05/01/09

Love their coffee, wish I could say the same for employees

by bablinbrooke

I love their coffee and and was really excited to finally visit their cafe... Unfortunately I was very disappointed. The barista on duty publicly reprimanded me for requesting a solo espresso to go... Hey, I understand if you're a purist - but I come from that place where 'The customer is always right!'.

It's just coffee folks - please let us ENJOY it!

• Pros: Yummy coffee
• Cons: Terrible customer service

Coffee cognoscenti flock to this SoMa hotspot for painstakingly prepared brews fresh from the venue's vaunted Japanese siphon bar.

by Lorraine Sanders

In Short
The first full-scale outpost from the eponymous Bay Area roaster, this Mint Plaza cafe beckons patrons to sit and sip amid loft-like, industrial interiors soberly outfitted in stark white, dark wood and stainless steel. While many come for the espresso drinks famously topped-off with artistically swirled foam, more head here to experience the siphon bar's theatrics. The only halogen-powered model in the nation, the contraption uses water vapor pressure to brew fresh grounds in pairs of glass globes. A small menu of French-accented bistro fare is available.