Crema Bakery & Cafe

01/26/09

Crema is (mostly) terrible

by arthurthethird at Citysearch

Crema's coffee is good but not the best. Their pastries are better than most. I've had some bad coffee and pastries though. Some girl who really needed to brush her teeth put like half a cup of cream (?!) in my Vietnamese coffee. I really didn't like seeing her crusty yellow teeth while she was making my coffee. And there's this real pretentious hipster (who wears really tight shirts though he is fat. It's not becoming, guy...) who always screws up the orders. Once, I saw him get rude to a pregnant girl because she needed her Americano iced. Um, look guy, she's pregnant and can't have a 150 degree beverage-- so don't roll your eyes. I also saw him at a bar one night calling some girl some really nasty things, for which there might be an excuse, except they weren't arguing. I think he just talks to her that way. Sad.

Look I don't really mind hipsters, but this place is filled with juvenile nastiness from the staff. One time this guy was supposed to bring me an iced Americano, but it was made wrong. For some reason he walked around the whole shop looking for me though I was sitting next to the espresso machine the whole time. When he found me he nearly shoved the drink in my hands and rolled his eyes, then waved up his arms as if I had run into his car or something. It really angered me and that piping hot drink spilled a little on my hands. I almost went over and beat the tar out of him, but instead calmed myself down and emailed the manager. Mr. Fortune was very nice and apologetic and gave me a couple gift certificates. Cool. But guess who was there when I returned! You guessed right. I can't believe that guy wasn't fired! Pretentious hipster *%&*$#@&*^.

Sometimes, the place is fairly dirty and it's hard to find a clean table. They often grab a pastry for you after handling money. Dirty! It's a cool space but it's being ruined by a bad staff, lack of cleanliness and mishandled orders. Get a new staff! Clean up a little! Do this and they will come...back.

• Pros: meh. Pastries are usually good.
• Cons: Everything else.

02/28/08

why does it get worse?

by jazzy626 at Citysearch

crema now apparently charges $7 for a veggie sandwich...yes, that sandwich has no meat on it. i'm certain that the last time i was in there that sandwich was not 7 dollars. it is a good sandwich, but not 7 dollars good, especially with slow service and minimal seating.

but still, i went back. and i ordered one of my all time favorites, the most consistent and wonderful of all pastry items...the crema coconut cupcake. but to my dismay, upon preparing to eat it in the comfort of my own home, i came across a dark hair in the white creamy buttercream, a hair likely to match the head of the unwashed fella who served it to me.

and so this is a not so fond farewell, crema.

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

01/08/08

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