Is Customer Service Dead? Or Did We Just Forget to Demand It?

Photography by Laura Flippen

At one of the city’s most revered coffee temples, the design is like a beautiful third-wave film set. From soaring ceilings with skylights, hazy sheaths of light illuminate exposed wood, cement floors, and sheet metal. A guy with tattoo sleeves listens for the crack of the coffee beans roasting in the vintage Probat, and a barista in black-framed glasses and a checkered flannel mans the Slayer espresso machine. From a vintage turntable, Van Morrison belts out G-L-O-R-I-A, yet the room has a sobering tenor of importance.

"Can I get a Gibraltar? To go, please,” I ask, smiling sweetly for good measure. The woman at the register squints with a brief look of confusion as if she’s never heard of this signature coffee drink made popular by Blue Bottle. Or as if she’s never had a customer so daft as  to ask for a drink that’s not on the menu—or worse yet, a customer who requests it to go.

“You mean a short, wet cap?” she corrects me in a tone that’s just patronizing enough to get the point across, all sugar-sprinkled with some earnest concern for my cluelessness about the rules.

I already know that these types of coffee shops generally refuse to serve a Gibraltar to go. The rationale, according to coffee lore, is that it must be served in its namesake glass. But despite a hunch that my request would be denied, I still find my mojo wilting in the face of the barista’s disenchantment. My ego desperately wants to impress her with my effortless espresso-ordering lingo, to show I have a clue what a short, wet cap is, to tell her that I haven’t patronized Peet’s for years, to explain that I always grind my own coffee beans but will do better and invest in a burr grinder soon.

A few minutes later, my drink is proffered by a barista with plugs in his earlobes. I ask another loaded question. “Excuse me. Where’s the sugar?” I flinch a bit, knowing how gauche this is.

The girl at the register wanly points toward the back of the huge room—like the way, way back—to a milk-and-sugar Siberia where sinners who dare to contaminate a single-plot, microregion, micromilled, $20-per-pound Costa Rican coffee should go to practice some self-flagellation. Meekly holding my short, wet cup of coffee, I do the walk of shame.

This is a true tale, but I don’t mean to pick on a particular coffee institution. I’m just trying to paint a picture of the type of service that has come to define some of the city’s most popular places of food and drink—places that, despite having this hipper-than-thou attitude, I continue to frequent because I don’t want to miss out on the good eating and drinking. Though, I have thrown in the towel on a few occasions.

Not long ago, on a slow night at one of the city’s celebrated restaurant bars—one that I really wanted to give another chance—my husband and I were happy to be greeted by a pleasant bartender. He was on the brink of cheerful, actually. All signs were a go, or so it seemed, until he promptly turned his back to us and continued an earnest conversation about some noble spirit with a deeply nodding customer, all the while meticulously prepping, measuring, pouring, twisting, stirring, and two-handed shaking that customer’s cocktail to life. There might have been a tincture involved. There might have been shrubs. I don’t think there was fire, but there was definitely specially shaped ice. It was an ordeal. Or maybe it was art. Either way, we were forgotten. Twenty minutes went by, and there was no glass of water, no menu, no check-in to make sure we were still breathing.

I don’t think the bartender was purposely being rude. He was simply on his path, and he expected that we were happy to wait—and wait—an accepted  penance for ordering a fancy cocktail. (If this scene resonates with you, please read Kate Hahn’s “I’m Your Mixologist,” which was posted on McSweeney’s website this past June, and have a good laugh.) Finally, when we left in a noticable huff to go elsewhere, the bartender barely registered our absence. There was no attempt to woo us back.

For some reason, the two B’s—bartenders (aka mixologists) and baristas—are often the biggest offenders in the current hospitality sector. Any institution of food or drink that has a cultish aura and celebrates the server’s arcane knowledge of what’s at hand is prone to such an air. Pizzaioli, butchers, sommeliers, ice cream scoopers, and croissant dealers also come to mind. And not to be anti-ink, but if you’re trying to avoid this kind of service, tattoos often serve as a red flag. Be warned of tattoos of coffee beans, chef knives (Japanese in particular), and butchery diagrams. People who give their body to their craft seem to be more likely to hold it above you.

As for picking on coffee makers, it just so happens that the third-wave world—that is the likes of Blue Bottle, Four Barrel, Ritual Roasters, Sightglass, and more—is ripe for parody. You know there’s been a public pushback when something can be effortlessly spoofed. In a Funny or Die video that was circulating on YouTube at the end of 2011, a couple of sullen baristas in dowdy-chic  vintage dresses chat to each other, oblivious to the long line of people going through caffeine withdrawal.

