Crema Coffee + Bakery

A cavernous, noisy space, which feels cold much of the year, but the coffee and pastries are very good. Service can be hit and miss. more

I went to Crema with 4 friends to have some coffee and a snack around 5:30 on the Saturday before Halloween. I thought the place was pretty and they serve Stumptown, (love). I did not realize they were about to close, but got that info in the form of my party's food and beverages coming in to-go containers. We took a table and had just started to enjoy when the Mad Hatter (barista) came out on the floor and started to clear empty tables, slamming the chairs into place loudly. This was followed by increased volume on the music, scream rock, to levels that basically drove us out of the cafe. I can handle being told the place is about to close, that's cool. But being treated like an unwelcome guest...not appreciated. Especially when I pay for the privileged. I wont be back, and only recommend Crema to those of you who want to learn how not to treat your customers. more

Most of the time my experience at Crema is spot on even with the occassional wait in line. However, I feel I just got nickled and dimed for a half cup of coffee from the self service station. On occassion after spending the typical $5 - $7 on an espresso drink and pastry or quiche I grabbed a quick squirt of coffee in an espresso cup. I do realize a coffee refill runs $0.50 which is fair if you're refilling your mug, especially if all you purchased was a cup of coffee in the first place. I was told by a server what the policy is and that the owner would get them in trouble for allowing me to do this. If that's truly the case then I think the owner should take a course in customer retention 101. For what essentially costs maybe $0.20 per half cup of coffee I would be more than willing to give that away to make a 3-year, 3+ a week customer happy. In a recession customer retention is king and with a social media savvy audience which frequents this establishment I would suggest you give your servers a little flexibility in making a good business decision on the floor. more

This place is very hip with good food and ok coffee. Just because you are hip with ok coffee does not mean that you can sacrifice customer service. I hope they are working on providing us with a better customer experience. Pros: food and coffee Cons: service, cost, comfortable seating more

Wow! coffee that doesn't taste like turpentine? how do they do it? discovered this place by accident, and bought a Red Velvet cupcake for a friend that needed cheering up. Excellent food. i'm probably guilty of hanging out too long on the internet, but hey, there are outlets under just about every table, and to me that screams out ""please plug in your laptop here"". hello? ever heard of an internet cafe? Pros: great espresso drinks Cons: could open earlier, stay open later more

I am very picky when it comes to my Latte. Victor was totally cool about it and it was if he could read my mind. A friend of mine and I went in looking very dodgy on 05/18/2009. We decided to get some coffee after a long day of work before we took our evening stroll. Victor took our order. He pulled some very lovely shots which he showed us. He was fun, friendly and fantastic! If you want to have a quality drink then come to Crema. The staff is awesome, treats are yummy and they have awesome windows for babe watching! Pros: Nice shots! Cons: They stole my heart and my business from other local shops. more

The food is great whether you're in the mood for pastries, a sandwich or soup. Coffee lovers paradise, good orange juice, tea and hot chocolate too. Nice variety. Have found everyone there to be friendly, love the open atmosphere with the wifi. Pros: Food, coffee. location Cons: Can't really think of any more

Crema is my favorite favorite place to go to meet up with friends for coffee, read a book, do homework, relax with the paper, etc. It's the best of southeast Pros: Coffee, service, atmosphere, location Cons: What are the drawbacks? more

Crema's coffee is good but not the best. Their pastries are better than most. I've had some bad coffee and pastries though. Some girl who really needed to brush her teeth put like half a cup of cream (?!) in my Vietnamese coffee. I really didn't like seeing her crusty yellow teeth while she was making my coffee. And there's this real pretentious hipster (who wears really tight shirts though he is fat. It's not becoming, guy...) who always screws up the orders. Once, I saw him get rude to a pregnant girl because she needed her Americano iced. Um, look guy, she's pregnant and can't have a 150 degree beverage-- so don't roll your eyes. I also saw him at a bar one night calling some girl some really nasty things, for which there might be an excuse, except they weren't arguing. I think he just talks to her that way. Sad. Pros: meh. Pastries are usually good. Cons: Everything else. more

The first time I came in here was for a quick coffee stop and just had a cup of their house coffee, which was good stumptown but just as good as any other place. The next time I came I had a cappuccino and I've gone back every time I'm in the mood for one since. They're the best I've had anywhere, and I've had a lot of cappuccinos. The espresso is rich and smooth and the foam is thick and delicious. Their toddy and iced lattes, and iced mochas are delicious too, but the cappuccino remains my favorite. And if you're looking for dessert be sure to try the red velvet cupcakes, the frosting is delicious! Pros: Cappucinos and award winning baristas. more

