Coexist cafe

Coffees good, ambience is nice. But these people will not make me a large drink. They say “all our drinks are one size”, which for the cappuccino I️ order, I️ guess is about 8 ounces, or two thirds of the cup. I’ve workes at numerous cafes over the past 5 years and have never ran into a place that won’t give a customer the size they want.
8 years ago (04-11-2017)

My favorite coffee shop in town! Great coffee, fantastic ambience, and a soothing vibe. Study, meet friends, go read, or just enjoy your coffee - it's the perfect place. If you're lucky, the couch will be free!
8 years ago (09-09-2017)

I love coming to this place!! Great coffee, relaxing atmosphere, and amazing staff! They help find the perfect coffee for you!
8 years ago (17-08-2017)

Great coffee, friendly staff and super relaxing atmosphere.
8 years ago (21-10-2017)

The woman working the front counter yesterday was very kind. We were touring through to play the college radio, and I had previously talked to the cafe and made arrangements to play. We arrived at 2pm to a cafe with about five- customers in the shop. We set up and began to play our music (which is queer, trans, folk music). Another employee (or owner idk) came out and grabbed my partner's shoulder (she wasn't playing but was sitting at a nearby table) and told her we were playing too loud and we were making customers leave. (At the time we were asked to play, a few customers had arrived to buy coffee and a couple of girls talking who had already purchased coffee were leaving). Objectively, the cafe had the same business in the 15 minutes we were able to play. After my partner relayed the message to us, we stopped playing to discuss if we could play a different set or what our options were. Within a few moments, the male employee turned back on the shop music, and closed the door. (The door had been opened to allow passerbys to hear us play, presumably). Our music has no language, graphic imagery, etc. We just sing about slice of life things, regularly through a queer lens. It's hard not to feel that that had been the deciding factor, since we are a folk band with just a uke, and a guitar, we are not especially loud or grating, I my opinion. Regardless, I drove out of the way to play this cafe and the male employee had no communication with me or the other musician, and only a brief/rude interaction with my partner. I had also provided my music so the shop could listen to my content beforehand, and I provided a flyer layout, etc. Overall, it was a pretty bad experience for a shop called "coexist", and I definitely do not plan to work with them in the future. It's definitely a bummer, because obviously there are plenty of other cafes in Kalamazoo, and I definitely regret working with Coexist Cafe. (They did provide a free latte, and the woman at the font counter was not an issue). Hopefully in the future, the shop will do more research into live music requests so that travelling bands do not get treated this way? Thanks!
8 years ago (05-09-2017)