Mill Mountain Coffee & Tea

Reviews 5

JA

James Galloway

What might otherwise have been a comfortable and likable setting was ruined by the atmosphere and people. I spent the day downtown and decided to camp out here and get some work done. The staff come off as desperate and snide. I am not sure who is in charge here, but the place is gripped by a corporate flavor of fear you dont commonly see in locally-owned ventures. In a similar vein, their attitude toward bathroom usage better resembles a highway gas station than a place thats "yours" in the sense of customer service. I heard a loud woman explain to a customer that he has to buy something to gain access to the bathroom key. Attached to a large spoon, the key is not something I would ever handle before touching my sandwich; not after everyone here has carried it to the mens room with them (it also screams, hey everyone, Im about to drop a deuce, enjoy your meals!). Whats more, is they often tell you this even if you plan on buying something but havent ordered yet. Its kind of immature and disrespectful, too. They say the policy is in place "because of the hobos" (their words) but even in Richmond, where the homeless population is staggeringly huge, I have not seen a coffee shop with the same bathroom policy in place. The staff are constantly yelling back-and-forth and with the customers who are brutish and loud. For hours while I sat here, some dude has been whistling, badly, along to every song he recognizes. Ive been here a few times when I came into town and each time something bothered me about this place. Next time Ill go to Starbucks where the corporate fear and interpersonal hate is ironically not as palpable as it is in this local den of exposed brick, aged floors and overpriced artwork on the walls. Hate to say it, because I love coffee and mom-and-pop ventures but this place is the worst coffee shop I have ever been to, and Ive lived in some of the worst cities you can imagine. But dont take my word for it. Try it out for yourself. Its worth it, at least to see what Im talking about.

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AN

Anonymous

My experience comes from years of being a customer and being behind the counter. Its been quite a while since I was last employed but, after visiting many times after and hearing stories from employees/customers that I have engaged with, it seems nothing has changed. Lets start with the biggest issue: Customer service. Whether it be the morning shift with the constantly changing managers taking the role of condescending speech with customers based on mistakes they may have from lacking knowledge in coffee (big deal right) or the evening shifts lack of effort in anything other than waiting until the last moment to kick everyone out, I find it insane that this place is still open. Not just for that, even. There have been times where I have observed rats roaming through the store, even walking on customers feet as they sit. I cant imagine what they do to the product. Now to the product: If there were any consistency in the drinks, this place might actually be decent but nope; everyone makes everything differently and the shots are watery garbage. Whatever the espresso machines problem is obviously isnt important to management. Drip coffee is undrinkable and served in disgusting unwashed mugs or Styrofoam. Hot food is often under or overcooked with un-fresh ingredients by overworked employees in evenings. Pastries are always frozen and old. Bathroom toilets wobble and leak, floors are almost always disgusting and the smell of trash fills the place even over the smell of "locally roasted beans". If youre lucky enough to find a chair that isnt splitter-y or wobbly, good luck focusing on anything from the loud, obnoxious music almost the entire stay. This place has potential but it is obviously a higher-up issue. The customer service lacks any sort of helpfulness and the store itself is unkempt. Maybe if money was put into a better product, longer training hours and renovating the place to be more inviting, there would be reason to come back.

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HO

Holly Butkovich

Clean coffee shop (visited when they opened; the cleanest hour of any establishment). I didnt notice their names, but I was served by a man and the cashier was a woman. He got my order wrong, (hot mochas instead of iced) but that happens. Instead of making new coffees, he doctored the incorrect drinks, they still werent quite right, but I was starting to feel overly critical. Considering the other customers, I accepted the drinks. She was condescending. Interestingly, I wasnt going to mention her behavior, because it is a subjective opinion, but then I read other reviews in which other customers have experienced the same patronizing behavior, giving me reasons to believe that my interpretation was accurate. Regarding coffee shops, you can only justify rude workers if the service is impeccably prompt and accurate; the product needs to be fresh and tasty. With that combination, customers can overlook surly behavior. Likewise, the same forgiveness can be applied to the opposite situation (friendly, welcoming staff, sub par product/speed/accuracy). This shop combines poor attitude with lacking, product. As a side note, the Roanoke library houses a Mill Mountain coffee shop. While visiting the library, I overheard a loud conversation between employees, complaining about the staff shortages during peak hours. After these two experiences, I cannot help but wonder if the employees attitudes are unilateral because of poor management, higher up in the company. The shop has potential, but as of the summer of 2017, the management may want to consider refreshing the staff training process.

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FR

From Ballparks to BBQ

It looked like most of their lunch items tended be some sort of sandwich, but I wasnt really in the mood for that so I ordered the nachos. The menu said you had the option of ordering the nachos with chili with meat or a vegetarian chili and I went with the vegetarian chili - I know, so health conscious. When the staff person came out with my plate of nachos, I was surprised to see what was on the plate. There was the typical chips & cheese, but then there were large chunks of fresh tomato and 3 small plastic dressing containers for salsa, sour cream, and guacamole. This was fine, but I was curious as to where my vegetarian chili had disappeared to. I went back up to the counter and mentioned something to the server about not receiving any chili and he responded, "Oh yeah...we dont actually have any vegetarian chili today." I was rather surprised and returned to my seat wondering why I had just now been informed of this. Its not like I was hiding in the restaurant somewhere - it would have been nice if hed told me beforehand that one of the main ingredients of my dish was not available. Since I have no problem with meat, I figured itd be an easy solution to just go back to the counter and ask for a side of regular chili that I could put on my nachos. This time, I went and asked the guy again and one of his co-workers informed me, "We dont make chili anymore." At this point, I decided this entire experience was a waste of time.

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A

A Private User

I am a downtowner and visit Mill Mountain for coffee about 3 mornings a week. I love the coffee - best in town. BUT I have to give it an overall average rating because the customer service leaves quite a bit to be desired. Rarely a "Thank You", greeting or otherwise. It seems a bad attitutude is required by all employees. Often the emplyees would rather stand around and talk with each other than help customers - even when there are 10 people in line waiting. It is frustrating to know that an experience which could be a 10 is instead a 5. Whoever owns the shop needs to get in there and raise the bar for customer service. Times are tough and loyal customers willing to pay $5 for a really great cup of coffee are rare!

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