HotWax Coffee Shop & Tap House — Restaurant in Tampa

I do wish I could give negative stars for the harassment I endured with my friend last night celebrating her birthday. I should have gotten her name so as not to mix her up with anyone else. Management- she was part of your late night/closing staff around midnight of this day June 25th. Skinny blonde girl moderate height. As we are waking by my friend stops us and advised she is wants kava. I advise I'll go to the bathroom while she orders. We walk in. She stops at the bar. I procced to walk straight to get to the bathroom. Before I could make it to the door the most rude little ant bodily moving girl did an ant step in front of me and says "can I help you"? I can only describe my experience as a person with an ant 🐜 standing up like pose and whatever an ant would sound like if it spoke looking thing in front of me. It was very very disturbing. I respond " no, I dont need your help. I'm going to the bathroom". She responds after shifting her ant body pose and somehow even made her face look like an ant and says "well, you have to be a paid patron to use it". I then advised her of my friend standing there in her sight waiting ( on you probably) to take her order. Chill out. You are harassing me. Is it necessary the transaction be complete before I'm allowed to use the bathroom? " She says " yes". I stop my friend from ordering and tell her why as we walk out. Later on we were walking around and sat down to talk at a table right off the sidewalk. After 2 minutes we start laughing when we noticed where we were. Few minutes later ant girl comes out again with a disturbing ant tone and just so dang rude. By time I could catch myself from reciprocating her she was just standing there with again what I can only describe as an ant 🐜 hand shooing us off. We couldn't help but laugh at this girl. She promptly walks up to some officers in the street, makes some more ant gestures, walks in and they walk over still in the street and just stand there. After a moment I stood up and thanked them for not harassing me for I've committed no crime. I advised they have the place extinguished and moved on. If that was the owner she should be ashamed of herself and I pray for business gets what it deserves. If you are simply a staff member you should be fired and banned from being in hospitality if that's a thing. Lmao. Girl you suck! I still don't even know what this place is, because I don't consume kava, Kratom, wax, or whatever it is, but you don't seem to be what the reviews say this...

I wanted to leave an explanation to my poor service review because never in my life have I been treated so rudely. My name’s Mack McKenzie I am a gay African American woman in the community. I am always looking to support local and support businesses that support diversity & inclusivity. While HOTWAX’s establishment is decorated to be a welcoming place of ALL people, entrepreneurs, no matter the nationality etc the SERVICE does not.

The woman with the blue hair was extremely rude, attitude, condescending tone. The barista “riley” not sure if that’s his real name but he has a full beard and was wearing his hair in braids. Literally asked me if I needed something as if i was lost, because I giving a tour of the shop on FaceTime to friends. Bragging about how cute and inclusive it was. It was noon I had come in just to catch up on emails and grab a double espresso. I was on the phone speaking off to the side so he was assured i wasn’t ready to order. Yet I replied ACROSS the room (I was no where near the register) that I was on the phone and just one moment. As I approach the register to tell him my order he was beyond rude and dry. Overall not welcoming, I was optimistic though so I told him I LOVED hot wax and I frequent the coffee shop a lot and his exact reply was “ok”.

I’ve made it a mission to not allow the poor service and lack of eye contact and tone affect my love for the establishment and the space. I even went so far to ask the woman with the blue hair if the owners frequent the shop or have maybe have a email to reach out about the experience. She quickly said shut it down telling me she’s not giving me that information.

I paid for my coffee, didn’t drink it and left.

I’ve had this similar experience about 3-4 times now and have even brought guests with me to see if it was just me and they all feel the same. Some of which actually own business within the community. I’ll be making sure they share their experience as well.

It’s hard to call it racism without IMMEDIATE slander but let’s just say the woman and Riley were very clear to profile me and dismiss me and make me feel unwelcome before anyone else that was white presenting.

For a location with immense potential to be a stamper in the ybor community and welcome new and traveling guests with love. This should be addressed, nonetheless Bling Tiger will continue to be my GOTO coffee shop in Centro Ybor. Years of experience with multiple different staff members and NEVER a...

I wish I could review with less than 1 star. Between the rude woman at the bar and the man in the shop with his face planted in his phone. This was a horrible place. I asked the bartender to explain the kava drinks to me because I do not know anything about it besides what I read on the Internet. I was hoping to hear a knowledgeable explanation of what it helps, their experience with it, etc., but I was told to look at the sign on the wall with short bullet points of it. So, again, I ask her, can you explain further, I don't smoke anything, take anything, or drink anything at all. She said "It's a tea!" with a look of "I shouldn't have to explain anything to you and you are wasting my time". The RBF was strong with this one. In my opinion, I don't think she knew anything about any of it and rather than getting someone who did know, she just brushed me off. Also, the bar was EMPTY besides the 4 people buried in their laptops. Now, I know why the bar AND SHOP were empty. My husband was pissed at the whole interaction. I could have said a lot more to her face, but I think this will get through better. Also, if you want a better experience and more knowledge of Kava and Kratom, go around the corner to the Spookeasy on 15th. Not only did the bartender actually stood their and talked to me, but she gave me recommendations and personal experiences with it all. In conclusion, if you think you want to go in there, just keep walking. They don't want any business from anyone except the people who go in for the free Internet access (which includes...