Twitter Special, Follow us @dottiescoffee
444 North Street
Pittsfield, MA 01201
We serve food from 8am-3pm
Monday - Saturday.
Our kitchen is closed on Sunday but we always have an abundance of delicious, freshly baked pastry items.
You may call your order in ahead of time by dialing
413-443-1792
We accept Visa, Mastercard and Discover.
Hey Y’all!
give us a call for our daily specials.
413 443 1791
Thanks!
True story: Last night, after a night of relaxing with some friends, some foods and definitely some cocktails, I walked two blocks, back to my car. As I was walking, I saw my friends’ in their apartment window hanging up some curtains half naked at 11:00pm. Of course, I had to text them and tease them about their ridiculous display to all of North Street. Without realizing it, I dropped my wallet on the sidewalk.
This morning, a man walks up to the counter, at Dottie’s, where I was making espresso beverages. He smiles at me (I think to myself, Oh great, now he’s going to flirt with me. Just what I need with my hangover, a side of flirtation) and he says, “Helen?” Astonished, I look up at him and say hesitantly, “Yesss?”
The nameless man then produced my wallet, apologizing for looking through it, in order to find a clue to who I was and where I might be. That clue was a paycheck from Dottie’s. To say I was thankful is almost an understatement. I was amazed.
It’s no surprise to anyone who has spent time at Dottie’s, to know that we have exceptional coffee and delicious sandwiches. When we began the Dottie’s adventure four and-a- half years ago, our (and by us, I mean Jess and Matt) mission was to create a place where community and beautiful coffee were seamlessly integrated. I do confess, however, after dealing with the public day in and day out, we as baristas occasionally lose sight of the mission, to provide friendly and positive service.
This man reminded me of what WE are [supposed to be] doing at Dottie’s and the power WE have to create great experiences for one another. It’s our duty, as humans, to be good to one another, and by doing so, we plant the seedlings of faith that grow a community.
So I challenge you, our Dottie’s faithfuls, when you find a difficult moment, remember the meaning of community and your power to pay forward a kind experience. And for Dottie’s too, I challenge us, to expand our appreciation for each other, through both coffee and community.
Cheers!
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It’s arrived. The first rendition of a customer survey, to help us, help you.
I created the survey to support what I THINK makes customer service outstanding. Im not anyone important, but I do know what it feels like to receive great customer service and to give it. My aim is to ensure that our customers receive friendly, fast and attentive service from every one of our baristas.
Please feel free to pick up a survey at Dottie’s or complete our online version, which will be coming soon.
By completing the form, you will get a THANK YOU coupon, towards your next purchase at Dottie’s. We appreciate your feedback and hope that you enjoy the opportunity to help us.
In the mean time, see you at Dottie’s!
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It all started in New York City on 13th street between University and 5th, at a very well known coffee shop called Joe [the Art of Coffee]. Free coffee for life if you get our logo tattooed on you, was the basic concept. We laughed at the idea and dreamed of how the NYT would eat it up. Cut to 6 years later, at Dottie’s Coffee Lounge.
Swanny, a very talented and quite adorable (as heavily tattooed guys tend to be) tattoo artist from the best tattoo shop in the Berkshires, started to regularly frequent our shop. In the heat of the moment and embracing the opportunity, I suggested he tattoo a rosetta on his arm and we would give him free coffee for life. And so he did.
So now, we extend the privilege to 10 of you. Here are the rules and regulations.
1. The tattoo must be in a highly visable part of your body- because lets face it, this isn’t a DARE, we are using your body as a billboard.
2. The tattoo must be one of our approved designs.*
3. The tattoo must be given by Patrick Swan at Leftys Tattoo on the date selected. Price of tattoos will vary depending on design and personal preferences ex: color/size/etc.
4. You must get on the “list” of 10 people that will earn the privilege of free coffee for life from Dottie’s. Getting on the list costs you $50, a small price to pay for a lifelong of FREE COFFEE. Most people spend more money than that a month, on their daily coffee fix. The list will be kept at the counter at Dottie’s. If you chicken out, you WILL get your $50 bucks back.
5. You get free coffee for life, once a day. You name the drink. We make it. *
ITS THAT SIMPLE!
Designs* will be available for your viewing pleasure in less than a week. Keep posted and if you have any questions in the mean time, email us @ dottiescoffeelounge@gmail.com
While were all waiting, feel free to post your favorite tattoos here!
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It’s no secret. Dottie’s customer service is somewhat unpredictable. I know it’s the most important part of a successful business but for some reason my energies are always being put into to training, food and coffee related proceedures and preparation. Customer service is also one of the hardest things to train people to do well…you either get it, or you don’t… but not any more, not after what I found today.
