eBar - Norwalk, Connecticut

Roxie

This experience is a perfect example of "awful manager, excellent staff" where you feel sorry for anyone working under the person running this place.
There was an art event at the SONO Mall for all the local schools, where each school appointed a group of students to contribute to the winter mural on the building's windows at the 2nd floor.
Our group didn't have enough resources, so parents had to improvise on the spot. So I went to this bar and told the barrista, who was really nice and cool about my explanation, that I was willing to pay extra for my espresso, if that money would cover maybe 10 paperplates (so the kids can put paint on it) and two garbage bags (to lay on the floor so they don't make a mess.) Now, you do the Math... If you buy one set of paperplates in a store, you pay about $3 for a set of 30 plates; a regular box of, let's say, Flex garbage bags, you pay about $5 for a set of 20 bags at least. But that's you, the regular john, buying at market price. Businesses pay much less when they purchase these, and then they add their profit percentage as they see fit.
I was willing to pay for 2 sandwiches here, so that's about $15-$20, and let the staff eat them, donate them, you name it, to cover the cost of ...2 garbage bags and maybe 10 paperplates!!!!
Well, the manager, who was giving directions to his staff from my side of the counter, overheard my desperate plea and arrangement with the waiter (who, again, was a sweetheart all the time) and he proceeded to sort of lecture him. I mean, talk about micromanagement at its worst!!! Then he tells me that I am entitled to only one paperplate per purchase. I asked him if he was the manager and he confirmed that he was. I explained to him what my mission was, the urgency of it, but he wouldn't hear it. I told him I'd pay extra, but he didn't care. I asked him jokingly if the cost of the 10 paperplates and 2 garbage bags comes out of his pocket, to which he said *Yes, which is one big pile of BS. I've worked in the Hospitality and Restaurant business for well over 15 years, I've dealt with reps from companies selling me products, I know what actual cost and profit margins are, etc, and I definitely know that a manager is not paying with his own money for the items mentioned above...unless it's a very poorly run business... which then, again, would prove my point.
Yet he insisted that I would get only 1 paperplate. He had to be right no matter what. How obtuse and full of ego one must be to deny something so simple to a cause created for the business of the town where you are trying to make money? And, please, no one should say something like "Well, if he gave away stuff to every person, the business would go down" because remember: this was a special occasion,I was there on behalf of a few children, who just wanted to paint. I wasn't asking for handouts.
It could have been a donation and this review would have had a totally different tone. If anything, it would have been the best kind of advertising for the place.

I feel bad for the staff that has to work for a manager like this. They don't deserve it, the same way he doesn't deserve his title or his salary... you know... the salary that pays for paper plates and garbage bags.

Shame on him. This is not the only platform I will take my complain to and I will return there, too, to see if he's still there (which means that corporate needs to pay attention, and I can take care of that!)

Tanea H.

I come here every Saturday with excitement ☺️ the coffee is great, nice and strong its never nasty. I also am in love with the blood orange spritzer but let me say the wonderful folks behind the counter are so incredibly kind that it draws me here non-stop.

Benjamin W.

Excellent coffee bar, more modern style location than most legacy Nordstrom stores.

Ilan F.

Best coffee in the United States…and an awesome team to serve it to you 👏👏👍👍

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Highly recommend the lavender Chai with oatmilk

Chris H.