Smiles Coffeehouse

I pass this place on my way home every Tuesday (I have a standing lunch date with the bf). And typically I stop for my coffee fix before I’ve passed by Smiles.
Today, however, my typical stop was closed for renovations, and I figured there was no better time to stop in at Smiles and try it out.
My first thought was the place was a little grungy– nothing bad, a few table tops were a little cluttered, but with only one person there sometimes that happens and that’s nothing to hold against them.
As a barista, I was very interested in their espresso machine and the bean that they use for their espresso.
First, Smiles has a beautiful, beautiful manual machine. Those things are temperamental at best in some cases and take some serious skill and fine tuning. The machine was clean (always a plus) and put together.
The man behind the counter was very knowledgeable about the espresso he was using (a Goshen roast, something I’ve never had before), and was very willing to answer my questions and provide good flavor profile descriptions.
I wound up going with one of the Vietnamese Iced Drip coffee (which they mix with sweetened condensed milk), after talking extensively about the syrups and flavored lattes they had and the things that they made in house. I love me some iced coffee, especially strong iced coffee, so when I asked him to leave out ice cubes (it had been refrigerated previously and was plenty cold enough in my book), he told me they had coffee ice cubes! Of course I said yes. How novel is that! Coffee ice cubes. Definitely should have been thought of before. The had cardamom and chicory flavors to it, and while that was not what I had been expecting from it– I was pleased as punch and it was delicious.
I will definitely be going back, for more coffee and for more chances to pick the brain of the man behind the counter.

This is a nice place but you could drive right past it because it sits in a little strip mall. Very good coffee and snacks. Indoor seating with nice music. Fee WiFi. Staff is pleasant.

Of all the coffee shops in the St. Louis area, this is one of them. Really, that’s the impression I walked away with entirely uninspiring and not at all special, though not entirely bad.
The coffee: I ordered an Americano and found it slightly below average. A little nutty, a bitter aftertaste. If you want better coffee, there are 100 better places in town.
The food: my spinach artichoke sandwich was average. Tasty ingredients served a little cold on a warm baguette.
The atmosphere: overly bright walls attempt to make up for a generally unclean dining area. Very plain as coffee shops go. Nice community bulletin board, exterior that blends into the stripmallishness of the neighborhood. Men’s bathroom was historic levels of filthy. More gas station than coffeeshop.
Service: under other circumstances perhaps they are nice, but ownership treated me like a criminal for bearing a groupon. Had it not been for the groupon, I never would have found myself in their establishment.
If you are in the neighborhood, I recommend another neighborhood.

The first time I went on a weekday and just got coffee with no fuss. The second time my wife and I got their breakfasts sandwiches, and they were really good. It did take a while to get our good though. Since then I haven’t been back. Not because of the food our service, they’re just never open when it strikes me to go there. They open they’re doors later then most coffee houses, plus they are closed Sundays. This gave me little incentive to go there since they seem to be closed when I want to go to a coffeehouse.
Then today I woke up and thought «I could go for a good breakfast sandwich» so my wife daughter and I walked up there only to find they were closed during they’re posted operating hours. This just showed me they really don’t care about the customer, so I won’t be going back. There are a lot of better alternatives than smiles coffeehouse.

To call Smiles a coffeehouse may be a slight misnomer. Yes, they have coffee, and apparently it’s really nice. I don’t know about the coffee myself because I don’t drink coffee, and yet the amount of times I go to Smiles definitely suggests that there are other reasons to go. No not tea, well yes I love getting a thai iced tea here, but what I really enjoy at Smiles is the food.
It’s more like a small café, and they cook just about everything they can without the room for a large kitchen range or an overhead vent. The dishes they do cook are fresh and delicious, and if I’m not hankering for a breakfast sandwich I always order the daily special without looking to see what it is, because I know I’ll like it. The specials have all been good. If you’re lucky enough to go when they have beef stew as the special again, I’d like to hear about it. Preferably on the same day so that I can get some too.
One more thing, the pastries are worth indulging in. Pumpkin cheesecake? Superb.

