Jayne Y.
Yelp
My homemade matcha wasn't cutting it one morning, so I made a spontaneous trip to Almond & Oat.
What's different about Almond & Oat? The name says it all - they only offer non-dairy milk. This is a great place for lactose-sensitive/intolerant folks like me.
As always, I check an establishment's website to see if online ordering is an option - I try to be efficient when I'm working to avoid unnecessary idle time waiting. Luckily, Almond & Oat has online ordering set-up nicely. I placed my order, and drove to the coffee shop.
[Ambiance] quiet, clean, and compact. They provide some tables for indoor dining, but it is rather small.
[Service] okay. I walked in, and no one greeted me. I made my way towards the order pick-up area, and waited for a few minutes and nothing (I thought they were still working on my drink). There was no one in line, and no one waiting at the pick-counter other than me. I didn't immediately tell them I was there to pick up an order - I forget that not all coffee shops follow the same protocols. I finally tried to grab the barista's attention, and she asked if I was picking up an order. She grabbed it from behind the counter, and gave it to me.
[Drink quality] sour-tasting coffee. I ordered a small iced mocha, and was disappointed from the first sip. It was acidic, but it did give me a nice jolt of energy. I also thought it was too sweet, but that's my fault for not adjusting the sugar level. I didn't enjoy it, and I forced myself to drink half for its caffeine content. I've had drinks from their sister locations (Coffee Class) and it never tasted this bad. I'm not sure what happened here - maybe the espresso was under-extracted, has an improper brew time, or they served me expired almond milk; maybe a combination? It's difficult for me to gauge, but I think this is worth mentioning because it is an easy fix.
Overall: 3-stars. I'm willing to try it out again. At most coffee shops, employees usually greet customers immediately and ask if they're picking up or ready to order. Perhaps they can work on that, as well as improving the drink quality to match their other locations. I arrived during coffee-drinking peak hours, and it was completely empty. With a little fine-tuning (service and drink quality), they have the potential to do much better.