"3 1/2 stars There 's a lot to like here. Blue Hippo is in a convenient location with ample street parking definitely helps this time of year when the parking meters are covered up for the holidays , with a very chill, almost ski lodge like atmosphere and an impressive menu with numerous coffee and brunch options. The food was really solid, as was the coffee. Unfortunately, what should have been a slam dunk, universally positive experience was marred by the service. It 's certainly something that can be remedied going forward, but in the moment dampened my enthusiasm for this place.My noble chum and I stopped by yesterday morning for brunch. From my brief recon, it seemed like the first register closer to the door was more for to go coffee orders so I went over to the second register that had the food centric menu right above it. After several minutes of being ignored, the girl behind the counter who was moving around and assisting other customers as well, to be fair finally asked if I intended to have a sit down meal. When I said yes, she told me to sit down and she 'd be with me shortly, which she was. But Blue Hippo should definitely consider getting some extra signage making it clear which register s to order from to avoid unnecessary confusion.I ordered the Classic Egg Sammy $9 with sausage extra $2.50 , along with an almond croissant around $4 and a blueberry latte about $5 . I initially requested a strawberry latte based on a syrup flavor sign at the counter, but was told they didn 't have any. That obviously happens, but there 's no reason why the sign which was handwritten couldn 't have been modified accordingly to confirm an accurate inventory. Not a huge deal but was one of several issues that could have been tightened up a bit. The Sammy was good, with a solid distribution of egg, cheese and sausage, but could have used a bit more flavoring. I rarely go near the table shakers, but I did sprinkle some pepper on the sandwich for some necessary seasoning. The latte and croissant were both very good, the blueberry flavor not being overwhelming, and I 'd have no issue ordering them again on a subsequent visit. Beyond that, the price point seemed reasonable for the area.As alluded to, the service was very mediocre. I 'm willing to give the benefit of the doubt and assume this was lack of experience/training more than a waitress having a bad day, but in contrast to everything else it was pretty glaring. The waitress wasn 't just sitting around on her phone she was busy during our entire time there, constantly moving around from the counter and the various tables, but she wasn 't efficient at all. For example, we had the check ready for payment for several minutes, the credit card in prominent view. The waitress walked by several times with a free hand, and never bothered to pick it up there was no multi tasking to be seen, which anyone in the service industry would tell you is an absolute necessity. Beyond that, she wasn 't very friendly. During my initial three minutes at the register, she made eye contact with me several times and never bothered to quickly say something like, 'I 'll be right with you, which gave the appearance that I was intentionally being ignored which I doubt I was . Little courtesies like that go a long way. She also never said thank you to us. We 're not sensitive little snowflakes who need massive TLC when we go out to eat, but it would be nice to feel a little welcomed. Hopefully she gets a primer on interacting with the customers and increasing the turnaround time of various meal milestones taking the orders, getting the check, etc. .One employee doesn 't necessarily make or break a restaurant, but I hope their overall staff is better than what we witnessed yesterday. I 'd be more inclined to get my next order to go."
