Well, as much as I hate to write a bad review, something needs to be said and noted about Vita on Capitol Hill. I have been a (nearly) daily visitor for the last few years. Until about March/April I never had a problem with this place. Decent staff, were all well trained and I never had a 'bad' experience there. Well, a lot can, and has, changed in the last eight months. There is a near complete turnaround of staff, which in itself is nothing that is exceptionally bad, except that depending on which of these new staff members you get, you can either get a good cup of joe or a really nasty cup of joe. And frankly, the joe as of late has been more often than not on the nasty side. Not only that, they seem to have set out to hire every scenester in Seattle as a part of their staff and what doesn't work about that is that you get scenester service. Meaning, you get the cold shoulder and attitude. And despite the fact that I go in there (or used to) on a near daily basis I still get that look of 'who the hell are you and why are you here?' from them. Never remembering my drink. Never acknowledging that I am a repeat customer, always doing 'other' things while myself and others wait in line. It's really absurd. Frankly, Vita now rivals Bauhuas for worst service in the city. Last week, I walked in, ordered my typcial drink from a guy who said not one single word to me the entire time. And then when I requested something specific, he challenged me and made me out to be an idiot. So he hands me my change (like 55 cents) and I was so irritated I didn't tip. Well, he looked at me and said, "Thanks a lot." As if he should have been rewarded for terrible service. I was like, you're kidding me, right? My drink was sub-par, which is most often the case lately. Again, they are hiring new people and not taking the effort to make sure they know how to pull a decent shot. I've never seen crema on an espresso dissipate so fast and taste so bitter. Again, they seem to be rivaling Bauhaus as of late in terms of their service and how crappy they can make their coffee. And for the record, these are not isolated incidences. This happens all the time, I see it happen to others and to myself. It's like this place has become a members only club or something. The seem to have forgotten that my three bucks a day plus tip translates to about 15 to 18 a week of lost revenue. I periodically will go back, just to see if things have changed, no such luck. At least not as of mid-December 2005. So yes, this place is a case of once being quite good, having decent service with people who would recognize and acknowlege you to going to a place that seems a bit too big for it's britches. Service, 0 out of 5 stars. Coffee, 2 out of 5 stars. Abiance, 3 out of 5 stars (depending on whatever strange music they are playing this can go up or down). I think management (or perhaps they are the problem) should take a look at the structure and re-evaluate their priorities. Because I cannot be the only customer they have lost due to all this. And lost customers equal lost profits.
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