Café e Dolci - New York — Restaurant in Town of Warwick

Writing this after months of visiting and honoring a new business in Warwick and HOPING it would be all that we dreamed of as residents. After time and again, grumpy, snubbish counter service and food quality that is to question, and over-priced everything --- the final straw finally came this past week. First off, the acai mix for the bowls taste like sludge. The basic cup of coffee for $4?? Ridiculous. The overall attitude time and time again when ordering at the counter of a cafe is just beyond cringe and irritating, especially when charging those prices. Bring some JOY to the world --- you are selling coffees and gelatos for the love of stars!! But no ... the LAST STRAW was this past week when this was the only option open later in the evening. I brought 4 very excited girls in after their middle school dance. Paid a fortune for 4 hot chocolates (that turned out to be Luke warm). The silver lining is that they WERE NOT ACTUALLY HOT, because with the usual attitude at the counter, they brought the cups to the girls at the table with one lid completely insecurely put on. Now, of course it is the ultimate responsibility of the customer to make sure the lid was on. One of the young girls did not double check and the entire cup spilled straight down her neck, chest, and lap. NOW. .... if this were to be at a normal "hot chocolate" temperature, she would have had serious painful burns. Without realizing it wasn't hot, and REGARDLESS, I jump up and run to the counter and ask for something to help her. The woman looks at me with daggers coming out of her eyes and tells me to get napkins. I said the young girl just spilled HOT beverage down her entire front could you please help me? [BTW .... the place was empty so they were just cleaning up] I had the child run to the bathroom because she was COVERED. You would think a grown woman would have some compassion for a kid completely covered down the front of her shirt and pants with liquid!) With the BIGGEST, NASTIEST attitude the employee/ manager maybe? rollling her entire face " WHAT DO YOU WANT A TOWEL??? WET or WHATT???" I wanted to jump over the counter at this point but I had 4 young pre-teens with me. I said YES. PLEASE. Don't you think that would be NICE since she could be burned by the PRODUCT you just served us with the top half on?? WELL ... as SLOW as possible, this grown woman employee at Cafe Dolce gets a towel, wets it as slow as possible and hands it to me as slow as possible rolling her eyes. Then I hear her and the other counter worker laughing right in the back there.

Honestly, I am APPALLED. I am appalled not just by the behaviour and service of a small town business. But of the callous, downright MEAN behavior of a grown woman seeing a child COULD HAVE had degree-burns IF their product was served hot and with the top (almost sloppily and intentionally) put on half way.

I will NEVER step foot in Cafe Dolce ever ......

The atmosphere is cozy and well adapted to those who need a place to charge devices, work, chat, etc... I have come here a few times to get a coffee and pastry. The food is pretty decent. I haven't tried it all, but overall I've had some pretty good cakes, scones, etc...

However, I do take my coffee black and I take it pretty seriously as so many of us do. Unfortunately, this is where this cafe is weakest. At home I make a pour over, but most cafe's are not set up for this, so when I'm out I order an Americano or a french press if they happen to have it.

Today I ordered an Americano and to say that it looked and tasted like a very weak tea is a bit generous. It's been weak on prior visits too, but today was beyond the pale (literally). On sight, I was questioning that this was an Americano, but I went ahead and tried it.

Yes, the taste matched the appearance. It was as pale tasting as it looked. So I brought it back and asked if it would be possible to have it remade somewhat stronger. The same person at the register agreed to do so without question, which was appreciated, but this time I watched.

She filled a good sized glass mug full of hot water and brought it over to the espresso machine. Wrong! I saw that we were about to get the same result, so I asked her to please dump at least half of the water out. I should have asked her to dump out more, or asked for the espresso shot separately so that I could judge the mix for myself.

She did dump some of the water, but still not enough. She then dumped in a single espresso shot and brought it over. Again, this was so weak. In frustration I just took the mug and went to finish my scone. This is also another one of those places that has the tipping feature on the payment system so that you tip before you get the service, so I can also say that I regret having included the tip in the payment.

Instead, put the shot in first, then add water and look to see that it's still a relatively strong cup. More WATER can then be added if the customer requests it. Most cafes make their Americanos in this fashion and I always tell them that they should make it as they always do, but to just add less hot water.... and yes, I understand that the mug will not be quite as full. I can usually talk them through it so that I get what I'm looking for.

So here is my suggestion: the person at the register should only be allowed to pour brewed coffee. To be fair, most Americans just don't "get" the Americano. It should be relatively strong. Otherwise, why bother ordering it instead of regularly brewed American coffee? And just for reference, I have spent a good amount of time drinking coffee in Italy. I also married one of the locals.

Most people do seem pleased with the coffee here, but it seems to primarily be the Cappuccinos, Lattes and things...

My husband and I went to Cafe e Dolce with our 2.5 year old and newborn. My husband was on line to place an order. I was nursing our newborn and sitting at a table with our toddler. Mind you, our children are exceptionally well behaved. There was a display in the window with a few balloons and some patriotic decorations. Like any 2.5 year old, my son got excited when he saw balloons and picked one up and was holding it. He put it on our table and I told him we had to put it back. When my husband returned with our food to the table, we planned on getting it back where it belonged. Next thing I know, an employee shouted across the restaurant to yell at me that she worked a long time on the display and would appreciate that we didn’t touch it. I told her I understood and my son moved one balloon that I planned to move back. The employee turned around and rolled her eyes, with my husband being the next customer in line to see it. It was hard to do so at that time since I was nursing our newborn and my husband was in line. I was so embarrassed that she singled us out over a balloon, that we left. We will not be returning to this store ever again, despite the fact that we do enjoy their food. I hope this employee understands she lost our business today and all future days over a balloon. My son left disappointed that he didn’t get his...