text: Caffue Art Java on MontRoyal was when it first opened my favorite cafe in the whole world Great location sleek but inviting ambiance decent food and mindblowing lattues What was not to like I was a steadygoing regular for yearsnnI was concerned when I learned the founders had sold the place but I hoped the new owners would leave everything more or less untouched And at first they mostly did But things still started to slide The new owners started advertising their menu using grainy photosappropriate for latenight Chinese takeout but not an upscale cafe The kitchen and barista staff turned over almost immediatelyto be replaced we think by the owners And so the food became barely adequate and the coffee frankly went to hellnnI eventually stopped being a regular but I still went every now and then because the ambiance was still great No more One of the owners forced me to pay for a tisane that I never received Some time ago I ordered a tisane that never arrived at my table I got so engrossed in my work that I did not really notice in fact I only noticed that it had not arrived when it was time for me to pack it up and go So I left slightly miffed that I never got my tisane Annoying but mostly harmless and certainly innocent It is the kind of brain fart that can happen to any servernnA week or so later I went to the cash to pay my bill and the owner who was working the register presented me with TWO bills one for that days tisane and one for the tisane I never received I protested saying that I had never received the earlier beverage The owner insisted that she distinctly and specifically remembered preparing this tisane which I never received This went back and forth several times until I thought it had been made clear that if she made me pay for something I never received I would never come back The owner insisted so I paid both ticketsnnThe owners decision to push the issue over my strong protests no matter what she does or does not remember says everything that needs saying about the new management at Art Java Maybe she thought she was being tough or something but did she really think I was trying to wriggle out from paying I was a regular Does she not realize that she is basically calling me a liar and a thief In any case is apparently more than my good opinion which at bottom equates to all of the business they might ever get from me is worth to themnnAt Art Java every penny countsbut every customer not so much