“I’m so glad those Costa Rican beans are in season right now,” says one with pitch-perfect disaffection.

“Oh my god, I know. Those Ecuadorean beans were so harsh. I couldn’t handle it,” says the other, eyes rolling to the back of her head.

“Someone asked for milk with their coffee, and I almost gave it to them,” the first barista rolls right back.

But the ironic part of the video isn’t what happens when a woman next in line orders a caramel macchiato and the baristas give her a deadpan lecture about how this is not Starbucks (“That drink doesn’t exist. Am I wearing a green apron? Do you hear Ray LaMontagne playing right now?”). The irony lies in the fact that if I’m to be honest, I’m so conditioned to this kind of service that I’ve become skeptical of a coffee drink or a cocktail or a porchetta or a pizza made by someone who treats me otherwise. At this point, bubbly, happy service would give me pause—similarly, a third-wave coffee shop offering 1-percent milk or a serious bar touting its signature vodka cocktail. So who’s the enabler here?

Channeled positively however, some of the knowledge bursting forth from today’s food scene is a good thing. I call Doug Washington—long known as one of the city’s preeminent front-of-the-house men and co-owner of Town Hall, Salt House, and Anchor & Hope—to talk shop. As an example of a current trend in service that he’s witnessed in San Francisco and beyond, he recalls a recent trip to Portland where he found himself at an ice cream cart. “The guy manning the cart wasn’t the owner, but he knew the owners had bought six cows and a tiny dairy. He knew where they had gotten all the ingredients for each flavor,” Washington says. “The amount this guy knew blew me away. I think that this kind of knowledgeable service has bled out of the dining room. You go get coffee, you go to the butcher, and the amount of integrity and commitment is amazing.”

The flip side to too much stored data is demonstrated at Town Hall and his other restaurants where Washington says they have to remind servers to bite their tongues. “We’re always telling our staff that what they have to know is on the same level as a four-star restaurant, but don’t be waiting to shoot knowledge out,” he says. “For some customers, it’s not the evening for it. I don’t want a crew to ever think that their job is to educate people.”

Of course, customers can be just as guilty of this. Washington recalls an afternoon waiting in a long line at one of the Bay Area’s premier ice cream shops, one where you’re only allowed three tastes. “There was a customer standing at the front, asking questions like, ‘Is it organic? Do you use Straus?’ and on and on,” says Washington. “And a guy behind me finally yells, ‘Hurry up. You’re not buying a car!’ It was so great. The women working there were just jolted out of their alternate reality.”

Barring camping out at the Apple store on iPhone launch days, having to wait at great length to buy something is generally considered terrible service. But this rule doesn’t hold true for today’s dining scene where reservations aren’t taken at some of the best restaurants, and you find yourself profusely thanking the hostess for seating you after an hour-and-a-half wait in the rain. The equation goes that the longer the line, the better the food or drink must be on the other side—and often it is. Or maybe it just seems this way because by the time you actually get to eat, your blood-sugar level has made you delusional.

The city is full of long waits. There’s Tartine Bakery, where arriving before the doors even open on a Sunday for a morning bun is a right of pastry passage. On Thursdays at the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market, there’s a line for Roli Roti’s porchetta sandwich. There’s the queue at Una Pizza Napoletana, the revered SoMa restaurant where one man makes one pizza at a time and looks very  serious while doing it. To wait shows your dedication to good food. Speaking of enablers, Jonathan Kauffman, the restaurant critic for SF Weekly, is a big fan of Una Pizza himself. “A line is a direct confirmation that what you’re waiting for is worth getting,” he says. “And if the service isn’t as welcoming, people are more accepting because they feel like they’ve found something special.”

Playing Angry Birds on your phone is one way to ease the wait pain. “I think it’s odd that everyone’s patience level has gone to shit with the Internet, yet I’ll watch a guy wait for 10 minutes for an espresso drink,” says Washington. “But he’s not upset about that. He’s pissed because his phone is toggling so slow.”

To wait or not to wait doesn’t necessarily make or break good customer service—it’s how you’re treated at the pearly gates once you arrive. Jake Godby and Sean Vahey of Humphry Slocombe ice cream are no strangers to customers  happily standing in line for an hour to get a taste of their Secret Breakfast. “Waiting in line forces you to stop for a bit,” says Vahey. “It’s almost a social thing.” However, the two try to apply the rules they learned at finer establishments before they went into the scoop business. Godby once worked as a pastry chef at restaurants including Coi; Vahey was a food and beverage manager at the Four Seasons, a place where you learn things like the “five and ten rule,” a  customer service tactic wherein at 10 feet away, you make eye contact with the customer, and at five feet, you verbally acknowledge them. “Being acknowledged,” says Vahey, “is such a simple thing.”