A little cool temp wise inside given our February visit. There were two small space heaters but it didn’t seem enough to really be comfortable without thinking about it. The sitting area was small, chairs were hard, and it was more like a restaurant vice the coffeehouse we had in mind. …however my wife and I loved their coffee, tea, and croissant breakfast sandwiches. It was quiet and we sat surfing the Internet while we enjoyed our meal and talked. Prices seemed comparable to chain businesses but the personal touch to the beverages and sandwiches were apparent and welcoming for an occasional visit type of place for my wife and I. We used a Groupon and had no issues using it. Total bill for coffee, tea, and 2 croissants was about $ 16 before Groupon.

Smiles now serve beef noodle soup and other Taiwanese/​Chinese style food. I would say they have one of the best beef noodle soup in St. Louis.

If 0 stars were an option…
Bought the groupon to try them out. 1^st visit they added 2.50 in mystery charges to the bill.
2^nd visit they refused to accept the groupon as a carry out and explained that they don’t make money on the groupon, hence my mystery charge the first time. Completely unacceptable.
Lastly, they are a coffeeshop and they don’t open til 9am. Sorry but folks are already at work then.

Definitely would not recommend. Service was atrocious– the single employee working did not acknowledge me or my boyfriend for about 10 minutes after arriving. When asked whether the lunch menu was available, the employee replied that while it was available, it would take a pretty long time to make the food because he «had some other stuff to do”(?).
The menu seemed limited as well. The vegetarian breakfast sandwich basically amounts to a bagel with cream cheese and pesto on it. Most of the sandwiches/​salads appear similarly disappointing, with very few healthy options available. The bakery case held a single (dry-​looking) brownie, two forlorn apples, and a couple of plastic-​wrapped bagels. I know it’s a smaller coffee shop, but can’t a lady get a scone around this joint?
Tl;dr– horrible service, poor menu, and underwhelming environment. In a city that has some pretty fabulous coffee shops, do yourself a favor and go someplace else.

I’m writing this review frok my phone since Unilocal is blocked on Smiles free wifi. I think that says a lot about a restaurant/​coffee shop, etc. when they won’t allow access to this site.
Pros:
The owner was extremely nice and attentive. Cannot stress enough how much he
Plenty of space to sit and study
They sell mangos.
Meh:
Smiles is very small. Seats 21 (I counted because I would rather procrastinate than study for finals) but size doesn’t matter — am I right.
The coffee. It wasn’t awful but not great. There are much better places to grab a cup of coffee in stl.
Cons:
The music — I like adele as much as the next guy but seriously… Turn the volume down.
The smell… can’t describe it. Doesnt smell like coffee or food.
The food — let me preface by saying thay I didn’t actually eat anything. This is based solely off looking at the cooler and what the women next to me ordered. Everything in the cooler appears to be from a box/​bag. Bagels are from a bag and shrink wrapped. A
Overall, I would get a coffee to go if I were in a pinch BUT this place seems like a glorified quick trip. I can get anything at QT that smiles has to offer. for cheaper.
2.75÷3 stars

This is a nice and quiet neighborhood place. Ive only had their white mocha, but it was pretty good. Not the best coffee shop in town, so I wouldn’t go out of your way for it, but definitely a nice spot to go if you’re in the neighborhood.