The good: more

Love so many things about Crema! The pastries are wonderful, as are the more savory items. The espresso drinks are really good but take far too long to get. The french press coffee I find a little muddy and not as good as the espresso, but others seem to like it. The big complaint is the service/setup. The counter is run very inefficiently and it takes forever to get your order. I will only go if the line is 4 people or less, because it takes so long per person. If they worked on this it would be a truly stellar place. Pros: pastries, soups & sandwiches, espresso drinks Cons: slow service more

There are no spots to sit and eat ....because every darn table is usually filled by people and their laptops for HOURS. What a bummer. I don't like to eat sandwiches standing up! Then again, who does? more

crema now apparently charges $7 for a veggie sandwich...yes, that sandwich has no meat on it. i'm certain that the last time i was in there that sandwich was not 7 dollars. it is a good sandwich, but not 7 dollars good, especially with slow service and minimal seating. more

Crema foes and friends, unite! Please don't give up on Crema. While I totally agree with these negative reviews there may be hope for our favorite coffee spot! The make-out twins have disappeared! I haven't seen either one of them in weeks, so maybe this place finally got the hint and gave them the BOOT. At any rate the atmosphere at Crema has been much nicer....reminiscent of a time before....when the sun was shining and the baristas were smiling...and so were the customers! On behalf of loyal Crema fans everywhere....thanks for bringing our coffee shop back! Pros: the boss is putting the positivity back into Crema Cons: snooty toots are scaring the customers away more

It seems like more and more people are starting to notice that Crema is going downhill--fast. Thought I should chime in with my own account of this good place gone bad. I went to a dinner party last night, and people were talking about the crappy customer service and sky high prices. It's really disheartening because for many of us, this place had become a daily habit. It was almost ""cool"" to wait in that line for 20 minutes. Lately, however, it seems like the same three people are always standing behind the counter, and they seem far more interested in each other, than helping customers. Just recently, I had to wait patiently at the register while the cashier guy reached under the counter to answer his cell phone. I looked to the barista for sympathy, but she was too busy hugging and kissing the other barista. Are they kidding?! I know the owner of this place is supposed to be some kind of coffee genius (there's a framed barista judge certificate thing above the bar), but it totally seems like he's checked out. Does he even have any idea what's going on at his business, or does he even care? Sad. Pros: Fresh baked food Cons: ""Too cool for school"" attitude behind the counter and PDA's more

i used to enjoy going here. The bakery treats are tasty and coffee is ok. French press isn't my favorite. But the more I went, the more I observed. As of two weeks ago, I no longer patronize this place. $2.00 for a large size coffee was fine, a bit more than independent coffee shops charge, for the same size but I paid it. When I went a week ago, they now want $2.00 for a small coffee. Its stumptown coffee (which is delicious) but last time I checked there was price increases of the coffee (I called stumptown to enquire). So why the raise of prices beyond the market price for the same item? Could it be GREED? Gentrification? The bakery items are delicious. The coffee is mediocre. The service is bad. I ordered a sandwhich and the guy put my cash in the register, walked directly to the sandwich case, grabbed a sandwich and placed it on the grill. Is something missing there?...yah, the part where he washed his hands. Money is dirty and so is this place. The tables are never clean. I'm not sure what all 5 of those people behind the counter are doing, except collecting a paycheck. I will not be back. Overpriced delicious treats and coffee served with attitude. NO THANKS! Pros: bakery treats Cons: service, value, cleanliness more

I love the coffee and food here-the quality is top-notch. But, why is it that every time I go there, no matter what time of day, every table is taken by individual people on their laptops who stay there for hours? It may be a Portland thing, and I'm probably just getting old and cranky, but there seem to be more of these people here than at other coffee shops. I almost always end up taking my stuff to go instead of having to sit at the communal table, surrounded by more people pounding away on their laptops. That being said, no other bakery that I know of has consistently wonderful coffee, food, and baked goods like Crema. It's the best. Pros: Best espresso, coffee, and baked goods in town Cons: Patrons hogging the tables and working on their laptops for hours at a time more

I really love the coffee and food at Crema. Unfortunately, I have had extremely bad customer service many times there before(i.e. my order being way wrong or totally forgotten). Today went there, ordered the vegetarian soup to go, got back to work to find out they gave me chicken noodle! There are always around five to six people working behind the counter, I don't see how they can have such awful, awful customer service. more

I'm so glad somebody finally mentioned the recent addition of make-out sessions at my formerly favourite coffee shop! I was beginning to think I was the only person bothered by this. I've been coming to Crema on a regular basis for a few years now. The pastries are great, and the coffee has always been top notch, but geez, what happened to the customer service??? Should I really have to wait for the baristas to stop making out with each other before they'll take my order? And do I even want to touch that mug after watching the barista grope his presumed girlfriend--right there in plain view of everyone??? I don't know who the owner is, but it seems it would bode well for his business to put an end to this extremely tacky and disgusting behaviour. In the meantime, I'll take my coffee break elsewhere. Pros: Great food and coffee Cons: Employees kissing and groping while you wait more