Bad Waitress Coffee Shop

The Bad Waitress is a fun and vegan friendly Eat Street restaurant. The atmosphere is great and the food is... more

I've been a regular client of the BW for 5 years. I love it! The food is healthy, fresh and unique. I was shocked to read such scathing reviews about the BW and was inspired to write my first review ever on CitySearch to give potential customers another perspective. There are vegan and vegetarian options (I'm not vegan but I still LOVE the vegan tempeh sloppy joe!) as well as terrific organic choices. The ""El Diablo"" egg and cheese sandwich is really yummy because of the spicy chorizo the BW has. They also offer the chorizo on the side if you want to give it a try by itself. Also, the brewed coffee is great and the self-service concept means you have total control over your ordering experience (the servers bring you the food, you just need to order it at the cashier) and can have as many glasses of water (with fresh lemon!!) or cups of coffee as your heart desires. It is a great place to go with a friend to catch up and have time to talk without getting rushed out or feeling the need to move! The same waitresses have worked there for years and so it feels a bit like going home when I visit. I also adore their coffee drinks. They have the typical latte/espresso smorgasbord with some funky other choices to boot. The iced mocha and Tokyo Rose (espresso with raspberry and white chocolate) are both divine! I've also had the Cubano coffee - yum yum. They also have a Vietnamese coffee I have been dying to try. All in all the BW offers a little something for everyone, with kind, attentive wait staff and a relaxed, fun atmosphere. For example, each table is named after a super hero so when you order you have to list the name of your table's super hero so servers know where to bring your food :) Every time I go I have a hard time deciding what to order because there are so many things I want to eat and drink! I've recommended it to many people and have lots of friends who also LOVE the BW. Definitely worth checking out! more

I've been going to this restaurant for years, and I can easily say that it is one of my favorite spots in the city. The food there is nothing short of miraculous, and its not going to hurt your wallet for a nice lunch. However, the service has been lacking of late. I can honestly say that most of the young women working there appear happy to be there and are always polite. There are a few, however, who never seem like they want to be working, and that every request you make of them seems like a burden to them or a waste of their time. One in particular never has a smile on her face, and is nothing short of rude to me every time I'm there. Today marked the last day that I will ever step foot into that restaurant again. I went in with the intention of sitting down with my laptop, having a cup of coffee and some lunch, and just to have a relaxing afternoon. I walked in, noticing they were semi-busy, and proceeded to sit in a booth. I was immediately snapped at by the girl at the counter who asked me to wait while they cleaned the table. A reasonable request, however the execution was nothing short of absolutely rude and unnecessary. So I patiently waited while the notorious no-smiler came over to the table and started slamming things around and audibly sighing/grunting. I was then asked by the girl at the counter if I would have anyone joining me that day. When I said no, she rolled her eyes and said, 'We are way too busy to have you taking up a whole booth by yourself. You are just gonna have to sit right over there at the counter.' Once again, a reasonable request, but i felt as if I had been verbally bitch slapped and my very presence was ruining these women's day. That is when I walked out. I am truly disappointed and never have I ever written a bad review in my life. Working in the same type of walk-up cafe style restaurant, I am mostly empathetic to those in the same type of industry. But today was absolutely inexcusable. I hope other diners don't have a similar experience as I've had today, however, if you expect polite, easy-going or frankly, good service, don't expect it here. more

I used to enjoy going to this place for pancakes on the weekends. But after the way the ""manager"" talked to me last weekend, I'll never go back! My husband and I ordered blueberry pancakes and a breakfast quesadilla, but when I looked at the receipt I saw that the woman had charged me for two orders of one pancake plus two sides of blueberries, and the quesadilla. When I (politely!) asked if there had been some mistake, she started yelling at me that that was how they always did it and that she would know because she was the MANAGER.\r \r As if I needed to be yelled at at 8:00 a.m. on a Sunday.\r \r The kicker was when the order came out, it was two orders of blueberry pancakes and no quesadilla. When I said that wasn't what we ordered, the ""manager"" shoved the second plate of pancakes in front of my husband and rudely said they were both for him then. I had to wait several more minutes for my quesadilla.\r \r So until the OWNERS of this establishment get rid of this MANAGER (and any other obnoxious, incompetent employees), I won't be back. At least I'll save about $80/month not eating there on the weekends anymore! I'll make my own pancakes and skip the side of abuse. Pros: Near where I live Cons: Horrible staff, mediocre food more

worst experience in dining history. Pros: Never Eating there Cons: It's still Open more