Danny Meyer—restaurateur, founder and CEO of Union Square Hospitality Group, and author of Setting the Table: The Transforming Power of Hospitality in Business—has spent his life thinking about this whole equation. Though he’s based in New York, Meyer is respected nationwide as the man when it comes to a philosophy on customer service. The increasing competition to be original, Meyer says, is to blame for this current mindset that the customer isn’t always right. In fact, the customer is dead wrong (again, that issue of milk in your coffee). “In order to survive today, there’s a need to have a sharp point of view—whether it’s a bar, or a barbecue joint, or a taqueria, or a coffee place,” says Meyer. “That leads people to this dogma, which says [to the customer], ‘This is what we do. You’ll have it our way, or you’ll go somewhere else.’ They think if they stop doing it their way, then they’re not being true to what made them distinct in the first place.”

For Meyer, this drive to be unique is a start, but it’s limiting if it dovetails into service. “The fact will always remain that if you give me a product that I need or want, I give you money. I expect the product is as good as you promised, and you’ll make me feel appreciated,” he says. “A restaurant’s vision doesn’t pay the bills if it doesn’t have people who buy into it more than once.” No matter how hot a restaurant, returning customers are key. You can put all the local and organic you want on a menu, but a business is only truly sustainable if people come back.

There is a glimmer that things are changing. On a midweek morning, I walk into Four Barrel in the Mission to talk with owner Jeremy Tooker, who launched Ritual Roasters along with Eileen Hassi (now the sole owner). Tooker tells me Danny Meyer is his customer service hero.

To envision a morning at Four Barrel, simply refer back to the first scene of this article: from earlobe plugs to analog, it’s the same genre but with more lumberjack beards. Meyer, who’s generally seen wearing a suit, would look really silly here. “I’m the biggest hipster in the Mission,” says Tooker, who has a tattoo of the word bacon on his inner lip. (Though he doesn’t have a coffee bean tattoo, he once flirted the idea). “The biggest self-proclaimed hipster at least. But Portland, where I’m from, was worse. The norm was to be talked down to. Good coffee meant bad service.”

In terms of stereotypes, everything about Tooker and his Fleet Foxy staff says that I should expect no less from Four Barrel’s service, but I let him explain himself. “I was only 26 when we opened Ritual,” he says. “You get a little out of control when you’re an instant success. My managing style was typical of a new business. I had an ego. Still, I’m a fan of learning from my mistakes.” I wonder if he’s feeding me this for my story’s sake, but then Tooker emails me Four Barrel’s 10-page, single-spaced, heartfelt hospitality manifesto.

Along with some basic barista tenets (“never serve anything that looks creepy or thin or wrong” and how to explain the whole-milk only rule to guests), Tooker’s guide proclaims that “the customer should never feel as though they need to win us over,” that customers “show us a small act of grace when they choose to come here,” and that therefore, they should be treated hospitably. “Put some soul into it,” he adds. “At our best, we should not let a guest leave without feeling as though they’ve been satisfyingly hugged.”

Tooker is clearly trying to answer the question that Washington posed to me earlier: “ Why can’t we have knowledgeable people make great things and have service with joy and hospitality?”

Meyer was on to something. It just might be that the new wave of  businesses—the fourth wave—will set themselves apart not only with a limited menu but also with a smile. A hug, though? That might be overkill.

ahem.

Here's MY manifesto of customer service, from someone who's worked in the specialty coffee world for years, and restaurants and other hospitality environments for years before that:

1. Want something great? Cool, so does everyone else. Sorry, but you gotta wait your turn. But when your turn comes, I will gladly make you a killer drink/photo/repaired-toilet/whatever. And then you will gladly pay/high-five/thank/whatever me. That's how it works.

2. Does that mean I will make you a venti-caramel-mocha-frappe-latte-bone-dry-1%-extra-hot-on-ice-half-full-2/3-decaf-blahblahblah...? No. I have years of expertise, standards of quality, and respect for what makes my craft awesome. I offer particular goods and services because they're what I choose to offer, and they're what I'm good at. That's not to say that I offer the same things as someone else; if you want a chocolate-frosted-sugar-bomb, I can provide a list of other places where you can get one.

