I've tried Cafe Ava several times, and unfortunately, today's experience made me realize it's…read moreprobably just not the place for me.
I joined a run club this morning, and over 100 women ended the run at Cafe Ava. I completely understand that a crowd that size will overwhelm a kitchen, and I expected a long wait. What I didn't expect was the lack of consistency, communication, and customer service.
I placed my order at 11:54 AM and received my coffee within about 10 minutes, great . I ordered a salami, egg and cheese sandwich on Guatemalan bread with mayo-ketchup sauce. My friend, who ordered immediately after me, ordered a birria arepa.
About 35 minutes later, I still hadn't received my food. I politely asked an employee if she could check on my order. She was wonderful, asked for my name, checked, and told me it would be about another 10 minutes. I understood and continued waiting.
While I was waiting, I also noticed something that honestly bothered me. I watched an employee approach a man and women who were already somewhere in the middle of the line, with several people ahead of them and many people behind them, and take their order using a portable payment machine. I watched from the time they placed their order until they received their coffee, and they were out the door in roughly 20 minutes.
Maybe there was a reason for it, and I'm not going to pretend to know the circumstances. As a customer who had been standing there waiting, watching people who were behind others in line get their orders taken and leave before people who had been waiting much longer, it was frustrating to see.
I understand knowing people. I understand wanting to take care of regulars or give someone great service, but if that's happening while other customers are waiting, the expectation should still be that everyone receives the same level of attention and service.
Then, after I had been waiting another 20 minutes, the owner came out with my friend's food before mine. I politely tried to ask about my order and before I could even finish my sentence, she immediately responded, "I'm running all the food out now. Our kitchen is super busy. Did you order before or after her?"
This is where the experience really went downhill for me. As a human please let me finish speaking; that would've been nice; I had a reason to ask why my food was still not here.
I understand a busy kitchen. I've worked in the restaurant industry myself. I know what it's like to be overwhelmed, forget tickets, fall behind, and have things go wrong. Mistakes happen. What matters is how you handle them. I've been in the owners shoes and taking accountability is the only thing you can do when the kitchen is taking a long time.
I wasn't being rude or demanding. I simply wanted to ask someone to check on my order. I couldn't even finish explaining before an assumption was made about what I was going to say.
I told her I had ordered before my friend. She said she would check and never came back.
About 10 minutes later, someone finally called my name and handed me an everything bagel salami, egg and cheese--which was not my order.
At that point, after waiting approximately 45 minutes for food I had ordered at 11:54 AM, I no longer wanted the food and asked for a refund.
The employee who handled my refund was extremely kind, showed me the refunded ticket, and was very helpful. I genuinely appreciate how she handled that part but no apology.
My issue was never that the restaurant was busy. My issue was the lack of ownership when it came to my order. You're busy Im well aware but watching ppl get their order before others was just crazy.
Not once did anyone apologize or acknowledge that my order had been forgotten or misplaced. Even a simple, "I'm so sorry, we missed your ticket. Let me fix that for you," would have made a huge difference.
I really hope the takeaway from this is to treat every customer with the same level of care, whether they are a regular, a friend, or someone walking through the door for the first time. Everyone deserves good service.
And most importantly, please let customers finish speaking before assuming what they're going to say. I wasn't asking for special treatment. I just wanted someone to check on an order I had been waiting almost an hour for.
Unfortunately, after several attempts, Cafe Ava just isn't for me.