The Scene Coffee & Cocktails 1671 Western Avenue, Albany, NY 12203

"My bestie and I stopped in today to grab a quick coffee and some breakfast. IT WAS OUTSTANDING!!! We both got iced sugar free vanilla lattes which were some of the best we've ever had. My friend got the breakfast bowl and she thinks it's the best thing she's ever tasted. I ordered the avocado toast after being extremely indecisive because the whole menu looks SO GOOD and it did not disappoint. The bartender was so sweet and all of the staff working made our experience amazing."

"Cool atmosphere but very disappointed with how long the wait time was to be seated AND receive coffee and easy orders like a salad and lox toast. We had to go up twice to ask about our coffees that were sitting on the counter making them cold when we got them. Again, friendly staff but really need to get organized to get customers their orders faster. We were also asked by waitress to leave after an 1.5 which was almost laughable when we waited so long to get food. We would have left sooner if we could."

"When I walked in, Michelle was so nice and welcoming. She really set the bar high for my first time visiting The Scene. I am definitely planning on going back and looking forward to seeing her. She’s the best! The food was also great, I would 100% recommend the nutella banana stuffed waffles and the açaí bowl."

"We were eager to try out this place, since it's always nice to get new, good, and fun establishments in our area. But we were sadly disappointed here. I'll start at the beginning. After being seated, we were informed that we could order via a QR code glued to the table or go up to the counter. Does the management not realize that this is how I order food at McDonald's?! If I go to what appears to be "a nice restaurant", I'd like someone to give me the service that their prices imply should be provided. Hand me a menu, bring me a drink, take my order, and then bring my food when it's ready. During the online ordering process, we learned that cash was not accepted  and we had to put in the tip amount before we ever got service. The tip is supposed to represent our appreciation for a service, so I shouldn't have to pay it before any service was provided. And the default tip options started at 18%. We were afraid that if we didn't tip or tip well, our food quality or delivery would be negatively impacted. After 10-15 minutes, when someone brought our food, we asked for some water. They pointed across the restaurant to the opposite corner to a "self-serve water station". So, now we had to get up and get our own water. Again, this is more like my experience at McDonald's than restaurant-level service, only this was worse. Not only was there no ice (so the water was lukewarm), the cups were super small, so we had to make the trip across the restaurant three times during our meal. The food was pretty okay. We really enjoyed the apple & brie flatbread. And the 2/3 of the pesto chicken panini that actually had chicken was okay. But the chicken was basically flavorless (thankfully, the pesto helped), and 1/3 of the sandwich was just bread and pesto. I would have liked to have some salt or any other condiment or sauce to add some flavor to the chicken, but there was nothing on the table. And other than our initial meeting when we were seated and told how to order, and when someone brought our food and told us where to get water, not a single person in the restaurant spoke to us again. They cleared tables nearby and walked around us, bringing food to other tables. No one asked us how our food was, if we needed anything, if everything was okay. Sure wish I could take away most of that tip I had to enter before I ever got service. I usually give restaurants a few chances before I say, "never again". But after reading some of the owner/management responses to other negative reviews here, I don’t think this one needs or deserves a second chance."

"Such a great place to brunch!! Beautiful ambiance, decor, and most importantly, the food was DELICIOUS! The Veggie Eggs were seasoned so well, Nutella French Toast was amazing. The lattes were beautiful and tasty. The chocolate crossaint is to die for. The service was speedy- place was super clean. Beautiful to look at- you will want to take a pic of everything! Highly recommend."