Reviews for Cafe Descartes

11/12/2009 - Chris
I still can’t get over what happened to me there this morning. It was around 7:30 AM on Thursday when I walked in there. There were only two customers inside sitting and reading papers, etc.
I came up to the counter and looked at the selection of pastries before picking up a piece of what looked like a pound cake. I asked the guy behind the counter, "What kind of cake is this?". He mumbled something, so I said, "Excuse me?", again he mumbled something unrecognizable, so I said, "I can’t understand what you are saying". This time he looked at me surprised and with annoyance in his loud voice said, "It’s regular bread!" I said, "Why are you acting so surprised that I am asking? It does not look like regular bread. I know what regular bread looks like" He said this time, "Get out!", "What???" "Get out!", he yelled again. I was speechless. "I want to talk to a manager", I said. He responded, "F..k you! Get out!"
I was incredulous. It was surreal to be there and be the recipient of that kind of language. I insisted that I wanted to speak to the manager, to which he said he wasn’t there. Instead, he said he was calling the security to get me out of there. I was not believing what I was seeing and hearing. Some older man, security officer came out of the back and told me to: "Go across the street to get coffee". I said, "Did you hear what kind of language this guy has used?" The security officer replied, "Just go some place else to get your coffee."
I left in disbelief. I am not a street person, although street people deserve respect like everybody else. I am a financial professional, a decent guy who just wanted to get a pastry and coffee. I can’t comprehend what the heck happened there.
The perpetrator of this attack was a male employee, in his mid- to late 20s, foreign accent, possibly Middle Eastern, short height, short hair, some facial hair.
I will definitely try to determine who owns this place and communicate this incident, so they can decide for themselves if that’s the kind of service they want to have there.
And in case you are wondering if I ever go back there, the answer is a huge NO!

10/19/2009 - Dave Anhui
Descartes Coffee on North Michigan in Chicago promises a different experience than that found in your average Starbucks or Caribou. And, indeed, on my first visit I found it was, though not in a good way.

The coffee was fine, no better, no worse, than Starbucks'. However, the actual visit, sitting there, was so bad that I left, er, was thrown out. Here is what happened.

When I came in there were a few customers, no long wait. The place was quiet for 8:15 on a Friday morning. I ordered my coffee, sat down and started to do some work. After about 10 minutes the radio came on. It was some sort of talk show with two idiots attempting some humor. I thought it was ironic that a place named Descartes Coffee should be piping in this blather, but I was willing to try to put up with it for the length of one cup of coffee. When the talk of breast size, where you had your first sex and how good the orgasm was started, I decided to ask that the station be changed.

I went to the young woman who was handling the espresso machine and the cash register and mentioned the irony in cafe's name and asked that the station be changed or simply turned off because I found the station offensive. My tone was light, but it was clear that I was serious and she said 'Sorry. OK'.

Five minutes later it hadn't been changed. They still weren't busy and so she had had ample time to do something. So this time I went up and reminded her that I had asked for a change, told her I found it offensive and expressed amazement that they had not changed it at a customer request. This time it was clear I was angry, but I wasn't yelling – not a yeller.

If she had told me that another customer had requested the station remain on I would still have left, but at least I would have understood. But she didn't. She told me that she had forgotten to bring in music that morning and that the other worker there, who had not been a party to our conversations, had said to keep it on that station after I had earlier asked for the change.

Now I am even more incredulous. But it gets better. When I asked how to contact the management that other guy finally came over and said that "Sonny" would be in at 11. So now I would have to come back to complain. When I said I couldn't believe that and asked again for a phone number or email address, he said "Get out". Which I did – not going to get arrested just to vent my frustration.

So, you may find that Starbucks and Caribou are rather bland and a capitulation to "Mall America", but at least you know you can always bring your 6 year-old daughter there for a cup of hot chocolate. And any time I have ever complained at a Starbucks, I have always been treated with respect and my complaint has been dealt with.