It was just like any other day,I was on facebook; Hunting around, exploring the ever changing tabs and items in the sidebar when I noticed a section called HIDDEN posts. I found a pretty disappointing wall post, from a customer that pretty much said,, “I really want to and have tried to love Dottie’s, but I’m continuously let down by their customer service and Im giving up.” At that moment my hard working heart broke a little bit and I couldn’t help but think of all of the people who have had that same thought and haven’t been back since.
Being a person who has always earned money through waitressing or barista-ing, I wouldn’t consider myself a stickler for excellent customer service but I do appreciate it when I experience it. And when I stop and think about it, I may not make a decision to go to a place because I love their customer service but I will avoid ones that left a bad taste in my mouth last time I was there. Great customer service is what warms our hearts and makes us hungry to visit a place again.In my opinion, you can overlook a less satisfactory product if the customer service is amazing– and that says a lot! And not to beat the dead horse but, in this economy, we can’t afford to spend our money at places where the customer service makes us feel under appreciated. So this year, Im committed to changing and improving the customer service at Dottie’s– for you and for me and for our community.
I want to make 2012 all about customer service. Improving it. Making it stronger. Making it more consistent. Educating about it. Training for it. Benefiting from it. But mostly, creating really memorable, awesome and possitive experiences for everyone who comes to Dottie’s. I mean less face it, life is hard enough, getting your morning coffee should be a great time! To get myself inspired, I’ve been drowning myself in customer service articles and blogs. All of which have similar suggestions and different ways to apply them. And in an industry where surly baristas are partially expected, I want our Dottie’s Hotties to shine.
One of the most resonating things Ive read about customer service is a trickle down theory. They say that the customer service team reflects how and by who they are managed. This made a lot of sense to me and hit home pretty heavily, since I AM the management and I DO struggle with it.
My whole life I was told I was a leader… but what they should have told me is that Im bossy, stubborn and need things done my way. And once you factor in my life “experiences” you could add impatient, moody and passive aggressive. Needless to say, I’ve been climbing a slippery slope since opening day. I am proud to say that in the past year, I have made a very vigorous attempt at strengthening my weaknesses so I can lead my team at Dottie’s better.
That being said, running a business, managing people and serving the general public is freakin’ HARD! And when you’re staffing for a coffee shop, it’s hard to find passionate people who are SOLELY dedicated to coffee, especially in a community as small as The Berkshires. At Dottie’s, we have managed to find many great employees and through lots of training, turned them into passionate baristas. Like a lot of baristas though, they are dedicated to 2 or more jobs, because it is hard to survive on a baristas salary– especially when most customers are more hesitant to tip a barista than a bartender (but that’s another blog post). I say this, because I appreciate how hard my staff works at all of their jobs and Im sincerely motivated to make their jobs more financially fruitful– but to do so we need to provide consistent exceptional customer service!
So, this is where we start— with YOU! Please send us an email with your suggestions for Dottie’s. What do you like? What don’t you like? What would you like to see more of? What would you like to see less of? Let me know of poor experiences you’ve had at Dottie’s and let me know of the ones that really impressed you! I have a couple of months, so keep the thoughtful and helpful emails coming! And many thanks for helping us help YOU better! This is the first step of many, so thanks for helping us get the ball rolling!
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11am on Tuesdays with Teri Trufant. This group will sit for one hour and is encouraged to stay longer for lunch! This is the group you want to join if you are looking to work on a project. Teri will offer projects and patterns for those who want them but all levels and personal projects are fine to work on as well. Teri works at Twin Hearts (Wednesdays & Thursdays), where you can find her super hip and creative children’s design line, Skullabye.
3pm Thursdays with Kay. This group will meet for approximately 2 hours. Please note that Dottie’s Kitchen does close at three so if you want full lunch or one of our breakfast sandwiches, you will have to come before the group starts. The rest of our delicious lattes, baked goods and hot cozy tea are always available. All levels and projects are welcome. Kay has a farm and spins her own wool. She will have some for you to purchase if you fall in love with it! She also has some other knitting odds and ends, including straight needles and balls of yarn for you to learn with!
5pm Thursdays with Caitin Porter Loverin. This group will meet for approximately 2 hours. Dottie’s will stay open late Sip n Knit on Thursdays! The soup will be on, but the rest of our kitchen will be closed. All pastries and beverages will be availabel too! Caitlin has been building a knitting group of Moms and Kids for a while now, and their home is going to be Dottie’s! This is a great group to join for people who are just learning to knit, as Caitlin will be teaching the fundamentals to others.
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