The Optimist Raleigh

First time visitor. Love their vibe. Good wifi and not too crazily loud even on weekend. So a good place to work and enjoy yourself. I love that they have a verity of drink choices. I got brown matcha. It was so good! The food I got was ok. The fig jam is too sweet for me. But they have tons of other food choices I look forward to trying.

(Update below original review)

The drinks were really great which is the main reason we stopped. The staff was very friendly which is always great. The food we ordered seemed like an afterthought however which was the major downfall of this location. I got a roast beef sandwich and it was just “ok” at best. I could easily make a better one at home, plus it took such a long time to come out for how little was actually in them. My wife finished her latte (drinking it slowly) before our sandwiches ever came out. The meat seemed boiled or steamed too… just sad. My wife’s sandwich was actually decent but the chicken was rubbery for some reason so again, food just seemed like an afterthought. IF we were to come back it would just be for the drinks we got. Ultimately there are a plethora of other places to get good drinks and better food than here. We spent $40 for 2 sad anorexic sandwiches and two drinks; a latte and a chai tea. No thanks.

**UPDATE April 3rd**

Based on the response from the owner, we want to give this place a second chance. They really take their profession serious and it shows in their customer service. Especially since the drinks and customer service were great and it was only the food that was lacking; which based on their response they will be making sure to rectify moving forward.

I also want to add for anyone reading this, that it is never my intention to be facetious or aggressive in my reviews. I always try to be honest and straightforward about our experiences and give our opinion as good or bad, or hard to write/read as they might be. I do this so that businesses have the opportunity to implement change if they choose to, just as we should all strive to be better both professional and personal. Kudos to this business. We have a real respect for them and what they do!

The environment and indoor decoration is nice, but the tableware is not good (we did not ask for taking out), one for the quality and one for the non-environmental friendly.

The food is good but coffee not recommend. Still a good place for hangout for the environment.

This place is beautiful, peaceful, and delicious! I got the chai latte and it was arguably one of the best I’ve ever had. I also got the cinnamon roll and it was really good, I highly recommend! My friend got the butterfly tea matcha and she loved it! Overall, it’s a pretty chill vibe with a gorgeous interior!

First time visit to The Optimist and I’m in love! Not only do they have a great selection of food items and drinks, but the decor is amazing! The space is filled with plants and skeletons. It’s so cozy and the day I visited they had chill live music. Will definitely go back.

Cool place. Friendly staff. Good coffee. Sells plant propagations, stickers. And has live music. The one downside is that it was about a 15 minute wait for a latte (time from arrival to receipt of latte). The line to order was long — 5 or 6 people in front of me at 3 pm on a Saturday. Only one barista in addition to the cashier/barista.

Delicious English muffins. My wife and I were only in town a few days and we swung by this place for some coffee and a small breakfast before we started our first day. They were pretty busy and only had 2 people behind the counter so it was a bit slower getting the coffee, but the food came out fairly quickly. The staff was super friendly and patient with us as we ordered. The atmosphere is cute and it's great that there are places to sit outside in both the front and back. We loved this place so much, we went back again for breakfast and coffee the next day. Highly recommend.

Pretty good coffee!
I wish the cups were bigger, I felt like I had a sample size …. But that could just be because I’m so used to the large sizes up north.

Overall, I would recommend this place, especially if you’re eating in. Their patio is so adorable! I didn’t sit inside, but from what I saw, also instagrammable 😄

Great coffee shop, but it does fill up quickly for brunch. We love the order window, so we can grab a coffee while we walk our pups.

I would’ve loved to have given this place a better review. The vibes in this place were immaculate, one of the best in Raleigh. The service was very good with kind and courteous staff. However, the coffee was not good. I got an iced lavender latte. The espresso tasted burnt and bitter, I thought there was no lavender flavoring in the latte at all until I realized that all of the syrup was just chilling at the bottom of the cup and not incorporated into the beverage itself at all. I was really expecting great coffee based on all of the other factors but that is not what I received. My friend who was with me also got a latte and his was just as bad as mine was.