Álainn

"I was so excited to get myself a hot chocolate from this place, but I was so disappointed. They kept skipping me and went on to another customer. I was waiting in line for 10 minutes but they just kept skipping me. And it wasn't even like they were very busy. So disappointed. Instead they only seemed to serve whoever was ordering a bowl."

"VERY DISAPPOINTED. After hearing so many good things about Alainn I was looking forward to a cup of coffee to compliment the beautiful day. I was bitterly disappointed with the entire experience! For such a small queue I would have thought our coffees would be made in no time, but I was wrong. At least a 45-minute wait before even ordering our drinks. While waiting in the queue the staff were calling if people wanted smoothie bowls, this added to the confusion as people would get their smoothie bowl but then couldn't order drinks until they reached the front of the line, resulting in customers leaving without ordering drinks. As an experienced barista with over 8 years of experience in the service industry, I found the staff's lack of urgency to serve customers promptly very frustrating. One of the staff decided to have a long chat with his friends as the line was halfway down the hill, from my experience this would be unacceptable in a busy cafe environment. Overall we were made to feel an inconvenience to the staff as opposed to a paying customer. Mostly I was disappointed by the coffee, when cafes advertise as speciality coffee I expect a higher standard, the coffee was over-extracted and very bitter, and my friend ordered a Mocha and the chocolate powder was not fully dissolved also stuck to the bottom of the cup. When paying €7 for two coffees and the Mocha was only 8-ounces and not made correctly this quite literally leaves a bad taste in your mouth. If I were to rework the model of service I would suggest that they have two baristas working (1 pulling shots & 1 steaming milk) for more efficient service, I would also suggest weighing the shots to make them more consistent. Preparing the most popular smoothie bowls ahead of time would free up the staff at peak times. Additionally, when the queue is halfway down the hill instead of shouting from the container, the staff could leave the container and take orders from the queue once again optimising efficiency. Although these are tentative ideas I have seen this model work in other cafes which helps reduce stress among staff and leads to happy customers. I would hope that Alainn does not just rely on their beautiful location."

"Incredible, breakfast by the sea and delicious food... I was really looking forward to going and it exceeded my expectations. Also the guy who served me was helping me to choose the ingredients and it was a great experience! Thank you, i love your bowls"

"Good lil spot, acai bowl was gorgeous! Plenty of toppings to choose from, coffee was good too!"

"Alainn, hands down do the best Açai bowls. They have a massive variety of bases and toppings, with really fresh fruit. Their coffee is also one of the best in Galway. All they staff are always so so friendly. This place is really quirky and a cool vibe. Definitely a must, especially if you’re taking a trip to black rock"