The news broadcast on 8/21/12 about the opening of Barista Café created a lot of buzz at work, as the café is located just down the street from our office building. Always looking for a new place to have lunch a couple of co-workers and I decided to check out Barista Café on Friday and were completely disappointed in the service.....or lack thereof! As we entered the café we were greeted by a girl sitting on a stool behind the register (no one was in line to pay or order food) she was just sitting there....and that pretty much sums up all the attention we received from the employees the entire time we were in the café.
After picking up a couple of menus by the register and seating ourselves we patiently waited about 10 min before one of my co-workers got up and asked the girl sitting on the stool if she could send a waitress over (she said yes but didn't get off the stool!). After another 5 minutes went by without any type of acknowledgment from the staff, we decided to leave. There were at least 6 employees (girls in spandex) in the café.....from the time we walked in to the time we walked out one was sitting on a stool behind the register, one conversating with a table of 4 guys, one trying to wait on two tables (she got confused and delivered food to the wrong table BUT I have to give her credit for being the hardest worker in the place during our visit), and the rest were standing behind the counter looking like lost/scared children. There are only about 14 tables with seating for either 2 or 4 in the cafe and not every table was occupied so it's not as if the place is huge or that it was really busy at the time of our visit.
With places like The Tilted Kilt, Twin Peaks and El Santo Cantina within walking distance of Barista Cafe the owner needs to get her staff up to par on customer service or hire Gordon Ramsay as chef. There are plenty of places to eat in this area and scantily clad waitresses come a dime a dozen around here so no matter what she looks like or what she's wearing if she can't do her job correctly, on time and with a smile on her face she might as well be wearing a muumuu.
I might give this place another try down the road but for now I'm still upset that they made me waste 20 minutes of my Friday lunch hour !!!