3. If you treat me with basic human respect, I will do the same for you. If you treat me with disrespect, I will respond in kind. If you act as though you're entitled to something, as though it is my duty to jump at your every whim and give you anything you want, I will laugh at you, refuse to help you, or focus my attention on others who do treat me with respect.

4. You are not my friend and I will not pretend to be yours. After time we might become friends, but that happens over time and independently of your credit card. When you ask "How are you?" as a thoughtless social nicety, I will respond, "I'm well. What can I get for you today?" If I ask you how you are doing, you will know that I am sincerely interested in your well-being. If I stop what I'm doing to hug you, you will know that I honestly care about you.

5. If you don't like how I handle things, that's okay. There are no end of people you could interact with, and perhaps someone else is a better choice for you. But if you choose to interact with me regularly, treat me with respect, honor my skills and expertise, and compose yourself with integrity and consideration, I will go out of my way to treat you well, deliver the best goods and services I'm capable of, and do small things that bring value and joy to your life.

THAT'S my manifesto of customer service.

By Tanager (not verified) on March 06, 2012

For all of you talking mad shit to Sara, you obviously haven't experienced the pretentious hipster barista that thinks he/she is god's gift to the planet. Or maybe you were wearing the right Wonder Years glasses, ugly sweater or too tight of pants. Either way, someone (thank you Sara) chose to call out the absolute absurd behavior of Four Barrel, I have been in twice and refuse to buy their coffee anymore. You should be able to get a three shot Americano. You shouldn't be shunned or ridiculed for trying to get something non-fat. You work at a coffee shop for gods sake, you aren't that cool. From someone that has worked in customer service for most of my life, I understand that not only are people coming to an establishment to enjoy the coffee/food/ambiance but also to be serviced by not absolute complete dicks. Your job is customer service. Learn that and people might actually tip you.

By Anonymous (not verified) on February 17, 2012

So funny and true.
I need a tatoo of the word bacon :)

By Iulia (not verified) on February 17, 2012

I enjoyed the comment about how friendly the servers were in Chico. Everyone with a non-dishwasher job is friendly, in Chico, because there are a dozen cheerful unemployed servers just like you turning in applications for your job every day. As a former cheerful server up there, I promise you it's not a rainbows and unicorns thing.

By Buttey (not verified) on February 09, 2012

Whenever I encounter a bad service experience, I make a point to speak to the manager or owner of that business. This is how I gauge whether the establishment's attitude is to treat the customer like crap or it is just that individual server's. You might be surprised to learn that the manager is often unaware of how his/her staff has been behaving. And voicing your opinion directly to the manager, instead of ranting on the internet, is often more effective to get your point across and affect change. So even though your article makes a good point, I think it is misplaced. Did you even try to speak to the owner of these places that you had such bad experience with? Or just tell the server straight up that she's being a little bitch. She might toss your gibraltar at you, but you'll get her attention soon enough.

And hey, if these people treat you like crap, go somewhere else, or learn to make your coffee, however you like it, instead of whining about it.

By Anonymous (not verified) on February 08, 2012

What is with all the hating of tattoos? I thought this town was about freedom of expression, creativity, and tolerance. At one point tattoos were associated with criminals, now a sign of snotty, bad customer service? Please. Take your pathetic stereotypes somewhere else, like Orange County.

By Anonymous (not verified) on February 08, 2012

Is Sara Deseran now paid by the word? Because this rant is about 1500 words too long. But hey, at least we got a properly spell checked piece this time.

And is Deseran's ego so fragile that she needs the validation of impressing a barista? This can't just be about the snobby baristas at Sightglass. It must be about a mid-life crisis or divorce or something along those lines. I have occasionally experienced attitude from the baristas at Sightglass, and let me let you in on a little secret. Who really gives a f* about some silly hipster serving only the 6th or 7th best coffee in the city? I am really only there to get some coffee, and I could really care less about the barista's world view. In fact, when I detect attitude at Sightglass, I make sure to use their nifty Square payment system (which costs them more per transaction than cash unless Jack Dorsey is giving them some kind of special deal since he is an investor in the cafe) and not leave a tip. I also make sure not to pick up after myself and leave a mess (typically, I bus my stuff after I'm done at other coffee shops).

Also, I would never trust the palette of a "food writer" who pours sugar into their third wave coffee. The whole point of third wave coffee is a much lighter roasting style with subtler flavors, which you can't detect if you pour sugar or too much milk into the coffee. You can justify pouring sugar into a traditional roast (which is typically roasted much darker and lacks the subtlety), but then you might as well just go to Peet's and pay less for your coffee.

