Chris H.
Yelp
This review is 2 stars because of the service. If I could rate just the service/ambience, I'd give 0 or 1 stars. If I could rate just the coffee, it would be 5 stars.
I've been coming to this specific Speeder and Earl's location for over 6 years now. My parents have been drinking Speeder's since it first started and they passed their love of good coffee onto me. Speeder's usually satisfies my craving for awesome coffee and I buy their beans by the pound as well.
I hope that brief history serves to couch my review somewhat because, contrary to how it may seem, I do love Speeder and Earl's. Unfortunately, I went into the Pine Street location to get some coffee beans and a cappuccino. While the cappuccino was pretty tasty, as always, the service and ambience were absolutely atrocious. It seems like whenever I go in there now there's always a HUGE line of yuppies (I appear pretty yuppy sometimes too, no judgment) which sucks but I've come to expect it due to the annoyingly popular arts riot next door.
What I really can't overlook is the low-effort service I received while there. Both of the baristas had no clue what beans they had in stock and were unwilling to find out for me, update the list of beans by the pound available, or do anything else except tell me "Oh yeah, we're frequently out of all kinds of stuff, it really depends on the grower's season," which is a completely garbage excuse in general, but especially for the kind of service I received. I know that they can run out of some varieties quickly due to demand but making me guess at a list of coffees until I hit one that's in stock is completely unacceptable (not to mention it would take forever). I love Speeder's but I honestly can't keep buying product from a company where, on the rare occasion I go into the actual store/shop, they have hired useless employees that treat me like dirt.