Aromas Coffeehouse Bakery & Cafe — Restaurant in Williamsburg

In regards to March 18, 2022:

I’m not one to write reviews typically, and I almost refrained, but my boyfriend and I have both been working in service/running our own businesses for quite some time, and we couldn’t believe how we were treated today.

In multiple places it states Aroma’s is open until 5, but for some reason, at 3:10, 10 minutes after we ordered, (while we were waiting for our items) an employee came storming out from the back, and loud enough for the whole (almost full) cafe to hear, raised her voice multiple times at the other employees, practically yelling, that they were closed. “UM we’re closed, we’re closed, we’re closed!!!”, meanwhile a family was in the middle of ordering. Then one of the employees (she was making drinks, I believe she had a red shirt on and glasses) began to VERY LOUDLY ask over and over again if she had to make the outstanding orders’ drinks, which seemed pretty obvious to me since everyone had paid for their order already. Shortly after, a girl with black hair and glasses, I presume the manager, came up to my boyfriend and I specifically, stating that the cafe was closed and that they would start having to “kick people out” almost immediately. Mind you, we hadn’t even received our drinks yet, but we had already been waiting about 10 minutes at this point, so when she told us to start wrapping up we explained we hadn’t even gotten our food or coffee, so she said it would be coming out shortly. When we received our coffees, I realized they hadn’t put coconut in, so I politely asked the previously mentioned girl, making the coffee, if she could please put a little syrup in, which I got attitude for.

We watched as the girl with black hair continued to tell people coming in that they’re closed, and tell all the patrons in the cafe multiple times that would have to quickly be on their way out. Then when she made another frantic announcement about 10 minutes later that everyone needed to leave, I immediately went up to the register and reminded them that we were still waiting for our food, now for about half an hour, to which the girl at the register said to me that they had received the order before they closed, so they should be working on the order and it would be out to us soon. She told us we could take a seat. Every other customer left, but we sat for another 5 minutes or so waiting for our food, when the girl with the black hair and glasses came up to us and asked us if we were waiting for food still, and when we said yes, she said “Oh, I thought you were just chilling,” and then informed us that the kitchen was closed so “the food won’t be coming out,” which obviously we were a very upset about, so we voiced our concern, which she then had the audacity to fight us on, saying “Wait, you guys didn’t even order any food.” We wouldn’t have still been hanging around in there if we hadn’t, BELIEVE ME. She tried to tell me what we ordered, again arguing that we didn’t pay for food when I KNOW we didn’t just pay 27$ for 2 coffees. So when we set her straight about what we ordered she argued about how that wasn’t what was on the ticket, even though I’m 100% sure it was because I re-read the ticket multiple times before when they messed up my drink. She eventually went through the system and found the food order and refunded us, apologizing only for the inconvenience of them closing early. The problem wasn’t even that they closed early honestly. It’s definitely extreme disorganization on the owners part that they closed early without conveying that to employees, but we wouldn’t even have minded if the employees had handled it correctly. They were not equipped to handle the cafe with a service attitude and polite demeanor AT ALL. Rather than working the issue out amongst themselves and making one announcement apologizing for the inconvenience, they were really public and loud about it, almost trying to make a point so everyone knew how mad they were, and frantically trying to evacuate the store as if something bad...

Well. Aromas has been our favorite spot since we were kids (23 years). It’s been 4 years since our last visit and the decline was kinda shocking.

I’d say maybe it was just a bad visit but we went back in the evening and it was no better. Seems maybe I’m not alone because, for as long as I remember, there have been regulars. There were none. Not in the morning, not in the evening. A few tourists went in after reading the menu.

Here is what was disappointing: The pastry case. Good lord. It was abysmal. No whimsical cakes or creative desserts. It was mostly empty and the stuff looked (and unfortunately tasted) damp and small and boring. Gone are the famous double chocolate cookies that tasted like a huge brownie and the chocolate chip coconut (which they still have on the website but I was told never existed today).

The vibe. That’s what happens when you lose your locals and regulars but they won’t even give you a cup of water if you spend $50 on a few coffees and sandwiches. “You can buy a bottle if you want.” It really had its own culture and it feels a bit soulless now.

2b. Kinda along with that, it’s sad they close earlier now. They used to have so many regulars and visitors and there would be live music and people playing chess and learning languages and drinking wine til long after dark.

The maintenance. We never minded that it wasn’t pristine, but now it looks unloved and one of the outdoor fans sounded like a whole flock of birds it was screeching so much, with dark dirt and leaf debris hanging off. We walked by when they closed later and no one swept up or wiped things well in the outside seating area.

The service. Don’t get me wrong. They were hustling! But they looked worn out and put very little care into the drinks in particular. I think that’s on the management. The previous owner had happier employees who kinda carried the vision more.

Anyhow, our Williamsburg itinerary was Aromas, Aromas and some more Aromas and all we got...

I have been here many times. It is a popular place for locals and tourists alike as it's between William and Mary and Colonial Williamsburg.

The atmosphere is very relaxed when it's not hyper busy. The price point is significantly lower than some of the other restaurants around Market Square. They do coffee, breakfast/brunch, lunch, snacks, and dinners with a pretty wide ranging menu.

People unfamiliar with Aromas might find it hard to navigate. Coffee order pickup is on one side and food pickup is on the opposite side of the counter, while ordering is in the middle.

While it is a dog friendly place (outside) it is not disabled friendly.

Edit for management:

While I like your establishment, it has not gone unnoticed the frequency that things have been skimped on-- for example, the poor quality of coffee cups or the new no water for free policy. Of course it's important to turn a profit, but nickel and diming customers is not going to be a productive approach in the long term. Furthermore, your policies on fashionable sustainability trends have been an issue in the past- such as removing all the straws and requiring customers to ask in order to "make them think about the consequences of their actions," is nothing less than problematic. Look at sustainable eco friendly options which have been adopted by other competitors as models instead of placing blame on your customers. The navigation of your space is already a huge issue to tourists (only 1/2 your patrons fyi) and repeat customers alike. Instead of wasting valuable resources and time, look to improve your customer experience and maybe a bigger location... It only takes one market Saturday to know you all are losing major patronage due to being overfull and overwhelmed. Fixing these issues might also resolve the turnover in your staffing issues. Support...