By Charlie (not verified) on February 07, 2012

My sister lives in Chico and I get a pleasant shock every time I go there. Lots of good coffee, sandwich and dinner places (its a college town after all), but none of the affected, border-line snotty attitudes of San Francisco. The people that work in that town are almost always "puppy-dog" friendly - and its genuine. Its quite an eye-opener for a City resident. What ticks me off is I'm a San Francisco native and the vibe of this place has changed over my lifetime. We used to be fun and friendly and visitors were impressed with how open and nice the populace was. Now its been taken over by pretentious transplant carpetbaggers from every corner of the country. I wish they'd left their tattooed, gauged-eared, ugly butts in whatever state spawned them (instead of coming here and acting like they invented this place).

Oh, and a Gibraltar is NOT a short wet cap. That chick is not only snotty, but wrong.

By Jeff (not verified) on February 07, 2012

Don't see much of the 'tude in our small town. We were overjoyed to escape the snooty snotty bay area.

By Anonymous (not verified) on February 07, 2012

Thank you for having the balls to write this article! I have had a very similar experience at Blue Bottle in Mint Plaza and think it's ridiculous that they are obnoxious about what a customer wants to put in his or her coffee (I also got the stink eye for sugar). The whole thing is totally "Portlandia."

My neighborhood coffee house (which is not one of the cooler-than-thou places, thank goodness) has amazing customer service and great coffee without any of the attitude so I go there everyday, happily.

SF has a group of people that reward the ridiculousness of things like rude baristas - why I do not know. If they acted like that in NYC they'd be out of business in months. Here people love it.

By Anonymous (not verified) on February 07, 2012

Well, you've only yourself to blame. There's an old saying that goes, "Put your money with your mouth is!" I suppose in the case of coffee, that means doing that quite literally. Which brings up another cliche... "Easier said than done." A few years back, after my 279 outburst about how awful the customer service is with Comcast, I decided that if I was that uphappy with the service, and kept paying them for it, then who was the real chump? Since taking on this newer philosophy, I've found that it can definitely complicate my life! Going to the coffee place that is farther, or more expensive, or closer and less "hip'. But I absolutely HATE bad custoemr service! Get a little perspective before you start whining about working with customers, (no matter how many hours or jobs you have). I bet a worker in the rice field would find it hard to agree that your _____ (fill in the blank) is harder than her 12 hour day hunched over in a field of water.

I don't know what a Gibralter is, and probably never will... Well, frankly because anything who's pinacle product is something that has passed thru the ass of some lemur, well, just ain't my thing. A basic coffee from any SF coffee house is good enough for me.

But I opened a store on the premise that the only item that we were going to carry, that seemed nonexistant in any other shoe boutique, was the presence and desire to bring true customer service. Based on (mostly) positive reviews on Yelp, I think we hit the mark most of the time.

If a place or employee serves of poor customer service on a regular basis, in my experience, both as a customer and a service person, it's mostly for the following 3 reasons. 1. It's a part of the store culture. The owner doesn't care enough to train his staff, or offer them a working invironment that doesn't make them feel that the pros to working there outweigh the cons... 2. Some people already feel lacking in self-confidence or self-worth, and being a servant (because paid or not, that's what one is) is just too much for the ego. So they over-compensate for that feeling by putting forth an attitude of, "Don't think just because I'm serving up this coffee that you are better than me!" 3. This one is actually the biggest problem when it comes to poor customer service... And that's you, Sara. Or anyone else who gets terrible service somewhere, but goes back over and over. That's like giving your dog a doggie treat, everytime he craps on the $1,500 rug.. and then complaining to your friends that he won't stop doing it, and thinking that this is the solution to fixing the problem.

I say, put your money where your mouth is, or just plain close your mouth.

Joe

By De La Joe (not verified) on February 07, 2012

they should offer a simple self service coffee stand. Walk up put a 1.50 in the basket pour your cup and leave. Me ? when I run in to a snooty I simply make up an incredibly complicated drink and just when they are ready to execute say "oh never mind. give me a small house to go." ha ha ha snooty on me means snot on you.

By Anonymous (not verified) on February 07, 2012

This is as lively a comments thread as I've seen in a while! Must've hit a nerve...

By Todd1 (not verified) on February 07, 2012

I'm from San Francisco but lived in a number of other places--most recently in Seattle where I met with snobbish baristas. The coffee was fantastic but even a compliment on the foam art was met with a glare as if to say 'what did you expect, Idiot'. Upon my return I can see that this attitude, (along with the tattoos and grunge look) have become part of the SF scene as well, to my complete surprise.

