Gryphon Cafe — Restaurant in West Chester

I recently visited Gryphon Cafe with high hopes, especially given its reputation for serving excellent coffee. However, my experience fell short due to several disappointing factors that make it difficult to recommend this spot.

Firstly, the café has a baffling system regarding its menu. There is no readily available menu for customers to browse—just a single paper copy to be shared. Even more frustrating, the menu doesn’t include prices. This extends to the coffee options listed on the board; there are no prices displayed anywhere. As a result, you’re left asking the staff about the cost of every single item- which quickly becomes tedious and uncomfortable.

Secondly, the staff’s attitude left much to be desired. They were caustic and unfriendly, and visibly inconvenienced when requesting silverware when served, making the experience far less enjoyable than it could have been. Customer service is a cornerstone of any café experience, and unfortunately, the team here simply seemed disinterested and uninvested in creating a welcoming atmosphere.

Another inconvenience is the lack of self-serve water. If you’d like a glass of water, you need to ask for it and then wait until the staff finishes other orders. This detail adds to the sense that yet again, customer comfort is not a priority at this establishment.

While it’s true that the coffee here is very good, it’s simply not enough to offset these frustrations.

Fortunately, there are numerous cafe choices within 1-3 blocks, such as Mayday Café which offers a stark contrast. There you will find a full menu with prices!) readily available, a friendly and professional staff, and an overall experience that values the customer’s time and comfort.

While the coffee at Gryphon may be worth trying, the lack of basic amenities, clear pricing, and warm service make it hard to justify a visit. Maybe this was an off day, but save yourself the hassle and head to any one of the other upscale coffee cafe options (like Mayday Café) instead—you’ll be glad you did. My colleagues and I will not waste...

I had been to the Wayne location many, many times and loved it. Great staff, atmosphere, food, etc. I never had any complaints.

I was beyond stunned when a young teenage girl was rude at the West Chester location. It was a few minutes before closing time on Saturday, 8/7/21. I was not even inside the place. I was way outside the door. All that I said to someone was ‘I love this place’. A tall teenage girl with wavy dark brown hair walks up to us and rudely, very rudely says ‘we’re closed. We closed at 6.’ Then shuts the door in our face.

I was very upset. For years I loved this place and spoke highly of it. No one at the Wayne location ever dreamed of slamming a door in the face of someone who was walking by, let alone complementing the place.

I had met the owner many times from going to the Wayne place. He would be very embarrassed to hear that this is how an employee of his treated a customer.

This girl needs to grow up and learn how to respect other people. She clearly isn’t mature enough to be working at a local coffee shop with a high reputation. I hope she stops acting so entitled and learns to respect customers walking by the store. Someone who knew better, like people working at the Wayne location, would have either let us get something to go, or would have at least apologized. If this was my first impression, I would not be going back, and I would be telling others not to go back. Maybe this teenage girl doesn’t care, but I feel bad for the owner that this girl acted this way after he worked had and built such a good reputation for his local...

Overall, I really like the aesthetic of Gryphon Cafe and the warm, friendly customer service—Grace was especially kind and helpful, and there was also a great guy on staff whose name I didn’t catch. The space has a clean, modern vibe, but I wish they offered some comfier seating. Every chair is wooden, which makes you wonder if they’re trying to subtly discourage lingering.

The food was just okay—not bad, but not quite good enough to justify the higher prices, especially considering there are better and more affordable food options nearby. I did enjoy their chai tea latte, which is surprisingly hard to find a decent one these days. It’s not the best I’ve ever had, but definitely makes my top 5.

Their croissants are impressively large and pretty good. However, I was disappointed by their beignets, which were basically just sugar-covered doughnuts—not quite living up to the name. I also tried their Earl Grey hot chocolate, which was unique and surprisingly tasty, but the portion was tiny (8 oz) for the price.

One thing I really appreciate is that Gryphon Cafe participates in the Too Good To Go app, which helps reduce food waste by offering discounted bags of unsold food at the end of the day. It’s a great initiative and definitely adds to the shop’s appeal.

All in all, it’s a pleasant place with great people and a few standout drink options, but there’s room for improvement in food quality and...