So I was visiting my grandparents again who live in Midland, MI and I decided to go here with everyone (5 of us) for a nice breakfast.
Lauren was super fantastic. She was great with trying to adjust the menu to each of our dietary needs. Within our party of 5, some are gluten free, vegan, not vegan, dairy free, or like my grandpa - likes his coffee a certain way. (The 3 stars go to Lauren, but she deserves 7)
The downsides:
Not the best place for my 87 year old grandparents. I would say probably not the best spot for 70+ age group. I wouldn’t take them back because it was a pretty small shop - the dining area is about 1/3 of the average Starbucks. And because it is so small, it is incredibly noisy even with just a few people in there because the chatter is just bouncing off the walls. As you can imagine, my 87 year old grandparents had an incredibly hard time hearing anything anyone was saying. I would have taken my grandparents outside to eat, but the seating looked very hard and uncomfortable. #2, Even though Lauren was trying her best to accommodate my vegan brother, there were zero items on the menu for vegans, which is very surprising being 2021 and clearly the vegan community continues to grow. #3, never seen a coffee shop that used a large jar for Stevia, that is shared upon everyone in the shop that wants Stevia. The jar did had a scoop inside to use. It was just weird that the shop didn’t have any single packets of Splenda (what my grandpa wanted for his coffee) or any other alternative sweetener. I do not know if the shop had sugar or not. So… when a table or person wants Stevia, they will have to go to the counter and ask for it, and that’s when someone will hand you a big jar of it. Then take it to your coffee or group, use it, and then return it. Hmm, I think having a small table somewhere on the side with single serve packets is much more sanitary and accessible. My brother went to the bathroom there, returned, then decided to grab some stevia for his first coffee, and joked, “good thing I washed my hands..” but winked as he said it. No one knows who’s washing their hands and who is not… but everyone sticking their hands in a jar of stevia at a public restaurant establishment is just weird.
Other than that, the coffee shop is cute and friendly