My friend and I went in yesterday morning. I love trying new places and had been wanting to go here for a while. I saw Chai Tea Latte and so I immediately ordered that. Nope. No Chai. It’s been ordered and they have been waiting for 3 weeks. Strike 1. So, I went with regular tea since I am not really a coffee drinker. Then I tried to order a breakfast croissant. Nope. No croissants. (I should mention that we went at 9:50am and while there were two tables of kids there they did not have food or drinks… I think they were regulars since we got our food and drinks before them.) Strike 2. We both ended up ordering a vegetable bagel. The guy behind the counter came out to give me my tea. My friend had bought coffee and she said it was great. That she would go back for the coffee. Foul-​tip. She was told by the guy at the counter (owner?) that he was short-​handed, that the person that was supposed to come in that morning hadn’t and that he appreciated our patience. This is 20 minutes into a wait for a bagel. 5 minutes after that a girl walked in, turned on some more lights and ran into the kitchen. So after a 30 minute wait we finally got our vegetable bagel. This toasted everything bagel had cream cheese, pesto and some dressed greens and was a HOME RUN! It was really good. I thought that I would never ever even consider going back with the wait and the lack of product but I would definitely go back for that bagel. The place is small and has some cute mirrors on the wall for sale and I have to tell you that while I had NO idea what the the tables of «regulars’ were saying they were having a good time. I get it. It’s a place to hang out, get something yummy and relax. I will be back.

Coffee house in a strip mall… not a great location. Owner was nice though.

First time at Smiles today. «We don’t have costumers, we have friends» was written outside the coffee house. It’s a small place with seats for about 20 – 25. Very nice atmosphere… a great place to get so e work done on their free Wi-​Fi for sure.
I had the Salmon sandwich with a salad. The Salmon was great on the bagel, and the salad was a huge surprise. The dressing was a sweet Thai sort of creation that was outstanding.
The guy that served us was very friendly. We went in the late afternoon, so it wasn’t too busy.
If you live or work in the area, you need to check the place out. My sandwich and salad was $ 7.25, which I thought was very good considering how good everything was.

«We don’t have customers, we have friends» is the tag line of this adorable, family-​owned coffee shop. The owner is usually there serving up coffee, and it is evident that this is his mantra.
The shop is never too crowded… and seems to be a great place to study or do work. I really hope that more people take advantage of this coffee shop because I want to see them stay in business!

I had never heard of this place before a friend told me about it but I’m glad I was able to «discover» it. Smiles is very unassuming as it’s on Hampton and it’s in a small strip mall-​like area. The inside is not very large at all but the set up is simple but charming. The menu looked liked it had plenty of sweets, pastries and other snack items do enjoy with your caffeine injection. I only had one drink and that was the Shot In The Dark which was quite potent. Overall I’d say the atmosphere was nice and worth checking out again for a more in-​depth review.

I love frequenting small businesses. The owner and the barista were very friendly as I walked in the door.
I placed my order for 2 drinks and 2 pastries. The lattes were both delicious, I know mine was and my friend said hers was as well. The pastry, a strawberry scone was alright, it just seemed bland.
I will definitely return to this little gem. As I said, I prefer to frequent small businesses, no matter what state I am in and the owner was very friendly, kind of like a an over-​caffeinated ray of sunshine, which was fine because he was a delight to talk to. I have to try the Frappé next time.

Smiles has amazing service and great coffee. Gregory is wonderful and personable.
I live two blocks aways and honestly would be a little devastated if it goes away. Yes, the interior looks a little like a college library but it is so cute and what the hood needs! I would highly recommend!

Great neighborhood coffee shop. Great location making it easy to stop by on your way to work or while you are out running errands.
They have several tables in a small dining area that is brightly light by a large window and colorful walls. Making it a great place for a morning meeting with a coworker or business associate and gossiping with BFF.
I didn’t see much of pastries available, but I stopped by early afternoon for a holiday flavored Latte. However, I did see a menu offering soups and salads for lunchtime fare. I hope they get a website up soon so we can see their menu at all times.
They use one of the most popular roasters in Saint Louis, Kaldi’s for their coffee so you know it will be a good brew. Also, they have a frequent drinkers card that you get punched and after 7 lattes or 7 cups of coffee the 8^th one is FREE. Who doesn’t like a free cup of morning Joe? A nice touch to a neighborhood shop.
When walking the dog (s), this will be my reward.

I’m excited about the location of this new coffee shop, it’s right on my way to work and with such a bright and happy exterior and name, how can one not perk up a grumpy monday morning or cure a slight thirsty thursday hangover?
I zipped in and out last week with a medium cappucino. rich espresso and a sweet foam topper. I was happy.
Plan to come back soon!