The Next Chapter Bookstore and Bistro

This used to be a good place to go to eat, get a cookie, tea or latte until almost a year ago when they lost their main baker Kat. For the past year this place is getting worse and worse. The staff is very unprofessional, they are terrible with gluten free and the customer service is a joke. I’ve heard from many people that they have also complained about the staff and the owner doesn’t do anything about it. It’s a real shame he doesn’t care because this used to be a cute and fun place to go to but now you couldn’t pay me to go back.

I have given this place many chances because the location is so nice and the concept is very cozy. However, the reality is this place is not inviting at all, unless you just come for the books. The service has always been horrendous! After going there since they opened I have only experienced a few really nice workers but in general most have been rude! The wait time is ridiculous! Their always out of something. I know it’s not just me that has experienced this so many times. My daughter ordered a salad once to be told after waiting a half hour that they no longer had lettuce. This is typical. 20 minutes for a cup soup and latte. No apologies ever. The food is also very mediocre for the price they charge.

I feel like I need to update my review based on my recent experiences at this restaurant. I have given them many chances to improve, especially since I used to love this place. However, we have not had a good experience there since April 2015 (8 months ago), and we’ve gone about 10 times since then. The other negative reviews are unfortunately accurate. It mostly comes down to poor management. The main problems are poorly trained staff and low inventory. They are usually out of most of the items on their menu! They even run low on non-​perishable items like napkins. I asked for a napkin once and I see the staff member running frantically all over the restaurant before coming back with some paper towels from the restroom, lol. And it’s just disappointing to go somewhere and then be told that they are out of crêpe batter, or lettuce, or bread, or strawberries, or bananas, or sometimes all of these things and more all on the same day. Also, when I say we’ve frequented this place about 10 times in the past 8 months, we’ve actually probably stopped by at least 20 times, but then been forced to leave before ordering because they are out of food or having some other sort of issue. It is really too bad because this place has such a cute concept and used to have pretty good food. I hope they can rectify the issues they’ve been having, but I’m not hopeful since they’ve been going on for almost a year now.

I came here while visiting some family in the area, it looked super cute and I loved the idea of books and a café, plus it was a small local shop. I felt like you couldn’t go wrong. My mistake!
I don’t usually leave such long, detailed reviews but… Yikes, this was needed!
Well, first off, the café was absolutely disgusting, it was filthy! Garbage was full, the coffee buffet table where they have the creamer and sugars was covered in nasty-​sticky stains of all kinds with sugar spilled all over and everything was empty. The floor looked like it hadn’t been cleaned in ages, food everywhere! Tables were sticky and this was all just the sitting area, the kitchen was worse! They had garbage and spilled junk all over the parts of the counters I could see from the register, dirty rags and what looked like either their personal drinking cups or just dirty plastic cups all over the place, I spotted three of them, one by their to-​go boxes, another by a display case of baked goods (I knew this was a personal one because I watched a girl drink from it and put it there) and one right by the steaming tool, gross! What really got me though was watching another girl put some food together without gloves on. While I am no health inspector, that just didn’t sit well with me. It looked like a hot mess behind the counter!
When it came to ordering, no one really knew anything or could answer my questions. Most were nice enough and really tried, but how do you not know what a latte is? You work in a coffee shop for goodness sake! Didn’t look like there was any type of management – there couldn’t have been.
When it came to the food, well not only did it take over 30 minutes to get, it was cold and not made correctly. I got the crêpe complete, I think it was… it was supposed to have Gruyère cheese, ham and an egg with a runny yolk, with Dijon mustard on top. It came with no sauce on top, a fully cooked egg and some cheese that was definitely not Gruyère. The crêpe was super dry and barely edible. My fiancé had issues with his banana crêpe as well. His was also cold, only had maybe 4 banana slices inside and was super soggy, the crêpe wasn’t cooked long enough, and it looked really gross. Oh! What’s more, our silverware had some dried food on it along with a smear of some chocolate or something and the napkin it was wrapped in was covered in the same sauce. Literally, anything that could have gone wrong at a restaurant, did. I really don’t know how they are in business – must be the overpriced books.
Overall, I really do not recommend coming here. After walking around downtown, I discovered there are many other small local cafes not too far from this one that seemed so much better. There is a Starbucks that you can actually see from this place.

I’ve been going here for some time, and meet here regularly with a small book club. They have a good crêpe menu, though, I generally don’t eat here. The coffee is great and the selection of coffee drinks (lattes, mochas, etc.) is large. They are slow-​ish in service, and seem not to have the best process for sharing responsibilities (coffee, food, cash). It’s not bad, though.
If you’re going on the weekend or a holiday, show up early. The Northville crowd will be out and fill it up for parades or by mid-​morning.
They have a reasonable selection of mostly newly released books and some by local authors. I always find something I’ve had my eye on or one that intrigues me and ends up coming home.