Well where can i start I really wanted to like this place. We ordered our food then waited for 2hrs. Come it should not take that long one it was not busy two we just ordered soup and salad. On top of that the girl that dropped the food off sneezed right in our food, so I mentioned something to her she was oblivious to what she just did. Me and my friend where not hungry after that so we asked to talk to the manager and she was so RUDE she mentioned that there was no issue and we made it up. OMG We didn't even touch our food. So we just waisted over 2 hours and spent $22 for a the worst dining experience ever. I am not one to read reviews and go with them, I gave this place a chance and in this case all the ""Bad"" reviews are more than true. Go there at your own risk. Cons: Everything about this place more

Awful food atrocious service. I get the concept ""bad"" but come on the girl that was working was picking her nose and handling food GROSS. This place does not even deserve one star. Pros: Leaving the place Cons: Bad Food Horrible Service more

If you like your food overly priced and bland and treated like sh!t for asking about your food after over an hour, then this place is for you. The food and service is THE WORST I have ever experienced. The people that work there hate being there. If i could give this negative stars I would. Pros: Nothing Cons: Bad Food Bad Service more

Like many other folks we ordered paid, and then waited and waited and waited and waited and waited. When after 1 hour we were done with our dinner time and no food or drinks were delivered. We ahd to leave and simply wanted bagels and coffee!!! We demanded our money back. The manager refused, and insulted us. I became quite loud and irate. Several other customers were in the same boat as us an the tip of the iceberg was she told us we had to leave that we were not worthy of eating there. We again demanded our money while this bitc** flipped us the bird, and said she was going to ""call the cops if we don't get the F**k out. We simply wanted our money back for no service. Again with the insults. Finally a fellow approached the counter and pulled out a badge. HE informed the woman that she either give us back our money or he would shut the place down. Finally she did to us and the 7 other irate tables that were sick of being jerked around. This place needs to be SHUT DOWN. They actually tried to steal from me. A-holes!!!!!!!!!!!!! Pros: Zip zero zilch Cons: Poor service, poor food, ridiculously long wait. more

I loved the location! (right down the street from my sons apartment) When we sat down it took a few moments to figure out how to order, but from there the experience was great. Pros: The sandwiches and burgers and the guacamole fantastic Cons: took a little longer than expected for food more

Despite the crowd we were seated immediately. After perusing the menu my wife, who waited tables throughout high school and had the requisite skills, wrote out our order and took it to the cashier. After paying, the cashier informed her that the kitchen was backed up and that it would likely be 45 minutes before our food would be ready. This wasn’t a problem. We had the Sunday paper and all the coffee we could drink. We settled in for a leisurely breakfast.\r \r After an hour had passed we called one of the employees over and asked him to check on the progress of our meal. He returned a moment later and assured us that our meal would be ready momentarily. Another 25 minutes passed. We had finished the Sunday paper and decided it was time to get on with our day. We asked the same employee about our order. He just shrugged. We asked to see the manager and he pointed to a woman at the register. \r \r We told the manager that we had been waiting almost 90 minutes for our food. Even worse, 25 minutes earlier we had been told by one of her employees that our meal was moments away. She demanded to know who told us that. When I pointed out the gentleman her response was, “Well he wouldn’t know” as if I was stupid for even asking him. \r \r At that point another employee came over from the kitchen and informed the manager that our order slip had fallen on the floor and was never placed in the queue. I was dumbfounded. I asked the manager why then were we told our order was almost ready. In the same tone as before she reminded me that she wasn’t the one who told us that as if that absolved her of all responsibility. There was no remorse, no apology. I asked for an immediate refund. \r \r She processed our credit card refund but when she handed me the receipt I noticed she hadn’t refunded the $4.00 tip. (Tell me again why we tipped at a restaurant without table service?) I asked about the tip and was informed that it was gone…it had already been distributed amongst the staff. Again I was dumbfounded. Did she really expect me to reward the staff for this fiasco? I gave her one of those withering looks that makes dogs whimper and children put themselves in time-out. Realizing she was on thin ice she reached into the tip jar, pulled out four dollars and handed it to me. We left vowing never to return.\r Cons: Poor management, impossible to get food more

I really want to like Bad Waitress, but each time I go there I have to wait up to an hour for my food. Diner food should not take this long to cook! They need to either expand their small kitchen area or reduce the size of the restaurant. I have eaten at this restaurant half a dozen times hoping that the last time was just a fluke, but I have been wrong. I won't be going back to this place until the service improves. Out of town guests that I take to ""show them a bit of Minneapolis"" leave disappointed. Pros: good pancakes, coffee, atmosphere Cons: incredibly slow service more

