Renata L.
Yelp
I wanted to share a really bad service experience with you.
I read about Brot & Butter on the Guardian's website, and it seemed like a charming little place to sit down and have a good brunch. When a friend from abroad came over for a quick visit, my partner and I decided it might be a great place to sit down and catch up. We arrived there on a Saturday morning, and it did seem a bit crowded. We stood outside waiting for about 10 minutes before a table cleared up. Since we didn't know whether we were supposed to wait for the waitress to come or order at the counter, I went over to the woman behind the counter in order to ask. As she saw me approach, she waived her hands as if to tell me she were too busy and couldn't talk to me, but I did manage to ask her whether we should order at the counter or wait for someone to come over to us. She told me (awfully rudely) to sit at the table and to wait for her to come by.
Before I go on, I do have to mention that the place looks great, warm and cosy, and you can see the entire bread preparation process through a window located inside.
We decided to wait for her, since we did want to try one of their breakfasts. People were already coming over after us, sitting down at tables, being served by her and getting their orders, while we were still waiting for her to get our order. She didn't even offer us drinks. Yet, she was smiling and waiting on the other customers there. We waited for over 45 minutes, and that was when we decided we'd had enough, cleared our table and went outside. She was outside talking to customers. She saw us leave, but she couldn't care less. I was really shocked. We started walking away, but I decided to go back and confront her. I came up to her and told her (I told her firmly, I did not raise my voice and I didn't shout) that we were waiting for over 45 minutes while other customers who arrived after we did were getting their orders way ahead of us. She didn't even listen, she was running with a tray in her hands, shouting, "It's not a restaurant here." Well, then, what is it?!
I've been living in Berlin for almost two years now, and I have never been treated so rudely. We were the only young crowd in that place and the only foreigners, the rest were families with kids and elderly people, but we were dressed nicely and we didn't draw any attention by talking or laughing too loudly - just three friends going out for some coffee on Saturday morning.
Guys, I really suggest you stay away from this place. I'm also thinking of writing a letter of complaint to the manager. I know it probably won't lead anywhere, but it will give me the opportunity to vent.