Such a cute place! My chicken Florentine was really good. Staff is very nice and answers all the questions. Scream 4 movie was filmed here in 2010. Loved the view from the window!

I went in late one afternoon so luckily I didn’t have to wait too long for my lunch to come out. However, the savory crêpe I ordered was pretty disappointing. I got the Harvest Thyme and I assumed it would be made with real turkey breast and not just deli meat. It didn’t seem too flavorful, either and it came out very plain looking (like a burrito without any sauce and no garnishments whatsoever). The crêpe itself seemed real bread-​y, too; in fact, it was mostly bread and hardly any filling (they really skimped on the inside portions). I was so underwhelmed by it that on my way out I thought I’d double check the menu to see what exactly I had ordered for $ 7 and now I know why it was so plain looking — they forgot to add the honey mustard topping… not like that would have made a huge difference! Needless to say, I’ll be in no rush to come back here.

A big letdown. Very excited to try this place out, but this place is not run well. The staff was frantic and literally running around the store. My wife’s latte was served in a cup lined with coffee grounds and it tasted bad. Some of the staff need lessons in hygiene and proper food handling — they put their hands all over the mouthpart of my coffee lid and pulled food from the display case with their bare hands. Asked for a water and they frantically looked for a lid — opened several containers on the register vs the back counter and the staff had no clue what was stocked and where it was stored. Didn’t get 1 star because the crêpe and breakfast sandwich we had were good — warm and fresh. Could have been better food but certainly could have much worse.

Unbelievable how crappy the wait time was for food today. I’ve always wanted to give this place a chance and I almost never post reviews but felt compelled today because service was so crappy.

We waited for over an hour for our food. Everyone in front of us had their order wrong, as well as us… this place is terrible. Also the waitress had a tiny dress on and everyone saw her but as she bent over. Terribly unprofessional place and I would rather starve then come here again.

I came in for a latte. Waited 35 minutes for it. Mind you, This is the third time something like this happened to me at this bookstore.
One girl making drinks was not enough staff for a busy Saturday afternoon.
When I asked the manager why it was taking so long, he walked behind the counter, pretended to help the kids on staff make the drinks, and then he went outside. And stayed outside.
I will not be returning.

I like this unique café/​bistro/​bookstore. Take some time out, have a crêpe and/​or a latte or chai while reading a magazine or browsing in a book.
Unlike previous reviewers stated, my crêpe was ready in less than 10 m inutes during lunch time. And even if it took longer, I wouldn’t mind waiting. This is the anti-​fast-​food establishment and I love it for that.

Nice idea (bookstore + café & all) .however the service is definitely lacking. If you are vegetarian/​vegan or have specific dietary guidelines I would definitely NOT recommend eating here. I was halfway through my meal before discovering that the very thing i asked them not to include was on my crêpe & that they knew that it was on my crêpe when i was served. Fortunately I didnt have to pull out an epi pen or anything but I was sick for the remainder of the day. They made my crêpe over but not without being instructed (several times) by what looked like a manager/​owner & not without unnecessary comment from a young employee.
We will not be returning.

I was very curious about this bookstore/​coffee shop and decided to meet with a friend here on a Saturday morning. It may not have been the best time to come as the bistro was understaffed. The wait for a crêpe was 25 minutes! I ended up just getting some loose leaf tea and my friend a small latte. I really liked the concept of a coffee shop and bistro focused on keeping books relevant!

We were very disappointed in this place. We tried it because of a
certificate. Their computers were down (unable to use a credit card and the system crashed yet again while trying to use the certificate.), they were missing multiple menu items, we weren’t able to build our own anything since there were no papers printed (they said we could’ve told them however we didn’t know what our options would have been) we had to wait a very long time for our food and my egg was undercooked. The staff was nice and apologetic but no one seemed to know what was going on. and the times listed on here seem inaccurate as they stopped cooking at 1:30 when they’re open until 5

This was a cute little place! I liked that it felt local and small town while still providing a nice selection of books.
While I didn’t try any of the food, I can say that I was very pleased to learn that they carry Great Lakes Coffee!
I would love to go back and curl up with a book and a crêpe!

Making my smoothie out of a box mix. Yuk. Could have gone to McDonald’s for the same. Most of the books are gone. Coffees were ok.