I went to The Bad Waitress for brunch on Sunday at noon. We ordered our food and proceeded to wait for an hour for it. We ordered simple diner food that should take maybe 10-15 minutes tops to prepare. The food was bland and overcooked. My dining companion had a large bland biscuit that was masquerading as something edible. When I went to the counter to speak to the manager, she said that an hour wait was standard because ""take a look at our grill. It's not very big."" This was true---then why is the restaurant capable of seating so many people when the grill is so small? Then I said that the food was not particularly good and she said, ""sorry you weren't happy with it,"" and walked away. This was one of the worst dining experiences in the Twin Cities. Do not come here. Pros: Nothing Cons: Everything more

I, too, am appalled by all the negative reviews on this place. I think Bad Waitress is a gem over in the Eat Street/Stevens Community area and I have loved going there for about a year now. I think the biggest issue that customers who walk in here deal with is that they are not treated like royalty. (Heaven forbid.) The clever means of service was to combine a restaurant/cafe atmosphere with a fast food way of serving yourself. If you're used to being served in Uptown or other ""high class"" places, then of course you won't like this place. It's not meant for you, so get over yourself and let the rest of us enjoy our local cafe. I have never had an issue while going there. It did take me a bit to get used to how to order. And all the staff I've come upon have been friendly as long as I was friendly with them. I've always enjoyed the food and never had an issue with how long it took to get my food. Also, everything I've ordered has been delicious and hot. Everyone I've brought here has loved it and I go back all the time. The jukebox plays a plethora of eclectic music while you're visually stimulated by the 1940's-1960's era monster and superhero decor. So, if you enjoy a unique eating environment and want a nice little place to hang out and relax with your friends, this is the place for you. But, if you're a yuppie looking to get served similarly to some place like Spoon River, then don't show up; we don't want you here. Pros: Tasty food, great ambiance, comfortable staff Cons: Service style is unique and can be hard to get used to more

The décor of this restaurant was very eclectic so I found that very interesting. The look of the place... more

I love the Bad waitress! Every time I go there, the coffee and food service is fast and excellent. I love the french toast there, I think it's the best in mpls! Pros: Great ambience, great food Cons: Sometimes too crowded more

I would never ever recommend this place to anyone. The food is overpriced and awful. The staff is rude and arrogant. It is actually BAD for the community to have a spot like this here. It takes away a spot from another locally owned business that could actually be providing an asset to this community--a gathering spot with good, local food--instead this place actually hurts it by ripping off people who live here. It's a total rip off. And it's such a detriment to the community and the people who live here that it might as well be a Starbuck's or McDonald's. Actually, it's worse. Pros: Absoultely none, except maybe it will close soon Cons: Everything from food to service to atmosphere. more

Okay, we were ravenous . . . Bad Waitress was minutes from the Children's Theatre. We immediately sat ourselves down at 5:50 PM, and I noticed an average crowd in the restaurant. By 6PM we had gone to the counter, been spoken to demeaningly and paid for our meal. Okay, so I understand the concept behind ""Bad Waitress"". If you are a nice person--do not go!\r \r At 6:30PM (30 minutes to our show time) three people still had not gotten theIr burgers with three cooks in the kitchen. Needless to say, again treated demeaningly and with a ""who cares if you are here"" attitude, I attempted to ask the status of our order. Shouted across the counter was your the last ticket. . . With this we ate really bad burgers in the car enroute back to the Children's Theater with 10 minutes to spare till show time.\r \r DON'T GO! more

I was casually reading through reviews and was SHOCKED by these bad reviews. I have been a regular at Bad Waitress for more than 3 years and have NEVER had a bad experience. My husband and I go at least twice a week and take our family and friends there when they come to visit and everyone loves it. My sister insists on going whenever she visits from NYC. Even when we go with large groups the food comes out timely, fresh and delicious! Don't let these few reviews discourage you from trying what many (everyone that I know) consider to be one of the best places in Minneapolis! Pros: delicious, easy to find parking more

Went to day, Labor day. Thought our horrendous experience was a novelty, WOW! Not the case. All of the reviews that came before are identical. Can the owner read? My God, we waited an hour and 15 minutes for two sandwiches. No apologies, tons of attitude. Dudes, this is why people don't mix it up and try new things. We will never return, I will tell everyone who will listen how horrible it was. An the worst part? We were excited to try a new place. Ordered at 1:18pm-food came at 2:45? WTF? I mean, get a grip.\r Uptown Diner or Calhoun Grill or APPLEBEES FOR GODSSAKE have better food, more professional service and a happier atmosphere. We looked at all the tables-no one was talking, everyone looked hot, hungry and pissed-awesome! Pros: Now you know never to go Cons: it exists more