me the points, but then gave me the wrong amount.

For the price and product, I might as well go to Starbucks. They’re consistent. I know what I’m getting. I want to support local coffee. I want to support small business but small business needs to understand their customers and how to win them over.

So, I’ll not be coming for a while and hope they act on this because after reading some recent reviews—I’m not the only one that thinks this way.

Also, they have less pastries than usual. Either they lost their baker or they’re not making enough in the morning. Always...

So i decided to make the switch from Starbucks to Buddy Brew because i love how the coffee does not taste burned (i made the switch about a month ago). I walked into Buddy Brew in Hyde Park this morning wanting to try an iced caramel late. Normally when i got one at Starbucks, i would ask for a little caramel drizzled on top. I asked for some caramel drizzled on top from the woman making my late (she must have been having a bad day because she was very cold from the moment that i walked in) I try the late that she made after she put an alarming amount of caramel in it and its WAY too sweet. I apologize and say "I'm so sorry, this is too sweet for me" She laughed in my face very meanly. I apologized again and reminded her that i only asked for a small drizzle on top. She goes on arguing with me about how the drink is made. If a drink is made badly at Starbucks, they graciously take it back and re-make it to the way that you want with a pleasant smile, not a sarcastic smile and jerky "angry" movements. I think i might go back to Starbucks and learn to love the taste of burn just because of her terrible attitude. I walked out of there embarrassed, not only for me but for her as well.

Thank...