For
Cambridge’s rapidly expanding café society and the many visitors who are drawn
to the area, Darwin’s on Cambridge Street is a nice place to grab good coffee
and sandwiches. With the recent renovations to the main library which used to
be frequented primarily by hobos, the surge of new patrons with money to throw
is virtually incessant, and it is common to find a long line in the shop which,
despite being medium-sized, is often cramped. It would be hard to imagine so
many teenagers with the taste or money for Darwin’s when I went to high school
across the street fifteen years ago, when the location was a laundromat. In
fact, with the typical wait to order, pick up and consume a sandwich most kids
probably would’ve gotten to class late and received detention. But, for the
working adult enjoying a precious day off, the food (and drink) is worth the
wait. It is difficult to be exceptionally pleased with any café’s coffee, but
Darwin’s does quite a good job, and also offers a fine assortment of quality
teas. Moreover, their sandwiches are fresh and delicious, particularly the
breakfast sandwiches, which are a far cry from the typical grab-and-go variety.
While the
wait and crowdedness are unavoidable (and justifiable) one thing the store on
Cambridge Street could stand to improve, considerably, is their customer
service. Again, the flow may be non-stop and the tasks routine, but in a
service-oriented job, particularly one that is tip-based, the customer truly should come first. We are paying your wages, we are
driving profits for the business; of course it is difficult to keep a
fast-paced small business in an urban university environment properly staffed,
but in the meantime, you have a job to do.
So, when a
customer approaches you at the counter, after waiting through the line, and
asks “How are you?”, your mere response of “good” isn’t good enough; in fact, you are the one who should be asking me how I am, and if I should happen not to reciprocate the congenial
concern, you would be professional enough not to take it personally. But
instead, you simply say “good” and clearly have no interest in how I am.
There is a
larger trend of young people not taking their job seriously as they are just
supplementing the education that their parents subsidize so that they can grow
up to be waiting in this same line and treated with the same blank iGeneration
affect. In any case, a couple weekends ago my wife and I ordered breakfast and
latte’s and the wait for the drinks was ridiculous; almost as long as it took
to make the food. We were not the only patrons left waiting for espresso
beverages and some of them, who had ordered after us, I heard complain to the
counter staff. Apparently Darwin’s has a new process for espresso which is
supposed to ensure superior quality, but in the meantime ensures an
extra-lengthy wait time. However, when we finally went up to ask what was up
with ours, it turns out they had never even begun making them. Again, I
understand it is difficult to stay on top of everything. Unfortunately, this will
sometimes land on the customer, and, when there are staffing issues, on the
employee as well. I heard the woman who never made our drinks yelling at her
staff to make more decaf if they used the last of it!
Anyway,
we’ve been there a couple times since and I have been pleased with the service,
and of course the food is great, but as with café’s around here in general,
Darwin’s needs to improve the customer service they provide. This is how they
present themselves to the community, and we are taking notice.
