I usually don’t post negative reviews, but this has been on my mind, and I wanted to share it with the owner.
I used to go to this coffee shop regularly. My experience was mostly that it often took a very long time for my order to be prepared. I am usually there by 8:00 a.m. or shortly after, and I normally order a chocolate croissant and a large flat white with regular milk which is not a lot. I always have a meeting at 8:30 a.m., and I was late a few times because my order took too long. Even so, I still went there from time to time because it is right next to where I work, in the BOA building.
Last December, I went in one morning and ordered my usual items. After waiting a long time, I finally received my order, but instead of a large flat white, I was given a smaller size. I mentioned to the guy working there that I thought I had paid for a large. He double-checked, confirmed that I was right, and then remade the drink. I took my order back to my office and started eating, only to realize that he had used soy milk instead of regular milk without asking me. I always order regular milk, and I do not like the taste of soy milk in my coffee, so that was disappointing. I did not complain or go back since I was already back in my office, I also want to note that I tipped too.
After that incident, I started going to Pret A Manger instead. Then last Friday, when I found out Pret was closed, I decided to give Bluestone Lane another try. It was around 8:00 a.m. and there was a line, but the lady at the cashier was very efficient, and I got my flat white quickly but not my croissant, I stood there for another few minutes then cashier noticed me still standing there after I got my coffee, and asked whether I was waiting for anything else. When I said I was still waiting for my chocolate croissant, the same guy who had messed up my order before seemed to suddenly remember it, he then grabbed the croissant out of the toaster/oven and started laughing in a way that seemed like he was embarrassed that he had forgotten about the food, but the whole time he was looking at the lady at the cashier and even when he gave me my order he didn’t look at me or say anything.
When I got back to my office, I found that the croissant was burnt on the outside. The outer crust fell off completely , and the overall texture was too crunchy, hard, and dry.
So today I brought my own coffee and food, and going forward I will probably order from the Starbucks inside Ralphs next door. I don’t think I will be returning to Blue Stone Lane anytime soon unless Starbucks is closed.