By Anonymous (not verified) on February 07, 2012

This is a manufactured rant, full of indications that the writer is having a bad day. Though you cover your attitude well, just like a customer with a need to impress. Seriously, if you want to be the one who knows more, you can break your back being a server. Go ahead, work 10-13 hour days at two different jobs while learning as much as you can so you can get another shift. Then when a smart-ass customer asks for an item that has obviously been made famous by another institution, enjoy holding back your animosity while wondering why someone would be so clearly rude ( while smiling!).

It's the food service industry, our jobs aren't full of supping lates and tapping away at a Mac behind horn rimmed glasses. Next time you write an article, make it about something real, not some BS situation you created.

By Anonymous (not verified) on February 07, 2012

You are right on. The service in this town is bad and there is no excuse for it.

By Anonymous (not verified) on February 07, 2012

Thank you for this wonderful article. It is thoughtfully researched, with good interviews. Much appreciated!

I once met Ritual's owner and told her how much I enjoy her coffee. My only complaint was the consistently unfriendly, cooler-than-thou service. Maybe she took the comment to heart. In the middle of reading this article, I walked up to the counter. Instead of the cold, "What do you want," I normally encounter, the baristas were cheerful and welcoming. What a difference a smile can make!

I'm glad to know that I'm not the only one in this city who feels that kindness can still go a long way in winning customers.

By KMM (not verified) on February 07, 2012

Customer service is dead in American culture in general. Yes, it is safe to generalize. The customer has become "the enemy".

By Anonymous (not verified) on February 07, 2012

We have gone third world! I love how we want to celebrate every one else's culture........except our own. Excuse me, didn't you leave a country where that very same culture and tradition lead to people working AGAINST each other and prohibit prosperity???

There is a difference between living and surviving.

Another problem is these IDIOT PATRONS that follow celebrity chef's. Its a 10.00 an hour cook putting the food out people. Its a placebo effect.........go eat a place that you can feel the LOVE in the food, not feed your ego!

By karla (not verified) on February 07, 2012

In reading this I could have just inserted the word RITUAL into the story, but the picture is of Four Barrel where I have always had stellar service. I stopped going to Ritual for the very reasons you write about, and will walk the extra blocks for the better service. We as patrons need to be kind to others as well, so that everybody gets along in the sandbox!

By jlc (not verified) on February 07, 2012

Couple of thoughts... first, if you continue to patronize an establishment that you feel treats you like crap, you must feel some need to do that. Either you believe the product is truly great and worth the wait and abuse, or you're a schmuck looking for that "brand" to bestow some glitter on your otherwise miserable life.

If it's the latter, please move on and stop bothering everyone else.

Second, certainly there are service problems with baristas and bartenders everywhere, not just in SF. I personally don't get the extremes. In order to do something well, you can't be everything to everyone. It doesn't work. But being an ass isn't (or shouldn't be) sustainable either.

I was frequenting a 3W coffeeshop in Darien, CT for awhile when I was working there. Darien has a very high d-bag per capita quotient. The shop only had a posted menu for their pourovers and teas. No espresso drink menu. You just ordered what you wanted (one size for each kind of drink). If you ordered a Gibraltar, they made a beauty. If you ordered a cortado, it was fantastic. I didn't even know they made mochas or vanilla lattes until somebody ordered one in front of me.

It wasn't a problem for anyone on either side of the counter. And the coffee was great. Regulars were greeted by name and more ofthen than not conversed with. IMO, that's how it should be done.

Btw, they serve Sightglass there.

By Rich Westerfield (not verified) on February 07, 2012

Oh dear, if I had gone to blue bottle and gotten service with attitude, the "barista" would be wearing the coffee by the time I left. And I don't wait in lines. There are so many great places that have been "undiscovered", where you're not there because it's a scene to be seen in and you know, actually eat within 30 minutes of getting there. The second I see someone with big holes in their ears, knowing that they will have to spend a few thousand dollars in about 5 years to fix them so they can get a real job, I leave. I would suggest you do the same.

By Jason (not verified) on February 07, 2012

The pomposity within this article is simply astounding. It's probably more a result of customers like you that service quality has declined.

By SfSanity23 (not verified) on February 07, 2012

The common "no problem" is the ultimate response from wait staff and/or servers. It's a small phrase that conveys the truth of this issue. It's been around for the last 15 years or so and completely expresses what these young people feel about their lives and work. "Serving you, buddy, is no problem for me because I don't care about you."

