| rev:text
| - I've been here at least 5 or 6 times since my last review and here are some things I've noticed.
Every time I've come here, it's really loud. The cafe is usually mostly full and it's a small space - that could be part of the reason? It depends on the kind of culture and atmosphere you want to create, I suppose. It's mostly university or high school students chatting and laughing when I go. The clientele leans young though occasionally I see people older than me. Personally, I go to cafes for a relaxing experience and a quiet place to do work - I probably should have known that it would become more popular as I first started going when this place was new. The music is also everywhere which doesn't really set a vibe - I hear things from top 40 to 2010's pop and rock and oldies to... I'm not sure I know because it really is all over the place. And the music is loud, maybe because the people are loud. The volume is a major reason I don't come here anymore. Maybe it's quieter during weekdays? Which is fine - I don't think BlackGold set out to become a hipster minimalistic indie cafe playing indie folk music with a quiet atmosphere anyway. It just doesn't suit my needs.
Don't expect latte art unless the owner is there. I find their lattes/specialty drinks lean sweet. I like sweet so I'm okay with that. However, the very instagrammable raspberry white hot chocolate is a sugar bomb (well it is hot chocolate...). The spinach and feta bistro is a good choice for a snack.
The baristas are really friendly, and how should I say this... they're very chill. They seem quite young (this is not a negative thing) and from what I can tell they seem to be in school, and so perhaps for them this job is not their main focus. They're always chatting (which is great - staff should have a good relationship with each other) but the impression I get is that they don't take their jobs seriously. I can't explain it - it's just the vibe I get. Small things like in my last review, where halfway through my latte they informed me that they had accidentally given me regular milk instead of lactose free. That could have been a very serious error for someone else, but thankfully for me it wasn't. It was quite a while ago, but it made enough of an impression on me to remember it. I've noted other examples before during my visits here, but I can't remember them now. But the baristas are very, very friendly and nice and it's honestly great that they don't look like the super stressed out people who work at Starbucks. I try to be as balanced as possible when I review, and I'm usually not so subjective about a place, and especially the people that work there, but I have enough feelings about it to comment on it.
When you log on to their wifi with your email, the owner sends you discounts and free items from time to time. It's a nice way to keep people coming back and build a loyal fanbase (which they obviously do have) which is an amazing thing for a local, independent cafe. They also do local events here which brings the community together.
I know this review reads like I hate places where young people hang out and have fun, but I've barely hit my mid-twenties. I guess it's just not exactly what I'm looking for in a cafe. For me, I go to cafes for a place to get down to business and be productive and in general, I enjoy quieter spaces. Different strokes for different folks - like many people here, you might love it.
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