Nova’s Bakery

Coffee/​Latte is great — staff is friendly, comfortable place to hang out

Great little shop. Nice sitting areas to hang out and the service is always good. Much better than Starbucks.

This place is a find. I had their cheese Danish and there’s definitely cheese in the Danish not like the others I have had in coffee houses. My chai latte was enjoyable… not hot, but not cold. I was able to drink with gusto as soon as I got it. The place is spacious with lots of tables and also sitting area! I can definitely spend my morning here with my laptop and/​or book.

The two star rating has nothing to do with the coffee, baked goods or the staff (in part). All the aforementioned are very good and a delight to have in the small community of Mint Hill. My problem and hence the two stars comes from the nasty customers that have been encountered on the last two visits. Meeting a friend for coffee on Saturday morning should be a pleasant experience and one that has become a much anticipated event between old friends. However, a group of women have staked this establishment out as their very own and are territorial to the point of driving customers out by their rudeness, leaving anyone not in their pack leaving and vowing never to return for that kind of focused verbal abuse. I’m referring to group of knitting Nazis who seem to be able to infest Nova’s on Saturday morning (their regular gathering spot) and in no short order demanding customers to move away from their favorite seats. They become quite adamant about moving people, spouting that the area is «reserved» for them by management. There are no signs, placards or anything that indicates such nor does management step in to dispel what may or may not be a misunderstanding to shop policy. So sadly, this nice little shop can carry on without my friend’s or my patronage moving forward. Another local coffee shop has popped up on our radar that is glowing with great reviews of friendliness, excellent coffee and marvelous baked goods. So Nova’s, we bid you sweet adieu and thank you for the good times and memories that you’ve helped us to create. A word of advice for the future, set your policies for all to see and realize that a few regulars may be the very reason that you look at your books at the end of the month and wonder why no «new» regulars are showing up.

I came here for lunch with some work colleagues, and none of us will ever come back. I have heard good things about Nova’s other location, but I doubt I will go there after my experience at the Matthews/​Mint Hill location.
I’m confused why this place has a lunch menu posted. The employee who took our order had no idea what was supposed to be on each sandwich (even asking if I wanted ketchup on my sandwich). After waiting a long, long time for our sandwiches, they were brought to us, and the employee could barely tell them apart. One was made incorrectly. The bread wasn’t the same that was listed on the board. If it’s Nova’s homemade bread, their bread is terrible. Go buy a near-​expiration sandwich from Harris Teeter or Publix; you’ll get a bigger, better sandwich for a lower price. I ordered a drink with my meal — a can of soda to save time and avoid any other issues — and even the can was messed up. It had been dropped or frozen, so it looked like it was ready to explode. The tab broke off, so I opened it by jabbing my car key into it. It was a perfect cap to this experience.
I didn’t order any coffee, and I didn’t order any baked goods. None of it looked appealing. The pastry case was disorderly. The staff were clueless. I’m scared to think what they consider to be a good coffee drink at this place. I didn’t want to find out.
As someone said previously, have some self-​respect with reviews, Charlotte! There are some great places here, but there are also really crappy places. Inflated reviews don’t help anyone.

Another disappointing experience. We stopped in for coffee and 2 muffins at 6:20 PM and were told that the muffins had «already been counted» for the day and couldn’t be sold!!! (They don’t close until 7pm). This used to be one of my favorite hangouts for coffee. It won’t last at this rate. Needs new management.

We visited this Sunday afternoon. There were three other pairs there and one person on the internet. The lattes were good. There were still a few pastries, but very little bread available. We wanted a sourdough, but no luck.

A good source of Nova’s breads, which I used to buy regularly at Harris Teeter before they went corporate with their own brand. The breads are I assume shipped into this smaller outlet from Nova’s main bakery off Central. If you live in Matthews or Mint Hill, it’s a good resource for great bread (much better than the tasteless stuff with poor texture the grocery chains keep pushing).

Why doesn’t this little shop get more play? I mean, Matthews/​Mint Hill only offers so much so I would expect Nova’s to be a more popular spot! They offer wifi, have comfy couches and chairs, good looking pastries and fresh brewed coffee. What could be better? Plus, it isn’t the typical run of the mill national chain.
I see other reviews (or ONE other review) that commented on the baked goods and the fact that they are subpar and not as good as the bakeries in NYC. Well, I have news for everyone that moves here from NY: THIS IS CHARLOTTE!!!
Not that we expect less because it is Charlotte but we aren’t comparing ourselves to NY or any other city for that matter.
My vanilla latte with almond milk was awesome. One of the best I have had. The girl at the counter was pleasant and very helpful. The price was a little more than I cared to spend for a medium (almost $ 5) but the quality was worth it.
I will definitely be back and am happy to support this shop.

I have yet to find a good bakery in Charlotte. If you know of a good Italian bakery (or other), please email it to me. If it’s good, I will get you a gift card from there. The only reason I think people give this bakery a good rating, is because they compare it to a super market «bakery.» Down south, super market bakeries are not bakeries, they’re just a point of sale for terrible process and sometimes pre-​frozen food. This bakery is on par with the ever awful Harris Teeter.
I don’t know what, or if any, of the food here is actually made on site. I gave this place 3 attempts. The pastries are dry and flavorless. I had lemon meringue pie, and it was still partly frozen. FROZEN! A bakery should make ALL baked goods on site. Even the bread. Nothing should be delivered there by truck except raw materials. At the end of the day, all food is either thrown out or donated. This is how it’s done at a real bakery. If you do keep yesterdays food, wrap it and discount it making it known that it’s yesterdays good.
I have standards for bakeries and delis because I grew up in NY. But even the bakery in Michigan where I went to university blew away any bakery in Charlotte, and that was in the midwest… aka «the rustbelt.»
STOP REWARDING SUB-​PAR FOOD CHARLOTTE. Establish a standard, and don’t waste your money on those who don’t meet it. I know it’s difficult, because since moving here, I often find myself settling for somewhere because at least they have the item I want, even though it’s not any good. We must constantly remind ourselves that we’re going out and paying for GOOD food, not just food. Go up north and visit some bakeries and stop giving this place 4 and 5 stars.

Coffee was delicious. I got the light roast with a shot of french vanilla. I saw another review about poor service but, we came in at 3:30 pm and the one employee I saw working was prompt and friendly. My wife and I enjoyed it. It is so nice to see a non-​starbucks coffee shop.
None of those pretentious über– enlightened unemployed hippies like you see at Starbucks.

Coffee was good but the service was absolutely terrible. Had to tell the guy taking my order three times what I wanted, and because he never wrote it on the cup for the barista making the drinks, they had to ask me twice (in a not too pleasant way) what my order was before making it. The girl who I went with also had to repeat her order numerous times to the cashier and barista…