Vendetta Coffee Bar — Restaurant in Wauwatosa

Last friday, April 26th, my friend and I stopped to check this location out as we recently had a great experience at the S 2nd Vendetta location. The Tosa location is closer to me so I was pumped about that.

Customer service was basically non existant and many great service opportunities were missed by the 1 appearing worker.

First miss. My friend and I walk in, clearly looking lost, not sure where a menu is, where to order, how to order. There were maybe 5 people Total in the coffee shop and most of them already had drinks. No one greeted us. No one acknowledged us. No one directed us. Not even a "I'll be right with you." We noticed 1 person behind the coffee bar. Maybe they're busy? I never like to assume.

Second miss. We walk up toward the coffee bar and I see 1 menu facing us. 1 tap reader on the bar, closest to us. And an order home screen on a Pad facing us. My friend and I stand there, speaking amognst us but definitely out loud, "Oh here's the menu. This is strange. Do we just place the orders ourselves?". The barista walks past us a few times. No greeting. No acknowledgement. No direction.

Third miss. So fine. I'm to assume that the set up is we order our drinks. So I click on the pad. NOW the batista decides to confront us. No "hello." No initial explanation. No apology. Just...."don't touch that."

We ended up leaving without anything. There are many other quality local coffee shops we can go where the service is of even a basic, acceptable level. The bad part is Vendetta does have some delicious drinks. It's unfortunate that the 1 worker couldn't even attempt to squeeze out a little bit of human decency and quality customer service. This is one thing that really aggravates me. I pride myself on quality customer service and it kills me when it is so obviously lacking. I get it....people have off days. Or they work in a job they hate. I'm not going to assume that I know this person's situation, because I don't. But that day we walked away from some likely delicious drinks because the customer...

Sunday after lunch… they ran out of the cold brew. So I couldn’t have the seasonal special.

Ended up getting an iced americano and a regular. Both were 12 ounces with 2 shots. Their espresso isn’t too strong, so if I order again, I would ask that they make it 8 ounces instead of 12. The hot Americano had a nice layer of foam on top.

We also had the shakerato, which came in a wine glass with a lot of foam on top. It was a cold drink and it was quite good.

They use their own proprietary, coffee beans, roasted, especially for them by a local roaster nearby. Hubby likes the place but he wishes they had more coffee options. They only have one type of drip coffee and he does like individual pour overs with different types of coffee. This place doesn’t cater to that aspect. However, they do have a mean macchiato, some good espresso, and amazing vibes.

There are lots of good little restaurants around and the atmosphere inside is quite unique. The bartender was super nice, and he was also quite knowledgeable. Overall always a great experience here...

Vendetta Coffee Bar offers a tried and true Italian inspired coffee experience in the states.

Food: My wife ordered a mocha w/ a chocolate croissant, and I had an espresso with an almond croissant. Both croissants were extremely flakey and well prepared. That said, the stand out by far is the coffee. My wife and I have been to Italy a few times, and this was by far the best Italian coffee we have had outside of Europe. Extremely clean, well prepared espresso. My wife's drink was not overly sweet, and had just the lightest touch of chocolate.

Service: Staff was very kind and prompt. Be mindful, they will make each cup of coffee, so speed is not a guarantee, however execution is.

Atmosphere: Beautiful bar with lots of space. Outside seating available.

Score: 9/10 Would consider higher, but need to go back a few times for consistency. This now bumps up with Hawthorne as one of the best cups of coffee in the Milwaukee area. However, if you are not a fan of Italian coffee, this may not be your thing...but give it a...