"2009-01-21T00:00:00"^^ . . "1"^^ . "1"^^ . . . "3"^^ . "1"^^ . "Oh, Three Roots. I have a very mixed relationship with you. I'd give you two stars if you were elsewhere, but location does matter...the fact is, this IS Tempe, and more importantly you're the only coffee shop (non-chain) within spitting distance of the Fine Arts building where I spend all my time. \n\nBut you can be so slow! One time it took them almost an hour to make me a grilled cheese. Now, they make a very yummy grilled cheese, but I can't imagine why it could take that long... And it wasn't even that crowded there that day. I asked when we could expect our food a couple times , and they just kept saying \"it'll just be a few more minutes...\"-- that lasted for nearly the whole hour, even though I told them we had to leave soon to get back to a meeting on campus. (If they had just been honest about whatever was going on back there in the kitchen, then we could have canceled our orders and still had time to go get sandwiches somewhere else.)\n\nMeanwhile, whilst they slowwwwly grilled my cheese, they held onto my friend's cup of soup for 50 minutes instead of giving it to him, so by the time they finally handed over both meals, his was cold. Ugh. They should have comped both of our orders, in my opinion, because that's just what you do in a customer service situation when you mess up like that. I know--I've been there.\n\nOk, that's definitely the worst example, but in general, I've learned not to go there if I'm in much of a hurry. \n\nOn the other hand, they do have decent coffee and for the most part, the folks who work there are nice, if occasionally a little inept.\n\nSome things seem like a rip-off-- like charging $1 for a small packet of (not very good) Philly cream cheese to go with your bagel. (And they don't even spread it for you.) \n\nThey do cater to vegetarians and vegans, though, which is useful for many, I'm sure.\n\nSo all in all, Three Roots could be better, but it could be worse. And if it was better, I suppose it'd be even more crowded during finals, so maybe I should be careful what I wish for... Nah, I still wish it was just a little better. But I'm sure I'll be back there again anyway, if only for lack of options nearby. Alas..."^^ .