Zackary P.
Yelp
I want to say that the only reason this review isn't any higher is due to the new seating. If the old seating was still here, this would be a five star review. The food, drinks, and staff are all amazing. I've had great times here. The breakfast burrito is one of the greatest I have ever had, if not the greatest. The "Brioche Baby!" is to die for. Sweet latte is my regular, but those shaken palmers and other seasonal drinks keep me coming back for something new.
But these new seats?! I get the feeling they're intended to push customers out rather than keep them in which, with how busy the spot gets I can understand that trying to get more people in and out of the door might seem necessary but this isn't the way to do it. We live in an era where people lack 3rd spaces, a space other than home or work, to unwind either solo or in a casual group setting. Component Coffee Lab was that spot for me and my friends. Was. I'll admit the old seating wasn't the world's comfiest, temperpedic like seating, but these new benches feel like barbaric anti-homeless architecture inside a business of which I have not, in the years of supporting them, even seen a homeless person in eyeshot of the building. It is unnecessary and frankly aggravating both to my chronic pains and to know that a once nice, cozy meeting spot feels more like a starbucks that wants quick service rather than good, community experiences. Not to mention the ugly appearance of them, but they're uncomfortable as hell. No cushioning on the bench and what, a quarter of an inch for the stool to accompany the crotch table? Can the table even handle two plates or bowls, let alone drinks accompanying said plates or bowls? You should have driven to make yourself more like a co-working space than an inhospitable corporate chain. Hell, expand into that extra space the new bathrooms are supposed to be in to make rentable meeting rooms and/or working spaces like Stoble in Chico, CA has! Iirc, memberships are a thing for them as well.
I'm not going to stop supporting the company because of seating, but I won't be by as regularly as I once was. It's truly disappointing to see it go from welcoming and semi-cozy to hostile architecture with a guise of comfort due to ~fancy woodgrain architecture~. Make community a thing again. This company has the bones for it. Thank you for keeping the sofa, though.