**INITIAL REVIEW**…read more
For me, Historic Downtown Melbourne has become one of my most-visited hubs for socialization, especially in south Brevard County. Thanks to the brilliant people at DTMB or Melbourne Main Street, the area has been improving. I definitely like the new businesses coming in, taking a slice of history in their own sake.
Once such place is Villon Coffee. Originally, a "food truck" as the are more of a coffee truck, Villon Coffee (which I will shorthand simply to Villon for the remainder of the review) has expanded to the point they now have two brick-and-mortal locations. The one I like to frequent is, of course, Historic Downtown Melbourne.
Now to be fair, they are an a-okay coffee shop, but mostly because of how management runs it more so than the vibe and staff. The vibe and staff: excellent! Definitely have a lot of good things to say about Ally. However, how management (whom I never seen onsite whatsoever) runs the location, is no bueno!
Though an address is given, Villon is located on the southside of New Haven Ave. that runs though Historic Downtown Melbourne. If it helps, they are more on the eastside of the town stretch just west of the train tracks.
Villon is a smallish location consisting of a main serving room and a "waiting" room that showcases their wares for sale. The waiting room also has an island table and couch, which works well as board games (though most of them are incomplete) are available for guests. The pinball machine, Godzilla, requires 50 cents to play.
The main serving floor has bar seating along the storefront window, serving counter, and the side window. As for decor, a lot of yellow, black, and greys in modern art triangles and flowers that highlight their color scheme.
Also, the restroom is gender neutral, which is fine as it is a single-person restroom. Usually clean and stocked, but not the best looking restroom. Ever seen a grungy warehouse look in a restroom but was still clean? That's what Villon here has.
This is where things are critical. For some reason, management usually has only one person on staff. Now to be fair, most of the day only needs one person, but during rushes, you'll end up waiting. This is not a food truck which is understandable why there is a wait, but an actual brick-and-mortar restaurant.
And given its small size and menu, you'd think they would be able to keep rotation on goods up to par. There have been times I came in in which Ally has said they don't have something or another. This goes for their food which I am unsure is either premade or storebought. Needless to say, they don't have the space to cook anything from scratch, so everything is "heat and ready to serve."
There is a couple of coolers with bagels, and oatmeal bites ready to eat, though. But the food that really stands out is the wares made by Chef & Summers. They are delicious, but sometimes, they can be sold out.
Villon is also quite innovative in their drinks, more so than any other coffee shop I can think of locally. Ergo, they get the hit-or-miss judgment a tad bit more, but because they are being bold more so than being either good or bad.
Overall, Villon, as mentioned earlier, is an a-okay place. The staff does the best they can with what they have and what they are given. But I guarantee you they'd be better with more management support.
Since I have visited this place numerous times prior to my initial review, I can definitely give Villon a solid three out of five stars with the aforementioned points above. If management helps improve this location, then maybe, just maybe, I will give them a fair shake and update my review.
Until then, good place to stop by if you are in the area and you just need a stop to go to, but definitely better coffee shop options out there. My suggestion: The Sun Shoppe at the west end of Historic Downtown Melbourne or Apocalpyse Coffee Roasters heading north on Babcock St. right at the intersection with US-1.