Giada D.
Google
I have a rule: I never write a review of a place unless it is a positive one. Today I am forced to break that rule as this is my eighth or ninth time visiting The Stand--out of necessity--and I as much as I have tried to give the place the benefit of the doubt, I can now say with all confidence that this is one of the worst cafés I have ever been to.
I am truly baffled as to how this establishment keeps the lights on. I have seen a number of different baristas work here, and not a one of them seems to have the necessary skillset to make more than three or four coffees an hour. Each time I have been here, despite there being no line whatsoever, I have waited a minimum of 10 minutes for anything I ordered. Did the owners put out an ad asking, "Don't Care About Remotely Attentive Or Timely Service? Work With Us!"?
Every employee seems utterly incompetent, frequently serving me the wrong drink. Recently I ordered a patty which as quoted, "takes 12 minutes" in the toaster oven. Fine by me. What is not fine is that I was served a cold and undercooked patty today because the barista-on-call decided it would be within the realm of reason to underheat it as there was already one in the toaster with just a few minutes to go, so they thought, "hey why not." To top it off, the food the barista put in my hand ended up being a DIFFERENT customer's, who had been waiting even longer than me. I gave it to her and then had to wait a total of 35 minutes for my food. Upon receiving it, I was given a consolation brownie-- or, a broken half of a brownie, which was flavorless and disgustingly presented. Truly offensive.
The coffee is fine. The food is fine. The environment is fine, save for the cutesily mismatched and deeply uncomfortable seating. What I lament is the fact that it seems to not matter whatsoever what the customer wants, when they get it, or with what consistency they do. I would LIKE to spend money here, I would LIKE to like it. But the apparent dedication to hiring incompetent and uncaring employees (and then never training them) makes that fairly difficult.