By Daishin Sunseri (not verified) on February 07, 2012

you want good service? go to scoma's. the staff are friendly, attentive, good sports and they aim to please.

By Anonymous (not verified) on February 07, 2012

Wow, are you like paid by the paragraph or something?

By Anonymous (not verified) on February 07, 2012

I can't see tipping a buck for something that took the server a minute to do; that's $60+/hr plus wages.

But I can't see stiffing them either.

My middle ground: I tip every few times. Usually when I'm out with other people I'll leave a buck so as not to look cheap.

This probably feels totally cheesy to people who didn't early retire like me.

By Bastige (not verified) on February 07, 2012

You could have edited this whole article down to 3-5 short paragraphs rather than make us wait to get to the conclusion. :)

By petery (not verified) on February 07, 2012

I'm rather glad that people vastly ignore Borderlands Cafe in the Mission. Many people discount them instantly because they don't have Wi-Fi. They may not have pretty milk designs on their lattes but my taste buds don't care. The people who work there really want you to be happy with your order. Plus I can always find a seat there if it isn't the weekend. At least I know I can always get a real human interaction. All the joys of third wave coffee with none of the drama.

By Anonymous (not verified) on February 06, 2012

Perhaps if your baristas seem a bit unenthused about your off-the-menu requests, it's because they have been cranking out craft coffee in an assembly-line-like atmosphere in order to appease an endless number of picky people who admittedly have an "ego [that] desperately wants to impress..."

I'm not arguing that it is acceptable for employees to be unfriendly or derisive, but customer service is not necessarily servicing a customer's every whim.

The employees at the coffee bars you've named are skilled and educated young adults who are genuinely passionate about crafting products worth waiting in line for; They need to be in order to justify working a physically-demanding, fast-paced job in an under-appreciated (and underpaid) field.

This city is thronged with establishments whose employees are happy to throw together any drink you can imagine and who will provide you with condiments galore. You seem to be looking for a particular beverae in the wrong handful of places.

By Anonymous (not verified) on February 06, 2012

I'm not arguing that it is acceptable for employees to be unfriendly or derisive, but customer service is not necessarily servicing a customer's every whim.

By Anonymous (not verified) on February 06, 2012

@CC (not verified) It's Sight Glass, actually... and yes, I agree that they're friendly enough there... although I've never been so daft as to order anything on Blue Bottle's menu at Sight Glass. Now Blue Bottle, that place is awful... bunch of snobs serving a bunch of d-bags. Can't stand Blue Bottle. There's really only one place to get coffee in this city, and all of us who need to know already know where it is.

By Anonymous (not verified) on February 06, 2012

Baristas and bartenders are there to make and to serve drinks. They may or may not be entertaining or nice. I don't go into some place expecting to have my a## kissed by the people that work there. I bought my own espresso machine and grinder a long time ago. If I want to give myself attitude while I make my own coffee, that's my problem ;)

By WhattoDo (not verified) on February 06, 2012

I'm not arguing that it is acceptable for employees to be unfriendly or derisive, but customer service is not necessarily servicing a customer's every whim.

By Anonymous (not verified) on February 06, 2012

This is daily life 99% of the time in Paris, France.

By Anonymous (not verified) on February 06, 2012

I have lived in NY, Chicago, LA, Sydney, Sonoma and traveled extensively through Europe and Asia. Hands down San Francisco has the rudest, most pretentious servers in the world - except possibly London. There is no reason whatsoever for the attitude one experiences in this city except for a xenophobic, parochial mentality that does not appreciate the value and satisfaction of delivering "good service." If servers, baristas and bartenders fully understood this fact, their tips would double or triple. We may have the world's greatest produce at our doorstep but the labor force here needs to get over themselves and step up!

By Anonymous (not verified) on February 06, 2012

The problem is simple: you're an whiny, entitled a$$hole, and you frequent places run by and for whiny, entitled a$$holes. You deserve each other.

By Anonymous (not verified) on February 06, 2012

You're being a hipster charlatan for ordering a Gibraltar off the menu, and you complain that your server responds in kind?!?

The rules are pretty basic: don't dish out the poser game if you cannot take it back in kind.

By greg (not verified) on February 06, 2012

Two things. !) You went in an ordered something by name that is served by a competitor. What kind of reaction did your really expect? 2) It sounds like you hang out at some really, really pretentious places. Sorry, but it is just coffee (or ice cream or whatever) -not brain surgery.

