I've honestly never been so baffled by nearly universal praise for an establishment.
Full disclosure: I'm a barista. I'm by no means a coffee expert, but I know the do's and don'ts and can tell a good cup from a bad one. Let's just say I knew my coffee experience was going to be awful before I even ordered my drink.
Biggest red flag was that all their espresso was preground. It's common sense that you grind your beans as close to extraction as possible. Everyone wants their coffee fresh, right? Second warning sign was a practice that I've honestly never seen done before. For some strange reason the barista was dosing a certain amount of espresso into the portafilter and then scooping equally old (if not older) espresso into it with a piece of wood from a mound off of the dirty counter. At this point I had to avert my eyes because the horror of what I was witnessing was just too painful. Unfortunately, I opened my eyes just in time to see the guy cover my cappuccino with a thick layer of cocoa powder.
No need to go into the nitty gritty about the taste, obviously it wasn't good. If you're reading this before your first Olimpico experience, there's still hope! Head down St. Viateur until you hit Cafe Myriade (II). Primo coffee (49th Parallel) and the baristas know what they're doing.