Alan T.
Yelp
It pains me to have to write this review, because I do want this cafe to survive and prosper. Unfortunately, I've given this place far too many chances and they have disappointed me on multiple occasions, so I won't be going here anymore. That saddens me, because there are a few people that I've interacted with here that have been lovely, but the inconsistency of drink quality and aloofness here from many of the employees just tells me this place has a lot of issues.
Today was the last time I'll have to deal with paying over 7 dollars for a large iced latte that doesn't have any ice in it. Wait, I do think it had two ice cubes in it, which melted in about 20 seconds due to the oat milk being warm. They don't keep their oat milk or almond milk cold (at least they certainly don't any time I have gotten a drink), so it's imperative that you actually put ice in an iced latte so the customer has a cold drink. Also, if you don't put ice in an iced latte, it doesn't taste like coffee, it tastes like milk. I don't want a milk drink, I want a coffee drink. Either ice in your cafe is at a severe shortage, or many of the baristas making drinks have no idea what they are doing. Either is not acceptable for the amount paid for these drinks, which isn't cheap. An iced latte has to be one of the easiest drinks to make, yet it constantly is made wrong here, so that leaves me to wonder about the more complex, hot drinks; I suspect they are often made incorrectly as well. Why are some people here trained well, and some are so obviously not? Today, when I asked the woman who handed my drink to me why it didn't have ice in it, she gave me an attitude and said, "We are trying to save your hands from the cold weather." I'm sorry, that is the most lame excuse for not putting ice in an iced latte that I've ever heard. If I was concerned about the weather and how it will affect my enjoyment of an iced latte, I wouldn't order the thing in the first place. Many people do still prefer iced drinks in cold weather. It just doesn't seem unreasonable to me to want some ice in an ICED latte. It doesn't seem unreasonable to expect a drink that costs over 7 dollars to be made correctly. Call me crazy.
A couple of other issues- sometimes I've waited over 10 minutes for a drink, when they aren't even that busy. They advertise danishes and other food items from Bennison's but they only get a few of each on any given day, so unless you get there quite early, you aren't getting them. It almost seems like false advertisement when every time someone asks for a certain item you don't have any.
Now that it's colder this shouldn't be much of an issue, but during months when bugs and bees are out and about, this cafe has a plague of bee problems. I've also witnessed flies camping out on their croissants and danishes in the case, just having a wonderful time. I tried to sit outside once and simply couldn't stay because of so many bees. Everyone loves plants and flowers, but do you think perhaps that's the reason there are so many darn flies and bees buzzing about? It could have a lot to do with it, along with trash cans placed right by where people are sitting to eat/drink.
Finally, I think I just need to say a few words about the amount of espresso shots in each drink. Now, most coffee shops will do 1 shot in a small, 2 in a medium, 3 in a large. Charmers seems to want to be different so they do 2 in a small, 3 in a medium and 4 in a large. One can appreciate the idea that the customer is getting more for their money here, but I suspect that many people may caught off guard by the caffeine content in their drinks. I drink coffee every day of my life, but even I got the jitters and shakes after buying a large coffee one day and having no idea that it had 4 shots of espresso in it (That's a quad). Generally, a shot of espresso has about 75mg of caffeine. 4 shots in one large drink, that's at a minimum probably 300 mg of caffeine in one go, which is too much for most people in a given day. Or at least it's more than they are used to. The same would be true for someone who is generally expecting a certain amount of caffeine in small or medium size drinks, because they literally get the same amount in virtually every coffee shop they go to. Maybe this info is posted on the menu, but I didn't see it posted in the store anywhere, and this is info that people need to know. I drink coffee every day, and even I have to ask to only get 3 shots in my large latte, not 4.
Yes, it's cute inside. One might say it's "charming." But if you want a quality drink, consistently, I can't recommend this place. It's hit or miss, and that's just not good enough.
