SPoT Coffee

I come here every now and then to break up the monotony of reading for my PhD at home. This place gets 5-stars for the vibe: low key chaos. The staff are sometimes on top of it, sometimes they break the bread that comes with your omlette. The selection of food is decent, but not extensive or high-brow. The drink selection is the same. Does everything above sound like a mixed bag? Yes, and that's why it gets 5 stars. The staff seem like regular ol' people, not corporate employees on the grind. The food and drinks are all comforting and accessible (if a bit pricey, but that's Buffalo), not excessive or exclusionary. It feels very alive, not aloof, and it's probably why it's so busy.

Major Buffalo staple, our answer to corporate cafes but much more in tune with Buffalo culture. They welcome artistic expression and activism in the form of a big bulletin board and tables containing any and all of what people wish to post (who does THAT anymore). I find Spot coffee to be a very important establishment, doing Buffalo more authentically than any cafe before them and any after. That said, it's all about the spicy tuna sandwich, and their coffee is better than corporate rivals, (but not as good as new local cafes that have sprung up recently).

Most importantly, I’ve come here a lot over time and have always loved this Spot location. I’m not a regular review-writer, but I did have a pretty negative experience this morning so I felt the need to mention it. I had ordered a plain bagel with cream cheese and was waiting for it to come out, and noticed a plain bagel with cream cheese sitting on the counter. There was no one else waiting for anything, it was 7:15AM on a Friday. I walked up, looked at the bagel to see if there was anything else on it indicating that it might not be mine, but it was exactly what I ordered. I picked it up, and the barista (Jake B. According to my receipt) came over, expressed that it was not mine, literally slapped his hand onto the counter and said “Well. NOW I need to go make another one”. I laughed uncomfortably and apologized not being able to tell if he was joking. He walked back out holding a brown paper bag, literally holds it up above the counter, drops it onto the counter and says “THIS… is your bagel.” A male customer that had just walked in exchanged a condescending laugh at my expense and was shaking his head with the barista as I smiled, walked by them to grab the bagel and said thank you before I got outside to my car and started crying on my way to work because of how embarrassing this was. I will now have a trauma response before I ever grab food from a pick up counter again ~lol