OVERALL:
A café in a bookstore? What an adorable concept! Plus their breakfast croissant is my absolute favorite. Their sweet or savory crepes are huge, so if you’r not THAT hungry, grab two forks and share with a friend! Sharing is caring! This café also has an assortment of mixed teas and fresh squeezed orange juice if you’re not craving that usual cup of joe.
SECRET SPACE
They have a small room in their lower level for book clubs or children’s birthday parties. The ceiling is pretty low, so if you’re taller than 5’4, I’m not sure if you would ever rent out the space… but it’s around $ 50 (I think) if you are looking for a place to host a shower or child’s birthday party for the whole day! Not bad!
WHAT COULD BE BETTER:
Normally credit cards are accepted… but today, there were some technical difficulties with the computer system and the staff directed me to the nearest ATM. So, I ran out and paid the extra fine to get cash and went back into the café. I told myself it would be worth it and because I was really excited to take my friend here! Within that five minutes, My friend already ordered and found a place to sit. My friend then told me that they were closing the café in 5 minutes and would not letting anyone else in. The staff informed her they were closing at 10am because of their computer glitches and that they were moving their customers out of the café.
So in summary, we arrived at the café at 9:50am, I was directed to go to an ATM. I got back to the café around 9:55am with cash only to find that they were closing the café entirely at 10am (normally closed later in the afternoon on the weekdays) and that we could get to go boxes to eat outside. Couldn’t someone tell me that BEFORE I went out of my way to get cash? Thankfully, a staff member… offered us a refund so we could go elsewhere and take our time and eat indoors on a windy morning. So we went somewhere else. And on my way back to my car… when I was passing this café two hours later… this place was up and running. The sign that they were closed for the rest of the day was taken down. So, needless to say I was rather irritated with the staff’s ability to manage some technical irregularities. –I understand I was at the right place at the wrong time… but I’m still a little irked. It’s an understandable irk. irk.irk.irk.

Being an avid reader, this cozy downtown shop caught my eye just from seeing pictures. I just knew I had to try this place out. I love the quaintness of the bookstore, how it has a wide selection like Barnes and noble, but also a more personal hometown selection of books for northville and Michigan. I could spend hours here reading and sipping an iced Peach tea.
Also as a lover of coffee, the fact that they carry Great Lakes Roasting Company coffee is splendid. The crepes are delicious, the employees are wonderful, the coffee good, and the books even more fabulous; this is a place where I’ve been showing to all of my friends and having them love it too.

Decided to go here for brunch on Sunday with some friends and was not very satisfied with my experience.
All 3 of us got crepes, I got the Pesto Presto, while my friends got the Strawberry Nutella Banana and a build your own with raspberries, sauteed apples, pecans, and, dark chocolate sauce. While ordering we were informed that our crepes would take about 25 – 30 mins to be prepared due to the large number of patrons ahead of us. This was an acceptable wait time so we ordered and took a seat outside to enjoy the sunny weather. Since the restaurant only has 2 stoves on which to make the crepes, they do not wait for the entire tables order to be ready before bringing out the food as the crepes would be cold by the time they came out.
I also decided to get a White Peach iced tea to keep me cool while we waited. The tea was very sweet, just as I had hoped for, and even though I enjoyed it, I do feel that it could have used a little richer taste to be perfect.
After about 45 – 50 mins of waiting, the Pesto Presto and Strawberry Nutella Banana crepes were finally brought out. In order to ensure that our crepes didn’t get cold before we ate them, the two of us were asked to start eating by the third friend and we did. We also offered to share our crepes with him until his came out and so he went an got a fork from a server inside. This fork had not been washed properly and had food from its previous use stuck on it. Instead he waited and asked for his crêpe to come with his own set of silverware. Again his fork had food stuck on it, causing him to go inside and get a third fork. I was appalled by this lack of cleanliness of the tableware.
As for the food itself, I very pleased with the taste of my crêpe. It was soft, tasty and full of cheese. I did sample both of my friends’ crepes and found that the SNB crêpe had not been made as well as mine in that it was very crisp which made it difficult to east, even though it tasted good. The build your own crêpe had been made to perfection and was just as soft as mine. In hindsight getting Nutella might have been a better choice to the dark chocolate sauce with the build your own crêpe.
Overall, I did really like the food, though they do need to work on ensuring the perfect softness in all of the crepes. Additionally, they could definitely use with a better estimation of how long it might take for an order to be ready. Most importantly they need to work on ensuring that their tableware is thoroughly washed.
PS-​normally I would have given a 2 star rating for the experience that we had, but the food really is so good that I can’t bring myself to give it lower than a 3.