Costa: coffee and smiles

While enjoying a pastry in a cafe in Ferrara (Italy) last week, I sipped a cup of latte and told my husband that I missed a Costa coffee. We have two Costa cafes in Witney, but we mostly frequent one of them. Every weekend my husband takes our older son out to Costa, which is his favourite cafe, and often Eddie and I join them.

When I read that for the third year in a row Costa has won Best Family Friendly at the Tommy's Awards, I was not surprised at all. Whenever we visit our local Costa, we are met with a friendly welcome.

If you haven't heard of The Tommy's Awards, they "recognise and celebrate the best family-friendly companies that help make the lives of parents and parents-to-be that little bit easier.
From a shortlist of 5, Costa received the most votes. This year 44,688 were cast, double the amount of votes received last year".
I didn't know about the votes, but if I knew, I'd have voted for Costa as well.

Not only because they make the best latte in town, but because there are not that many places were you feel at ease arriving with a child who has special needs.

The staff at our Costa are very friendly, they chat to Sasha, without being patronising. They actually talk to him rather than to us about him, as many people do when they find out that he is non verbal.

They are efficient, friendly, polite and it looks like they enjoy their job a lot. As we visit our local cafe so often, they already know what we like, and ask Do you want two medium lattes? And a slice of carrot cake? (Sasha's favourite). Eddie's choices depend on his mood and the seasonal availability.
In the last few weeks he's been craving the cornflake chocolate nests with Easter eggs, at Christmas he fancied mince pies and mini-logs.

I'm also glad to see that they have a selection of Twinings teas, though as I have all these teas at home, I prefer to order a cup of latte.
Costa has become a big part of our lives. For our older son it is a weekly treat as well as part of his weekend routine. For me, it's a much needed cup of coffee and five minutes of rest before I do a grocery shopping in town

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