Booda Beans Coffee Shop Offers Wide Range Of Delights
I’m sitting in the back corner of Booda Beans Cafe late on a Sunday morning. It has 6 of it’s tables occupied. One by some school age kids, and the rest by an assortment of adults. There are a few children happily playing in the kids play are with the kitchen set and hot wheels. It’s muted, but not quiet, and feels like a neighborhood coffee shop should.
The display case has baked goods, fruit cups, a collection of the latest energy and health drinks. There is also a selection of wines in the smaller case next to it for a little later in the day. Behind the counter is the expected coffee making equipment to produce a fancy $8 piece of artwork down to a simple cup of joe or fountain soda (Coca-Cola).
Service at the walk-up counter is quick and pleasant, which is a nice change from the big chain coffee shops. There is also wifi available, I am currently connected to it.
The location is both a plus and a minus. It’s wedged between Mary Magdelane and the Scotts Mill neighborhood on Towne Side Drive, which is good, but finding a parking spot can sometimes be a challenge.
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- Booda Beans front counter
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- Booda Beans kids play area
Eleanor
This was quite surprising. I am a frequent visitor of Booda Beans, and this week, thought to take my mother (visiting from AZ) for lunch. At about 2 o’clock we were taken care of by a young (seemingly uninterested) employee.
When asked, they were out of all but one type of sandwich, so I opted for the grilled cheese. She said she only had wheat bread and the sandwich arrived without tomato!!! It was not fully grilled as the middle cheese was still hard…and no side! When asked, they were out of chips, too! No fruit, so she offered us a brownie and it had to be a few days old. What happened to the quality on this day? Was it just a ‘bad day’. Do coffee houses have ‘bad days’.
To make matters worse, the girl continued to surf her art supply websites (we could see from our vista point) while 2 tables were dirty. One had crumbs all over the chair and another on the table itself. There was ‘stuff’ on a third table, which made us uncomfortable as we didn’t know if it was occupied, and there was ‘stuff’ at the table in the back as well. A few moms with children occupied a table by the door and two other tables were occupied. Four tables were in question so we felt we had to sit at the counter (thus our vantage point).
Bad food + bad service = won’t be taking my mom there again (nor anyone else??? perhaps a break from Booda for awhile?).
May 15th, 2009 at 1:35 am