By Anonymous (not verified) on February 06, 2012

Good service and good coffee should go hand in hand. . . however it seems that only in coffee does the customer expect to be able to order whatever drink they wish to have regardless if it is on the menu or not. Most of us would not go into a restaurant look at the menu and order something other than what is laid before us, but with coffee we just chuck that idea and take along with us the Starbucks mentality and think we should be able to order whatever we wish. Think about it.

By Al (not verified) on February 06, 2012

As a native, I'm really picky. I only frequent businesses where I feel the love. That list includes many of the consistently excellent places in SF, just not the trendy places.

Example: Tartine. I have stood in line there in the past when my hourly billable rate was considerably less than it is now, and I didn't value my free time as much. After being fed up by the disinterested service there, I started looking for better Patisseries/Bakeries where they actually care about the customer. They are everywhere. As for Tartine, Karma catches up with them, eventually.

By Rich (not verified) on February 06, 2012

My minimum criteria for service is if they serve me in a reasonable amount of time and get the order right. If the wait is unreasonable, I go elsewhere (like most times I've gone to Blue Bottle). I also figure that at high traffic places, I'm bound to get someone on a bad day sometime.

As for what the Barrista thinks of you for ordering a drink? Why do you or anyone else care? I would never think to give it a passing thought. To the commenter who mentioned the Market St. Peets, I go there a few times a month. I'm not what you would call a person that falls in to the social demographic of the area...I look and act like a stranger in a strange land. But I'm friendly and often times the people in there are friendly too...sometimes not so friendly (probably busy?)...but I've never had a bad experience there.

If a Bartender isn't paying attention to you, call his or her attention. If they don't respond in a reasonable amount of time go elsewhere. Pretty simple.

Most people that worry about elitism from "hippsters", servers and barristas really should look at their own insecurities. Often times those insecurities reflect your experience when interacting with others.

By allforfunnplay (not verified) on February 06, 2012

When it becomes apparent that the help thinks you owe them the business, it's time to "give them the business". IYKWIM

By John Bernstein III (not verified) on February 06, 2012

Sometimes I don't mind playing catch-up with friends waiting for a donut or ice cream or cup of coffee.

Other times? I just want a mutherfucking donut or scoop of ice cream or cup of coffee and get on with my life, and I don't want to wait for each customer in front of me to be indulged in their unrestricted personal flavor exploration. Yes, I'm looking at you in particular, Humphrey Slocumbe, the Montessori School of ice cream parlors.

This City could us a dash of Soup Nazi efficiency to its excellent products.

By 24x24 hours to go (not verified) on February 06, 2012

I worked for a long time as a server in fine dining restaurants in the city. The attitude you describe is very real pertaining to bartenders and baristas, but what most people don't know is that they treat their collegues the same way. There's a pecking order: if you're a server then you have to get your drinks from the bar, and if they don't like you that day, for whatever reason, you'll have to wait. You have to tip them out the highest rate of anyone in the restaurant and they do the least amount of work for your tables AND they make their own sales at the bar which they never even claim the tips for. This is coming from a server, just saying. Attitude and elitism suck-especially if you're just filling glasses for a living!

By Ex-server (not verified) on February 06, 2012

I think bricks through windows make a statement. As do calls to the health department. You can make a difference. Just be creative.

By coffeebasher (not verified) on February 06, 2012

I think it's very accurate that the hipsters think they are too hip for the actual people who have lived in SF for more than 20 years or so. Rude and flighty waitstaff at restaurants in SF has made it much less appealing. A lot of times the staff seems patronizing at best, as if you're a nuisance. It's really quite sad, but fortunately, SF will always have a newer crowd that will treat those exact same people poorly. Just give it time. You'll no longer be as cool as you think you are almighty hipsters!

By mimi (not verified) on February 06, 2012

You will never, ever -- guaranteed -- meet anyone that shows more disdain toward their customers than the crew at Peet's on Market near Noe. They would be the first recipients of the Charlie Sheen 'Biting The Hand That Feeds You' award. The store manager is, if anything, worse than the rest of the staff, though it a fast race to the bottom. You don't even have to do anything obnoxious like ordering something with caramel on it. Are the tip jars ironic?

By RinSF (not verified) on February 06, 2012

Honestly, if you walk into a place expecting terrible service there's nothing they can do to win you over. The milk isn't in the back to shame you, and the fact that you even think that is your own shortcoming, not theirs.

By Anonymous (not verified) on February 06, 2012

I find equally annoying and frustrating those "waitstaff" who are mega-overly friendly and come by every few minutes--always at a conversational highpoint or when we've just taken a large mouthful--to assure we are really, truly, indeed, enjoying our foodular experience.

By Citydweller (not verified) on February 06, 2012