BREW coffee bar — Restaurant in Toledo

I have been a patron of Brew Coffee for a number of years. I've always been impressed with the great customer service and the overall positive atmosphere of your shop. I'm proud to support locally owned businesses. I was genuinely impressed by how well the store made efforts to stay open during the pandemic. Recently, however, I've experienced a number of grievances that became too much for me to ignore.

Chipped Glass Cups - On 2 different occasions, I noticed a glass cup with a chip on the upper brim. Any glass cup must be removed as chipped glass is a major health code violation.

Not washing hands - A number of customers were standing in line. An employee was at the register, then left the register to take out the trash and didn't wash his hands upon returning to the register. Why would he choose to take out the trash at that precise moment when a number of customers just walked in the door? And why after taking out the trash did he not wash his hands? This is a major health code violation and reflects poorly on the overall cleanliness of the store.

Earbuds - When ordering as a customer, I will out of respect remove my earbuds so as to better hear and communicate with the barista. Likewise, I would expect the barista to NOT have in their earbuds. Often when ordering, I will have to repeat my order, the barista will ask, "what?" as they remove their earbud. Why when having to take someone's order would they have earbuds in the first place? Why is that acceptable?

Yep - I can remember the original location the baristas would come to the table and serve the drinks. Understandably the new location is much busier and doesn't allow for that level of service. At the pickup counter, I will say a courteous thank you when I pick up my drink and the response from the staff now typically is either silence or "yep."

Stamps - I registered for the rewards program and when I was eligible for a free drink, I was somehow back to 1 stamp. The barista, on 2 separate instances managed to change my stamps or simply didn't ring up the order...

I enjoy Brew’s coffee, late hours, and plentiful tables with outlets. Normally I get their coffee in a mug while staying there or in a to-go cup. However, one day I had my own travel mug with me and asked the barista with the turquoise beanie for the drip coffee in my own mug. They have two size options, short (12 oz) and tall (20 oz). The barista asked me how many oz my mug was, and I checked the bottom to find it was 14 oz. The barista then proceeded to charge me for a tall. I find it extremely strange that someone would charge me for 20 oz of coffee when I directly told them my mug holds 14 oz. I understand if the coffee shop doesn’t want to give me 2 oz of free coffee, but there are several fairer ways to have handled the situation including: 1) charge for a short and just put 12 oz of coffee in my mug, 2) say they don’t put coffee in personal mugs and let me pour the coffee in my mug myself, 3) fill up my personal mug and at least ask if I want the rest of the coffee in a cup if they charge for more. All the other coffee shops I’ve ever been to would automatically charge for the smaller cup if you bring your own mug because you are saving the shop dishes/the cost of the cup. The extra ~50 cents is not a big deal, but it’s the principle that counts, and the experience left a bad taste...

I use to love coming here until this employee tried to force me to buy something before she gave me the WiFi password. I live around the corner and I come here often. When I do come I use my personal hotspot connection but my phone was kinda slow today. Plus I just ate and wasn't ready for a cup of coffee. I'm going to be here for hours so I wasn't in a rush but had every intention of buying a cup of coffee. She was very adamant about not letting me get on the WiFi until another employee gave it to me and I didn't like the way she let me know. That whole encounter left a bad taste in my mouth. The other employees are a lot nicer and never have confronted another customer like that.

Other then the nasty bitter attitudes and bad vibes from these employees, Brew has great coffee. I'll just come in the daytime between clinicals if I have decent free time to avoid these...