Cooper's Coffee

Just happened to stop here for some coffee and tea on Friday, April 20. Will avoid coming back. Service took forever. Even though there were two employees in the shop, only one was making drinks. It took forever to get served. Then, I had the worst cup of tea. No one bothered to see if the water was hot. You can't make a good cup of tea with lukewarm water. No plans on returning.…

Cooper's Is The Best. Excellent coffee; great selections. Great staff: many grad students; some eligible bachelors. No stuffed chairs or couches; it's a former fire station after all. Excellent homemade food; cakes, cookies, scones, pies, selected entres...they're providers to other restaurants and coffee houses throughout the metro area and even extending up to Seattle! WiFi of course. Like any popular coffee house, they have their busy periods...but many hours of quiet for computer time and reading. Outside: special tie ups for dogs (which are not allowed inside of course); dog biscuits available gratis...their reward for waiting. Lady manager is a hoot; never know what hairdo she'll be sporting...super friendly and kind. Owner, Michael, has been a longtime supporter of local schools and daycares; Cooper's has several as a venue for several Mt Tabor Middle School Foundation fundraisers...casino night, etc. Trivia Pursuit players have an event on Wednesday's; during football and basketball seasons, events planned around games. Beer/wine...excellent choices...change periodically. Great meeting place for conversation; have met several over the years...all points of view. Can't recommend a coffee house more highly; in short, It's The Best.…

She didn’t say it because I didn’t hear it!. For a place with two locations you would almost think that customer service meant more.. We have been going to coopers for 2 years now.. In the beginning it was awesome, the coffee was great the food was amazing the people were nice and fun to be around.. In October 2010 I blogged about a major coffee mishap I will admit I have been back a few times and the coffee has been okay even amazing a few times.. ANYTHING but consistent. Today I opened my wallet to coopers for the last time.. I order our normal fare 1 iced vanilla latte and one hot caramel mocha. We place this order at some coffee shop EVERY SINGLE DAY. As I have said before that means that in our neighborhood we spend about 300 bucks a month on coffee, it used to be just at coopers (over a year ago) Anyway so The iced vanilla comes up and I taste it.. (disappointment) so I try to be polite as I say “excuse me this tastes a little off” the barista rolls her eyes at me and says she will remake it then as she turns away she softly says with disgust “I think its your taste buds that are off ” and I say “excuse me!” and she replies “nothing” and continues to make the drink.. Now before I go any further I would like to point out a few things… There are 4 other coffee shops worth their salt right around here, BiPartisan, Monties, Blackwood and Seven Virtues. We frequent the first 3 but we often go to MANY coffee shop and we rate coffee on a almost professional scale. How dare you tell me that my tastebuds are off.. You BURNT the coffee OR their was a bad bean in it.. I am not an idiot, I have made coffee professionally too. I doubt the bean was bad Portland Roasting Coffee is not known for bad beans.. I know its what I use at home. So at this point I am pissed off and I do raise my voice a little and say Ya know I think I just want my money back.. Now the barista walks over and says “Its like its always something every time we talk” while she opens the till now The manager interjects and starts to tell me how I am wrong that she (the barista) did not say that.. because the manager did not hear it.. Come on.. And how I am difficult.. LOOK I am not difficult I am paying you 4+ dollars for a drink.. I want it done correctly… It was my mistake coming back here I admit it but for you to criticize me for getting offended by your 1 bad tasting coffee and 2 bad attitude is just simply irritating.. Then for you to tell me that I was wrong for speaking up because clearly your employee was right.. well that’s just way to arrogant Portland for me.. sorry I did not play the passive aggressive game and say NOTHING to you and instead leave an anon review on the internet . Instead I tried to talk to you about it.. And all you could do as assert how wrong I was.. and that further talking about it would not solve the problem. You refused to try the two coffee’s to see how they were different. It was not simply about vanilla.

Coopers on stark is a cool place, the owner is really super nice! The atmosphere is nice and this review will not affect their bottom line so I feel no guilt in being totally honest. I really hope that the arrogance exhibited by the manager and the barista improves. Reviews do not run customers off.. bad attitudes do. So for at least now until a staff change has taken place or the portlandia wears down.. I wont be bringing my money to coopers again.…

Servers=good Pastry=not so good. I go here sometimes when I'm out walking the dog because it's about 4 blks. from my house. I admit it, when I go to a coffee shop to hang out & read the paper, I want to sit on a couch or comfy chair, so I don't go to Cooper's for that. Sometimes I stop by for a coffee to go and the other day I decided to take home a piece of their choc. bread. It was REALLY dry. Their pie is probably good, and I will be trying it, but I sure don't want anymore dry homemade pastries.…