Crema Bakery & Cafe

02/23/08

There's Hope For Crema!

by myjavajunkie at Citysearch

Crema foes and friends, unite! Please don't give up on Crema. While I totally agree with these negative reviews there may be hope for our favorite coffee spot! The make-out twins have disappeared! I haven't seen either one of them in weeks, so maybe this place finally got the hint and gave them the BOOT. At any rate the atmosphere at Crema has been much nicer....reminiscent of a time before....when the sun was shining and the baristas were smiling...and so were the customers! On behalf of loyal Crema fans everywhere....thanks for bringing our coffee shop back!

• Pros: the boss is putting the positivity back into Crema
• Cons: snooty toots are scaring the customers away

02/23/08

When bad things happen to good coffee

by koffeeboy68 at Citysearch

It seems like more and more people are starting to notice that Crema is going downhill--fast. Thought I should chime in with my own account of this good place gone bad. I went to a dinner party last night, and people were talking about the crappy customer service and sky high prices. It's really disheartening because for many of us, this place had become a daily habit. It was almost "cool" to wait in that line for 20 minutes. Lately, however, it seems like the same three people are always standing behind the counter, and they seem far more interested in each other, than helping customers. Just recently, I had to wait patiently at the register while the cashier guy reached under the counter to answer his cell phone. I looked to the barista for sympathy, but she was too busy hugging and kissing the other barista. Are they kidding?! I know the owner of this place is supposed to be some kind of coffee genius (there's a framed barista judge certificate thing above the bar), but it totally seems like he's checked out. Does he even have any idea what's going on at his business, or does he even care? Sad.

• Pros: Fresh baked food
• Cons: "Too cool for school" attitude behind the counter and PDA's

02/19/08

Overpriced delicious treats and mediocre coffee served with attitude.

by wootz88 at Citysearch

i used to enjoy going here. The bakery treats are tasty and coffee is ok. French press isn't my favorite. But the more I went, the more I observed. As of two weeks ago, I no longer patronize this place. $2.00 for a large size coffee was fine, a bit more than independent coffee shops charge, for the same size but I paid it. When I went a week ago, they now want $2.00 for a small coffee. Its stumptown coffee (which is delicious) but last time I checked there was price increases of the coffee (I called stumptown to enquire). So why the raise of prices beyond the market price for the same item? Could it be GREED? Gentrification? The bakery items are delicious. The coffee is mediocre. The service is bad. I ordered a sandwhich and the guy put my cash in the register, walked directly to the sandwich case, grabbed a sandwich and placed it on the grill. Is something missing there?...yah, the part where he washed his hands. Money is dirty and so is this place. The tables are never clean. I'm not sure what all 5 of those people behind the counter are doing, except collecting a paycheck. I will not be back. Overpriced delicious treats and coffee served with attitude. NO THANKS!

• Pros: bakery treats
• Cons: service, value, cleanliness

01/31/08

Great place, but people, this is not your private office!

by empressminnie at Citysearch

I love the coffee and food here-the quality is top-notch. But, why is it that every time I go there, no matter what time of day, every table is taken by individual people on their laptops who stay there for hours? It may be a Portland thing, and I'm probably just getting old and cranky, but there seem to be more of these people here than at other coffee shops. I almost always end up taking my stuff to go instead of having to sit at the communal table, surrounded by more people pounding away on their laptops. That being said, no other bakery that I know of has consistently wonderful coffee, food, and baked goods like Crema. It's the best.

• Pros: Best espresso, coffee, and baked goods in town
• Cons: Patrons hogging the tables and working on their laptops for hours at a time

01/21/08

Lame customer service

by frankse at Citysearch

I really love the coffee and food at Crema. Unfortunately, I have had extremely bad customer service many times there before(i.e. my order being way wrong or totally forgotten). Today went there, ordered the vegetarian soup to go, got back to work to find out they gave me chicken noodle! There are always around five to six people working behind the counter, I don't see how they can have such awful, awful customer service.

01/08/08

And The Peep Shows Are Free!

by petemoss at Citysearch

I'm so glad somebody finally mentioned the recent addition of make-out sessions at my formerly favourite coffee shop! I was beginning to think I was the only person bothered by this. I've been coming to Crema on a regular basis for a few years now. The pastries are great, and the coffee has always been top notch, but geez, what happened to the customer service??? Should I really have to wait for the baristas to stop making out with each other before they'll take my order? And do I even want to touch that mug after watching the barista grope his presumed girlfriend--right there in plain view of everyone??? I don't know who the owner is, but it seems it would bode well for his business to put an end to this extremely tacky and disgusting behaviour. In the meantime, I'll take my coffee break elsewhere.

• Pros: Great food and coffee
• Cons: Employees kissing and groping while you wait

01/08/08

Great coffee but...

by marioliv at Citysearch

I visit Crema every time I come visit Portland. I love their baked goods and their espresso is superb. However, last time I left a little uneasy. As I was trying to buy a drink I had to wait for the PDA between staff members to cease. It didn't seem like an appropriate activity for a business place, especially while customers are waiting!

12/15/07

Crema is great. Best coffee shop in Portland. The art though, its not so great lately.

by snobster at Citysearch

First off I would like to say that I have been coming to Crema for a long time. What keeps me coming back is the amazing level of care that goes into everything there. The regular coffee is only Stumptown and is never anything less than french pressed. Don't even get me started on the espresso drinks. If you think a honey vanilla latte sounds good, you would be wrong. It's actually amazing. Do yourself a favor and get one. Like now. The baked goods are to die for with things like pear and brie cheese bread pudding and orange ginger scones. The music is always good (Iron & Wine, Postal Service, Ryan Adams), but is never too loud. The baristas are really friendly, but not in a forced kind of Starbucks way (Maybe they are actually glad to be there?). Also very knowledgeable about what they are doing. The only drawback though is the art. The first time I came in there was some of the coolest art on the walls. I always used it in my description of the place... "Great coffee, great music, great local art, free wi-fi etc. etc." but now that "great art" rave has been omitted from my description of late. There has been a severe lack of original or inspiring art on the walls of my favorite coffee shop in the last few months. I want to put a challenge to whomever picks the art, put as much effort into the art on the walls that you put into the art in the cup of coffee you serve. Notice I still put a "Recommended" rating on Crema. It will always be near and dear to my heart. It is still my favorite. But I want to give it five stars. Come on Crema. Don't let me down.

• Pros: Everything but the art.
• Cons: The art.

10/23/07

sumptown coffee served better then they do it.

by five0three at Citysearch

Great coffee and pretty solid food for a coffee shop. You get alot of light with all the windows. Only issue to me is that the staff is mainly a bunch of hipsters.

• Pros: coffee and atmosphere
• Cons: a few to many hipsters working there and trying to look cool.

09/22/07

great place

by lacorota at Citysearch

They serve Stumptown Roasters grind -- the very best. Lines are almost always long, but not eternal. Long lines are the price of a superb place. The staff are great and seem to actually enjoy their jobs -- so unlike most underpaid service employees. I hope the owner rewards their staff handsomly at Crema.

I'm new enough, I haven't had time to sample but a fraction of their tasty baked goods, however, the cookies, sweetbreads, muffins, and croisants have all been the essence of food to write home about.

Hats off to the interior planners! Most of all, I enjoy sitting at the community table near the center of the place. The large tables and bench seats afford a sense of community in a great Portland neighborhood.

• Pros: great coffee and baked goodies
• Cons: frequent lines