Wilson A.
Yelp
I returned on the Saturday morning just before the new year to pick up some treats for my coworkers for our traditional end-of-the-year inventory count. We had at least one vegan among us, so since I was comparatively the most knowledgable about where to get vegan goods, I was tasked with providing them with it all.
This was the first place I thought of and visited in the morning. I had been here a couple times before, but not recently. I noticed their 'help wanted' sign, so it made me loosen up my expectations about my visit. After all, it's a bit unfair to judge a business if they're not necessarily in a position to give the customer it's best impression.
The one who helped me was not fully fluent in English, which is also another factor I don't want to hold against them. We still communicated fine, but I didn't even dare to give a request or question that had too many ridiculous details. I'm thinking it was one of the bakers instead of their usual front-of-house individual.
The menu had both vegan (which were more expensive) and non-vegan choices, but when I asked which ones were which, he told me all of it was vegan.
I ended up racking up a fairly large bill with my order, but the part that definitely worried me is that he didn't give me a receipt, which I actually needed to declare as a business expense. My own fault for not specifically requesting it, but after a while, the whole experience seemed like it was a bit much for the associate who helped me.
The skinny: Not as awesome as they used to be. Selection is based on availability, regardless of what it says on the menu. Service and experience may have been pretty bad if somebody much less patient and understanding as I was had been helped instead. If you need a receipt, they won't always give that to you automatically, so you need to specifically request it.
Parking: Shared lot with other businesses in the plaza, which definitely gets full later in the day. But in the morning, it's almost empty.
FYI:
- Vegan donuts taste much differently than the donuts you find commonly elsewhere. They tend to be smaller too.
- Don't get bagels from here. I asked the guy if those were vegan, and he said yes. Perhaps any of you reading this right now can possibly confirm this? In any case, I freaked out about that and ended up going to Einstein bagels, which was just up the street towards Mission Gorge. If most of us aren't vegan, I'm not going to load up on bagels from Donut Touch. With that said, anytime you get bagels from a donut shop, they will be way more expensive.
- Ask for your receipt.
Will I return? Yes I will. I just have to know that they've found the help they've needed. That way, I know they'll be much better than my most recent visit.
