Crispus C.
Google
One star for the location and interiors, and another for the two genuinely friendly servers we encountered. They are a credit to a place that seems to be relying heavily on a reputation built in earlier years.
In general, I find most of the staff to be alright. However, as a long-time customer I’m concerned by the responses from management to feedback in reviews. There appears to be little acknowledgment that improvements could be made regarding service consistency, and customers are often directed to email hello@soderburgh.com instead.
During a recent visit with a friend (we typically come about once a month), we were told by a server that we were no longer welcome. This appeared to relate to an incident from our previous visit several weeks earlier involving two students who had brought in outside drinks, which we understood was against the café’s policy (the server however, said that they are allowed to bring in outside drinks). After we raised this with them at the time, they left shortly afterwards.
On this visit we were told that those customers had complained that we had “driven them out.” From our perspective that was not an accurate reflection of what happened. Unfortunately, the situation did not seem to allow for our side of the story to be considered.
The server also mentioned that my friend had made a comment during that previous visit that was interpreted as mildly inappropriate. This was surprising to hear weeks later, particularly as it had not been raised with us at the time.
We regularly visit other cafés in the area and generally have positive relationships with staff. It’s disappointing that our experience here has ended this way after being customers for quite some time. I hope the business takes customer feedback seriously and works on clearer communication and service consistency going forward.