European Cafe, Cincinnati OH

Came to eat here with my wife and watched …who I came to found out were one of the owners … berating their employees pretty openly…shame. Seems an unstable environment!

I walked in at 2: 27 pm. They closed at 3: 00. When they took my order they asked what I wanted to go 3 times. Because they are closing soon….

This is an adorable coffee shop but the service was not great. I came for a to go order and they were pack, maybe that’s why the I felt unwelcome there. The turkey sandwich was bland, no flavour at all but the cinnamon roll was really good.

All employees were wonderful. Friendly service. I have to express how wonderful the espresso is. It is from Rome.

Im sure this is a great place to eat if you’re white.

Me (white, tattooed) my husband (Black) and son (biracial) quickly realized that we were not welcome in this establishment.

After finding the owner (pixie prissy) on social media, I see why. You can look for yourself.

At 12: 20p on a Sunday afternoon, we were quickly told at the door, before even getting all the way in, “we close at 1. ”

My husband and I have both worked in customer service before and we know what this means, “hurry up, we all want to go home soon. ”

We asked the man seating us if we could order at the counter, and just sit outside at a table as to be more efficient and considerate of their closing time.

He agreed, told us to wait as he wiped down a table outside. We ordered at the counter, a couple croissants and coffees, and sat outside at a table.

The owner gave us about five minutes before she came out and condescendingly shamed us, loudly, in front of other customers for eating to-go food outside, from bags.

She said, and I quote “this isn’t the way we roll here” before offering up some baby talk to our son about how we were welcome to come back another time, and do things “the right way. ”

If she wanted to be welcoming, she could’ve BROUGHT US PLATES. I realize now that she didn’t want us to feel welcome, she wanted us to leave because we were sitting outside, and as a biracial family that doesn’t look like the Montgomery type, maybe we would make the restaurant look bad, or draw in others that look like us.

We bagged up our items, moved about 100 feet away to sit at a public bench to finish up. The owner saw us sitting at the bench; you would think she would have welcomed us back, sought to clarify any misunderstandings… but no, they just sat an older white couple at the table we vacated and went on with their day.

Looking at other reviews, it is very clear the type of customer that the owner is interested in; the defensiveness and lack of accountability in her responses, speak volumes. I would recommend that the owner look up implicit bias, and look inward.

This day and age it’s not a compliment if your establishment is purely homogenous.

EDITING TO ADD MY RESPONSE.

Ah yes, continuing the pattern of placing the blame on the customer when they complain instead of looking inward, reflecting and taking accountability. We did not forge our way to a table. It was bussed for us; the waiter intentionally sat us there. To make it seem like we were acting out or something is just wild and shows your true colors. There are patterns in these negative reviews.

Montgomery Ohio is over 85% white and has an average household income considerably larger than the rest of the area. It is laughable that anybody would characterize this area as culturally diverse when it is the furthest thing from it and that is proven by data. How many people of color have you interviewed or hired to work at your establishment in the past five years considering you say it is a very culturally diverse area?

The facts of the situation or this: you quickly told us you were closing in 40 minutes before even greeting us. The waiter seated us at a table and cleaned it off specifically for us. We told him our intention was to make their load easier and to just order at the counter and sit outside. We were loudly, shamed and embarrassed in front of other customers into leaving. All because our food was in a bag! How ridiculous is that? !

Take accountability, or at the very least a class on business ownership and leadership.

And I’ll say it one more time - if you wanted us to feel welcome, and the intent was not to shame us into leaving you could have brought us plates. You didn’t.

Unwelcoming and Hesitant to Serve!

Two brown individuals were disregarded, not acknowledged and never were served our food. 3 groups came in after us and 2 were served before we were. The worst experience! It was as if we were back in segregation and we needed to go to the back to be served. I will never visit nor think of this place again.they deserve no more of my time!

Place is a little small, but the food is amazing. The owners are charming and all the staff seems happy.

Great place.

Perfection! How I would describe this place!

Very nice staff, and there was parking behind it. I got a delicious London fog to drink, some fruit, and a chocolate croissant! I will be back in the area in September and will definitely stop by here again!

I had to be THAT person and have one of my teams calls on speaker for a little bit. I HATE doing that so I apologized to the owner (who was out on the floor) and not only was he more than gracious, but he took an interest in my job, and apologized if they were being too loud for me!

Loved the atmosphere as well!

