20 reviews of The Rough Draught Coffee and Barroom
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Sheryl R.
Place rating: 4 Fenton, MI
I have been here 3 times and I just love it. The coffee drinks are amazing and their sandwiches are even better. The service is not always the best, but I don’t mind waiting when the food and drink is as good as this. Thier atmosphere is pretty amazing as well. I just love how it is decorated and the location is perfect in Fenton.
D M.
Place rating: 5 Farmington Hills, MI
Had a beer there with my wife and had a good time. The bartender was very friendly, the beer was good and plentiful. It’s a cool addition to Fenton. I noticed they are also open really early and everything I pass on my way to work I see people enjoying coffee, etc. Will be back!
Zainab S.
Place rating: 2 Holly, MI
I came here with some co-workers after a conference. It was early afternoon and not too crowded, which was nice. The service, unfortunately, was terrible. It started out ok when only a couple of us were there, but as the rest of our party started trickling in, the waitress was having a hard time keeping up. I’m not really sure why, but there are multiple menus… one for drinks, one for appetizers, one for entrees, etc. It made ordering anything very confusing and it was really annoying to have to sift through multiple menus. The appetizers were all terrible and my sandwich(I got the ‘What the Guac?!’) was adequate at best. I’d pass on coming here again until they have some better food options and more efficient service.
Matt M.
Place rating: 4 Washington, DC
Enjoyable atmosphere in the evening. Friendly patrons and staff. Awesome slew of custom cocktails and rotation of craft brews. Food I’ve tried so far has been on par with the area; fairly creative yet comforting. And hard to complain about grabbing some artisan coffee beans to go! I don’t normally review, as opinions are so subjective but this place definitely deserves a higher rating than Applebee’s…
Mark L.
Place rating: 1 Clio, MI
Not sure why but every time I attempt to go here they’re closed for some odd ball reason.
Kelsey G.
Place rating: 2 Linden, MI
So far I’ve given this place two shots. I was in once for brunch with my mom and then for a few drinks with a friend. My brunch visit was mediocre(food was only okay and the espresso I ordered was just bad) but at least our server was kind. The next time, I met a friend for drinks. Our server was cold and disengaged right off the bat. I asked for a Manhattan up and after she rolled her eyes and walked off, she brought me an Old Fashioned. After already experiencing attitude(and not hating Old Fashioned’s), I decided not to say anything. After sitting with empty drinks and empty waters for some time(around 15 minutes), she returned, asked my friend if he wanted anything else, pointedly ignored me, and left again. I’d resigned myself to not ordering anything else, so as to not further inconvenience our server, but she did ask if I wanted anything else as we were deciding to leave. I really wanted to like this place but I can’t say I’ll be back.
Chris V.
Place rating: 2 Holly, MI
I used to come here every day when they were Café Aroma. The service is different now. Great atmosphere but if im stopping in for a bagel before work i really dont want to have to wait for a server & tip. I preferred the old methods. Came here last Friday with my girlfriend. 2 drinks were $ 18. My friend has celiacs & they offer no gluten free menu which is odd nowadays. Server suggested we eat salads. We left to go elsewhere. Disappointed
Sarah N.
Place rating: 4 Fenton, MI
This place could get a 4 star review from me for the cleverness of their name, but they earn it with their location, décor(a fire hydrant tap, what?!), and their range of micro brew options. This place is cool and fun and exactly the kind of unique and creative establishment I hope to see more of as downtown Fenton develops.
A W.
Place rating: 2 Fenton, MI
I’ve been coming here since it has opened to order a Irish cream mocha with skim milk frapachino, and the 4 times I have stopped in, 4 times the drink has been wrong! Very cool, trendy place, but the service stinks, the staff does not seem to know what they are doing as far as coffee, and the place is small and loud. I can see this place not surviving more than 5 years of the people that own this joint don’t wake up!
Melissa E.
Place rating: 5 Fenton, MI
Great atmosphere, service is nice, timely and easy to talk to about new drinks. I’ve only had the hummus app so far, it was great! Comfy place to grab a brew!
Morgan W.
Place rating: 2 Holly, MI
I’m gonna keep this short & sweet… Good sandwiches. Bad service. Went with three friends & it was all our first time. We walked in & barley got a hello from the two bored looking girls behind the bar. When the waitress came over to the table she thru the menus down like she shuffling a game of poker. Didn’t explain anything or ask if we’d been there before. She went & got our waters & took our order. Never brought us silverware. I really enjoyed my sandwich. I ordered the turkey Reuben on sourdough & it had good flavor. The server checked on us once then went back to looking bored behind the computer. When it was time for the check, she just assumed it was all together(it wasn’t) & seemed irrated when we requested seperate checks. I’ll go back & get take-out but not for a sit down meal.
Sean F.
Place rating: 5 Brighton, MI
Amazing donuts, bagels, and breakfast sandwiches. I get the cinnamon bun donut with maple frosting each time I’m in the area! Good service, friendly staff. Would definitely recommend!
Steve B.
