Coffee Encounters

There's this little coffee shop downtown that I quite like. Coffee Encounters has a fun, hip feel, and plenty of menu options. Mostly, I like it because they sell gluten-free treats. Depending on the day, they'll have cupcakes, muffins, cookies, squares, cake... I wish I could eat a sandwich there, but a cupcake suffices most days.


I stopped by last week, but I didn't think my experience warranted a whole blog post, so I just wrote the following on their Urbanspoon profile:

I went here today as I was rushing to run errands downtown. I needed to eat something, but didn't have much time, so I popped in and bought a gluten-free cupcake, a gluten-free muffin and a cup of fresh veggies with dip.

The cupcake was delicious, as always. Their cupcakes have always been fantastic. The muffin was good, as well.

But the veggie cup was old and gross. The cauliflower had brown spots and was wilting. The carrots had white spots and were dry. All of the vegetables looked old and were unappealing. I was disappointed.

I aimed to be positive, but honest. I thoroughly enjoyed my food. It made for a decent, delicious, satisfying lunch. At the same time, however, I wanted them to know their veggies were old, because the girl who gave it to me didn't notice. I recieved the following email from their Urbanspoon account:

We are glad to hear you are enjoying our gluten free items! As for the veggie cup, we apologize! Us owners were away for a while and unable to monitor those items. We thank you for your comment and have taken action to improve this concern. All staff have been instructed to write a discard date for both the fruit and veggie cups to ensure they are okay! Please inform the staff who you are next time you come in and we will be glad to give you a free beverage.

Okay. First of all, wow. I don't even know what else to say. I mean, they straight-up apologized, they informed me there is now a policy to prevent this, and they offered me a complimentary beverage. I was so impressed. This is exemplary customer service. This is what makes a great restaurant. They not only cared about my personal experience, but went out of their way to make it better.

Last night, I was downtown, and popped in. I told the girl who was working about the situation, and she made me a delicious latte. I was even more impressed.

So I cannot recommend this place enough. They have a great selection of sandwiches and lunch options for gluten-eaters, they have some yummy treats for non-gluten-eaters, they have some pretty awesome drinks, and they have stellar customer service. Stop by for a hot drink, meet up with someone for lunch, or sit down with your laptop and a mug of coffee.