Shaghf Cafe — Restaurant in Tempe

I was appalled by the horrible service here— I don’t think I’ve ever experienced being mistreated like this before??

My friend and I came on a busy Saturday to try Shaghf for the first time and loved the atmosphere upon walking in. We saw a line wrapping around the room and got excited. Must be worth the wait! I don’t mind a long line or waiting unreasonable amounts of time because I’ve worked in hectic food industries and understand how stressful it can be, so I’m ridiculously lenient when it comes to ANYTHING— let’s get that straight. Double booked? Forgot my order? Made a mistake? Just own up to it and we’re cool! I’m the easiest customer you’ll meet. Now let’s get into the horror I experienced:

I placed my order (lemon breeze passion— which is a simple energy drink, lemonade, and passion fruit syrup from what the barista told me). I got my number, and my friend and I sat down after ordering.

10-15min later, my friend’s tablet beeped signaling her order was ready. She got the same drink I did but a different flavor. I was surprised because she ordered after me. So again I waited without much thought. I watched as several people went to pick up their order after me. 4 of whom were behind me in line, with significantly larger orders and complex drinks than mine. My number started to beep several minutes later and I excitedly walk up to the counter. I stand there and smile since I didn’t see my clear fruity beverage, figuring it was probably on deck next, and this girl asks me what I needed in a rushed tone (I get it, she’s busy). I said my number beeped, im picking up my order. She points to the counter which was two bowls of desserts and a latte. I told her it wasn’t mine. She said “yes it is”. I said “I promise it’s not mine haha”. She rolls her eyes and says “THIS is your order. A habibi latte and __”. I said no, I didn’t get that and didn’t want to take someone’s order. She gets irritated and her eyes got big with annoyance and says “then what did you get”. I told her I got the lemon breeze with passion. And, the girl who took my order saw me and she was much kinder and said “I’ll make it. It’ll be out in two minutes. I said ok and thanked them and went back to my table.

Another few minutes pass and I see more people picking up orders and beepers going off signaling orders are ready. Then I hear a girl yelling “IF YOU ORDERED A FRAPP WE CANT SERVE YOU BECAUSE WE DONT HAVE ICE. WE HAVE AN ICE SHORTAGE”. I started getting worried and frustrated because more than 5min have passed. my friend has almost finished her drink while we were talking and I still haven’t gotten mine. Like was I even going to get it? I go back up to the counter to check and the same rude girl says it’s not ready. I started explaining that it made no sense that my friend got her order before me even though it was the same, and that I’ve heard over 10+ beeps go off after my number beeped earlier and I was still counting. She tells me “your order # is __ and it’s not ready” and stares at me pissed off. No duh it’s not ready, I can see, but how long does it take to open a can, pour ice, and some syrup when you said 2 minutes??

I sat back down after she refused to help me, and 10 SECONDS after I sat down, my number beeped signaling my drink was finally ready. The rude girl was HOLDING MY DRINK. Why did she send me away when the drink was basically ready?? I picked it up with a pretty pissed off face and thanked the rude girl and left immediately.

It was not worth the wait and mistreatment to get a passion fruit flavored energy drink. Im all for supporting local, but we got there at 11am and left at 12:15pm if that helps you better understand my frustration over two energy drinks and getting treated horribly and insisting someone else’s order was mine. The staff needs more training, because it was evident they were all stressed out with the traffic and ice shortage. The girl who took my order was so kind and informative, but the one on the...

The first time I had gone an Arabic girl took me and my boyfriends order, we ordered an order of the Dubai chocolate, we were super pleased with what we got (it came in a box with 2 medium sized bars, so I was under the assumption that an order of their Dubai chocolate was the 2 bars, well today I had taken my mother there, she had ordered an order of the Dubai chocolate under the impression she was getting what I got the first time, I ordered 2 orders of it expecting (4) bars. She was charged $9 and change, I was charged 18.59, I open the box , there is ONE bar and it is a totally different style/size and mold as the first time I came which was only 5 days prior (SUPER SMALL). Same for my mother, one bar, totally different style and size as what I had gotten the first time. Mind you we drove 30 + minutes to go there., the girls at the front were kind but kindness didn’t fix the issue. She told me that they had changed the bar molds, well that doesn’t change the quantity, so I showed her what i originally got and she was also then so confused so she went to the back, she took my phone and showed whoever what I had originally got. She comes out with my box with now 2 bars in it. (At this point I’m still under the impression that an order is 2 bars and i ordered 2 ORDERS ) so then I call the girl back over and explained my confusion when a dude that works there steps in abruptly and said “I don’t understand the issue” and then the girl proceeded to explain that the worker that served me that day (i described what she looked like and they knew who I was talking about) had been giving out 2 bars for the price of 1. I explained to him in further detail my frustration and he did not care one BIT. we go to the front for a refund and the lady in back comes out and just stares at us as if we’re in the wrong? How are we in the wrong because your worker didn’t know what she was doing? we told them 2 more bars would satisfy us as we drove over 30 minutes and weren’t expecting this. Well, clearly the 2 chocolate bars meant more than satisfying us customers for something that they messed up on their end. We would have stayed customers if they weren’t so greedy and took the time to understand the situation. We then go to get a refund and the girl doesn’t know how to process a refund so she had to call her manager on the phone (really shows the training they provide their workers, pricing items wrong, not knowing how to do refunds etc) I will not be returning nor recommending this...

1/4/25: Short version - I do not know how to pronounce it, but I do know it is a very cool place! Very stylish, exceptionally clean, friendly staff, and some mighty fine beverages & treats. Nice sized shaded patio. I didn't notice if there were misters for the hot summer months, though. Definitely a place to visit again and again.

Long version - we stopped in this particular Saturday a little bit before 4 pm. The first striking thing I noticed was the decor. Classy, colorful, and comfortable. It has a very welcoming vibe, as well. The gentleman at the counter was courteous and helpful with our questions, patient while we decided which tasty treats to purchase -- and there are a lot.

With ASU being on holiday, it was not crowded. There were a few other people inside, with a small group enjoying the patio. As I was taking pictures, my eyes kept wandering to what they were eating. My curiosity got the best of me and I walked out to ask; it was a Nutella crepe. There were about five or six people sharing it and every single one them commented on how good it was.

My sister ordered the red velvet latte, mine was the lemon breeze pomegranate. We both enjoyed them, but not as much as the sweets we ordered (ha ha): Bischoff cheesecake and Pistachio Croffle. Let me say I do not like cheesecake. It is too dense and rich, even for my sweet tooth. But their Bischoff cheesecake was nothing like that. It was light and airy, and although sweet, not sickeningly so. It was fantastic. My pistachio croffle was divine. A slight crisp on the outside, airy inside, and the pistachio mixture was mouthwateringly good. Another gentleman delivered everything to our table as they became available and was also very polite, laughing along with us when I said, "there's 5,000 calories on that plate there". LOL!

The parking lot is not huge but there are two park-n-rides close by (one east across the street and another north). I am not a coffee drinker but it looks like they have plenty of alternatives, and my raging sweet tooth is very happy with their treats. We will definitely visit Shaghf Cafe...