Place rating: 5 Grand Rapids, MI
This is a great corner bar in downtown fenton. They have classic cocktails, craft beers, bakery items, top notch coffee and some excellent sandwiches and small plates. The interior is modern with lots of wood and concrete, the bar stools are comfy and theres a couple TVs. RD is in a corner which gives is a great view of the outside street. What I love about this place is the staff, everyone there has been exceptionally friendly and accommodating. They’re excited to talk about their menu items and suggest drinks etc. Theres a unique style to the place but it still fits the mold for just going out for a couple beers. In time I think RD will get better and better As for the cons, the place is surprisingly empty many nights. Perhaps theyre sort of undiscovered or something but it would be a lot more fun if the place was more popular. Then we could complain about it being too busy haha
Margaret V.
Place rating: 3 Canton, MI
I meet a friend in Fenton often, so I was excited to read this restaurant was opening. Pro’s: The environment had a really cool vibe to it. Open, airy, and modern, but also very comfortable. It’s a bar and a coffee house and the atmosphere easily allows for either type of beverage to be enjoyed. They had plenty of TVs as well as music piped in. I only had a few glasses of wine, so I can’t comment on the food, but I did look at the menu. They had plenty of breakfast sandwiches, appetizers(hummus, whitefish pâté, cheese/sausage plates) as well as sandwiches and salads. For the sandwiches, you had the opportunity to have a half or whole. In addition to beer, wine and cocktails, they had very extensive coffee drinks and a nice selection of teas as well as gourmet muffins, doughnuts and pies to enjoy with the coffee drinks. Prices were extremely reasonable. Sandwiches ran about $ 7-$ 8. They advertised live music on the weekends. Con’s: One con, actually. Given I was just having a drink, I sat at the bar. Maybe the waiter didn’t notice that I was there(although I doubt that given he gave me a very gruff hello as I sat down), or maybe he thought I was out of ear shot, but multiple times during my time there I heard him complain about another staff member. She wasn’t doing anything right… she couldn’t do her job, etc., etc., etc… I understand we all have bad days and it is frustrating when someone on the team may not be pulling their weight, but have those conversations in private or after hours when customers are not around. It’s not professional. He should be glad he wasn’t my waiter. I would have given him a very small tip… Despite that flaw, I’ll be back again!
Miya M.
Place rating: 3 Minneapolis, MN
Service is usually slow and the chairs are uncomfortable. The train that goes by occasionally saves this place. Food is just alright.
Joel B.
Place rating: 3 Holly, MI
We went to «rough draught» in fenton today. The food was pretty decent. My sandwich was, at least. My wife wasn’t to thrilled with her veggie omelet, plus ham. The coffee was fine, but expensive at like 3 bucks with no refills. They offer four sizes, mug, 12, 16, and 20 ounce. Jamie ordered a 12, and I a 16 ounce. She brought us both mugs, so at least she got the order consistently wrong. The place is just filled with hipsters! Just plain lousy with them. I thought the guy behind the bar was a civil war reinactor. Another guy I was sure was a very manly lumberjack, but now that I think about I suspect he was pretending. A girl working there had about a third of her head shaved. I was worried she had brain surgery, but it’s also possible she was skrillix. All in all it wasn’t a bad place. But I wouldn’t make it a point to visit either.
Ron B.
Place rating: 1 Sinclair, WY
Please get me food in less than an hour, don’t ask me what I ordered more than once, don’t tell me you are out of what I ordered 20mins after the fact. Is it possible to bring the food out all at once? Thanks for selling us our food. I don’t want to be an inconvenience to you ever again. I sincerely apologize for being a burden. Yours truly– the armless man(I ate mine off)
Greg A.
Place rating: 3 Linden, MI
The sandwich we had was good, however it did take 25min to get it on a Monday afternoon with only one other table in the place, and they had finished eating before we even ordered. So Im not sure what the hold up was there. The bar staff lacked knowledge of coffee drinks with alcohol. They need a menu with alcohol coffee drinks. Had a maintenance guy working on the expresso machine with a very large naked fat roll hanging over his belt sneeking out from under his shirt which wasn’t very pleasant to look at while eating. I like the décor, but could use some more soft seating to make them different than the laundry. It was also very cold! Turn up the heat. Also surprised that there is no wi-fi. Unusual for a coffee house. They are new and working out the kinks. I get that. We’ll be back!
Gregory T.
Place rating: 5 Fenton, MI
Walked in, greeted immediately and asked if we wanted bar or table and had a waitress asking fir our drink order before we could finish perusing the spirits, sides and Java menu’s. You can go for a joe in the am, lunch, grab a sandwich or side or meet with friends, sit at the bar watch the game and have conversation. Best compliment I can give us to say 100% without a doubt, we’ll be back. We love this place
Krystal T.
Place rating: 3 Grand Blanc, MI
Has potential to be a really cool place but definitely needs to work out the kinks. We seated ourselves and it took over 5 minutes for someone to come over to our table. When she did– she asked us right away what we wanted to drink even though we had no idea what they even served. She didn’t know the bar menu very well and wasn’t able to make recommendations. Once we ordered drinks it took her another 5 – 10 minutes to bring waters over and when she did, she dropped them off and never asked if we needed anything else. If she had we would have ordered food as well. The food menu looked great as well as the bar menu but the prices seemed kind of steep. A bottle craft beer was $ 8, mixed drinks were $ 9 and glasses of wine were $ 7.50. Overall this place does have some potential but the waitstaff definitely lacks experience. May try again in a few months when they work the kinks out.