I am very disappointed in the service and quality from this cafe.
The person making my sandwich has been consistently rude and argumentative.
Let me begin this review by noting that they Lightning Jolt Espresso/Deli is a coffee stand. It is NOT a "deli" though you can purchase and order various types of sandwiches. An appropriate comparison would be a Starbucks although even this is not completely fair because they do offer "more" on their menu. The food here is decent. They have a single refrigerated self-serve case which you can grab several different juices, yogurts, fruits, single-serving cereals, and pre-made sandwiches. The case isn't very large but it appears to get the job done - more on this later. There is a menu you can order a variety of sandwiches, paninis, soups, etc. They serve Starbucks coffee, so anything you can get at a Starbucks you can also order here. At the register, they also have pre-packaged sweets - the typical stuff you'd find at the checkout of any convenient store. I typically go for the pre-made sandwiches and the occasional cup of soup or panini. Price is the selling point here - its pretty cheap. In terms of decor, this place has absolutely none. I don't think they are trying to establish any real identity or atmosphere. The physical location of the the stand is on the lobby floor of the building (2106 Pacific Ave) just before the elevators and it mainly serves those working within. The preparation area is about as large as a residential kitchen (i.e, not very large). Seating is along the wall of the lobby as you make your way to the elevator. Service to be completely blunt is abysmal. Period. End of story. The people working here are very kind and very friendly but are completely inefficient. Long lines literally drive my business away from them. Any time I see a line of people greater than 5, I know it will be faster to just walk down the block and grab something. The inefficiency is due to a multitude of things: Staff size, ordering process, and lack of identity/menu-size. Staff-size seems pretty self-explanatory - just witnessing a lunch time, its clear that they need at least 1 more employee (two people is not enough). Ordering process should be prioritized/streamlined: people grabbing something out of the self-serve case should NOT have to [excessively] wait for those having something made-to-order. The benefit of a self-serve case is to grab something QUICKLY and being forced to wait in line defeats the purpose. Finally, lack of identity and how that is reflected in the menu also creates inefficiency. A coffee stand by its very definition should be quick and convenient and its menu should reflect this. WHY is this place serving biscuits and gravy? WHY are their like 20 different things on their made-to-order menu? Embrace your self-serve case, offer more pre-made offerings, and reduce the size of your overall menu. Again: Streamline, streamline, streamline. With all that said, I will more than likely continue to order from them because they are inexpensive, and when no lines are present it is very convenient (yes, I work in the building).