Happy Duo Cafe — Restaurant in University Place

Today was my first time coming into this cafe, it was so cute and I love the variety of drinks and pastries that are sold here but my review is 1 STAR because of the service of ONE of the Baristas (Female Barista with a short red/brown mullet, didn’t get their name because of no name tags) The other workers in the shop were very kind and sweet but the barista that called out our drinks was so aggressive, unreasonably loud and rude when calling out my 50yr old mother’s drink. My mom was enjoying one of the cafe’s delicious cinnamon rolls when her drink was first called, she was in the middle of chewing her bite when the barista didn’t even wait 5 seconds to yell her name very rudely, and because my 50 yr old mother didn’t get up 5 seconds after that this barista yelled EVEN LOUDER, (in this tiny coffee shop where we obviously heard her the first two times 😑) I looked at her and said “She heard you just give her a second” and the barista set the coffee down and walked away, which she should have done the first time she called out the order... Then, when the barista called out my drink they were miraculously using a normal inside voice. I enjoyed my first time at this adorable cafe but that barista just ruined the whole atmosphere and pissed me off ruining my first experience here. I’m a barista as well and know it’s stressful and busy but customer service is part of the job and if one of your baristas are in a bad mood send them on break or just have someone kinder call out the drinks and deal with...

I was there 2/4/24, my latte was luke-warm (which wasn't' the first time), it was also very cold in the room and was extremely over-crowded, to the point of most likely being a fire code violation. When I tried to leave, 2 people were blocking me. I very politely complained to a barista who seamed to be a supervisor. She was extremely rude to me! I asked to speak with the manager and she told me she was the acting manager. She didn't offer to re-make my drink, said there was nothing she could do about the over-crowding and said I could go sit out in the buildings common area. I overheard her talking to other barista's about how much caffeine she had had. She said she was "buzzing" "popping" or something to that effect.

Their website doesn't list an email address or have an online contact form so they don't seam to take customer concerns seriously. That barista needs to use some self-control, don't drink that that much caffeine and treat your customers with respect!! To the owner that I usually see there, this person should be terminated for speaking to customers that way and you need properly address the issues...

I don’t normally make reviews, but I just had to! That’s how much I liked this place! Maybe this is because I grew up in Seattle and was a barista myself for some years - but I had been wondering how there wasn’t a local, solid “home away from home” coffee shop with cozy ample seating for studying or chatting in this area of UP. I wasn’t sure what to expect, I wasn’t too impressed with the last place. Well, Happy Duo Cafe has filled this missing gap in my life and in UP! And the owner is incredibly friendly, confident about his space, and humble. They serve Olympia Coffee Roasters, good looking tea, and all sizes from 8 oz. & up are double shot - a great sign. My soy milk latte was steamed perfectly (hard to do!) and tasted great. Great selection of Macrina pastries and I hear there will be more food offerings soon! I love the bird mural, and the cozy earthy decor. I’m so excited to finally have a local spot I can walk to with great coffee and do some studying. A+. Please...