Unfortunately our experience was such that we’ll never go back…. The gentleman, (owner?) and woman working with him were exceptionally rude and we witnessed the same with another couple who walked out… too bad it was on a Sunday afternoon just after church… just wanted kick back, relax and enjoy coffee and something to eat… better wake up, because customer satisfaction is the driving force that allows a business to Grow and Thrive! … without this… you eventually go out of business!

Place stopped serving food a few weeks ago when I went. Then we ordered coffee and pastries and they were just okay. Not exactly the vibe of “ going to a European cafe” but it was alright. I’d go back but I’d call and make sure they have stuff available before going.

The gyros were some of the best my wife and I have ever had! Including those we ate in Europe. The imported Italian espresso was delicious and the staff was very friendly. Prices were quite reasonable for the quality of fare and atmosphere. We will be visiting again, next time to try breakfast and pick up some of the Michigan specialty hard cider!

I will never know if the food is good or not due to the poor service exhibited by the owner (or manager?) - I'm not sure what role he played in the restaurant since at no point did he explain himself or who he was when he approached me. However, how he handled a non-existent situation between a fantastic new employee and my family was uncalled for. I arrived to the restaurant 15 minutes prior to closing fully understanding that my family and I would not be able to dine-in. I was told immediately by the women on staff at the restaurant that the restaurant closes at 3 PM, which I was aware of. I was also told that the grill is shut down early so I won't be able to order anything that needs to be grilled. Of course, I appreciated having that information as I was looking through the menu. I ordered a cinnamon bun, cranberry pecan salad, and butter croissant. The women behind the counter made sure that there were croissants available, which was also helpful. And I asked if we could possibly still sit outside even though the restaurant was closing, to which they said yes. I cannot reiterate enough how helpful the women in the kitchen and out front were. I pulled out my credit card and proceeded to pay for my family's meal.

The man in question was sitting at a table in the restaurant. Until he approached me, I believed he was a customer. As I was paying for my order, he stepped right next to me uncomfortably to "explain" and "clarify" the questions that his staff had already answered. I wasn't sure who he was since he did not introduce himself and I felt unwelcomed and attacked for simply ordering food. I asked the women if I was being "rude" or disrespectful, especially since it wasn't my intent and I had just walked to the cafe from my home, which is about 5 minutes away. I was out of breath. They confidently said no.

He was patronizing and condescending to his cashier, who had been an amazing help, by saying she was 'new' and 'didn't know'. To be clear, any question I asked that she didn't have an answer to, she asked someone who did. She did her job exceptionally well and is appreciated.

I canceled my order and walked out. I've never felt more uncomfortable at an establishment in my life. Neither my niece, the staff, nor I deserved that.

Tom and his team do everything superbly. On-site baked scones - genuine, not the hard American concoction. Chicken salad croissant with field greens. Perfect mimosas and dark roast coffee. All heavenly. Smiling, congenial staff. Warm and bright.

Burnt bread toasted bread for Spare Rib grilled cheese sandwich Waitress didn't even care after I told her about the burnt toast. Absolutely horrible lady server. Dumber than dog dodo. Never again at this joint. Horrible food.

Doesn’t allow substitutes and isn’t flexible with food options. Also to top off this experience, a white couple got in after me and was seated before me.

We went here for the first time and enjoyed a cup of coffee and breakfast, the atmosphere was very nice, The service was great and we enjoyed our meal. I very much loved the fact as a non pork eater they had other meat options such as turkey sausages and that they use Blue Oven English muffins. Recommend this place highly!

Lovely little cafe. Their espresso drinks and chai latte were very tasty. We got some pastries and fruit and they were great. There is outdoor seating on the front patio which is perfect for a spring morning. Friendly staff and good menu. We’ll be back!

Coffee was bad. I refused the croissant it looked stale. I bought another pastry it was stale! As a French citizen I was extremely Disappointed. This place has so much potential and falls short of it’s name. Would give zero stars but it’s not an option.

Really bad customer service
I just ask about receipts, they said they will give me call back, I have been waiting for 3 days, and call it again today. HE said they don’t have time to check, do not call them again. How difficult for YOU to find the receipt? How long you need to find that receipt?

I drink 2 coffees, and was charged like 25$? Is coffee worth 12.5$ for each?

Better go to Sleepy Bee or somewhere the food is better and the managers aren’t so clearly abusive.