Academy Espresso Bar in The Vale of Glamorgan

A good place to meet for a coffee, although it does get very busy there and can sometimes be difficult to get a parking space

My recent visit to this place left much to be desired in terms of service and attention to detail. Upon ordering a Pepsi and a gin and tonic through the app, I settled in and waited for my drinks to arrive. After 15 minutes of waiting, I approached the bar to enquire about the status of my order. The server's response was lacklustre, simply stating that they had missed my order without a genuine apology. When the drinks finally arrived, the same server's apology felt insincere. Moreover, I was disappointed to see that the gin and tonic was served in a highball glass, despite the availability of lovely gin glasses that would have elevated the presentation. No lemon either. The lack of care in the presentation of the gin and tonic, coupled with the server's dismissive attitude towards the missed order, left a poor impression. While I appreciate the eventual delivery of my drinks, the overall experience fell short of my expectations. I hope that the management takes note of these issues and works to improve the service and consistency in drink preparation. Until then, I may reconsider my regular visits to this establishment.unlikely to revisit when we are in the area .

Nice place, good sheds opposite worth a walk around also. Flat white had too much milk for me, more like a small latte so wasn't strong enough but tasted ok.

Really great spot, highly recommend the academy breakfast, the poached eggs were some of the best I’ve ever had.

Fabulous independently run bar and coffee shop. Beautiful coconut peanut butter and banana smoothie and vegan expresso brownie. A great place to chill with seats inside and out, parking too. Opposite Good sheds! Will be back 🙏

Gorgeous venue, lovely decor, cute puppies, great parking but no eggs. We had the smash avocado and the Academy breakfast without eggs. It wasn’t a quality breakfast, it wasn’t hot and it really missed eggs! We were surprised that one of the many number of staff members couldn’t pop to either supermarket in the very close proximity.

Very busy but lovely atmosphere

A great place for a relaxing tea or coffee together with nice food...👍 ☕☕🥪🧆🥮🍰

Great place with lovely staff and easy parking. Popular with all and dog friendly.

Brilliant coffee and lots of choices for vegan food. Also, a great atmosphere to relax in!

Harassed by 2 girls who were quite vile to people, calling them names and trying to come on to men who when turned down were then verbally abused. They threw drinks over people and then at the end of the evening they attacked a young girl waiting for a taxi. Staff and bouncers there but just watched. In this day and age this is appalling. Not a nice place!

Lovely staff and atmosphere! Food is decent quality but a bit limited

Great for breakfast and coffee, good for drinks in the evening

Love this place. Great if you want a coffee in the middle of the day or a drink in the evening.

Lovely food great atmosphere,,,, great for working from home,,, very up market Coffee is great 👍

Nice decor, on site parking, coffee is not bad. The Academy breakfast was (excusing the bacon, which was good) genuinely shocking. The worst sausages I've ever tasted, cold and rubbery microwaved scramled eggs, cold toast with MARGARINE on the side?! Flavourless tomatoes that were barely warmed, and some dry old leaves. Team it with the brusque service and I'm not sure I'll be back. Came for a birthday breakfast treat but was sadly disappointed.

Best place for a coffee in Barry. Great place for a chilled weekend brunch.

Always a lovely experience. A jewel in Barry's crown.

Very good service, food and milkshake.

On, the afternoon of Monday 25th September 2023 - I visited this contemporary establishment. Like the retro style and great service from Imogen.

Great place and friendly staff. However, the car park is privately owned by Alliance and they can issue you a ticket, even if you do everything by the book. Alliance parking is a disgusting company waiting to rip anyone off. Beware of parking there.

Good quality drinks at a reasonable price point.

Great atmosphere for a coffee and cake stop. All back to normal now (post pandemic), which is nice. Digital ordering from tables has been retained, which can be quite handy, in addition to usual counter service. Coffee's still really good, and cake selection always a joy. Folks always friendly and live up to their team slogan "Work hard and be nice to people". Dog friendly, and puppuccinos often offered :) Don't forget to enter car registration on entry if parking on site; clears you for 3 hours free parking.

Out of the way and seemed like a nice place

Great coffee. Nice outside space friendly staff. Did not try food.

I wrote my master's thesis in this coffee shop. Was a great atmosphere, no restrictions on working. Great coffee and food, I really liked the atmosphere.

Had dirty spoon and long blonde hair in one off the latte

Absolutely lovely place. Espresso Martini was fantastic

Sticky tables even after they’ve been cleaned just aren’t my thing. Nice people, perfectly acceptable food.

Lovely cafe, I had a spectacular bacon roll, but I was jealous of the cheese on toast. An excellent puppycino too.

Absolutely gutted the hot vegan roll no longer comes with cheese. It was the perfect finish to the roll. Without the cheese it changed the roll completely, to the point I didn't like it. Such a shame. That was a little gem, with such limited vegan options in Barry, that was my always go to 😏

Can't think of anything bad today first visit today Amazing

Really wanted a simple breakfast, pain au chocolat and a coffee, the pastry was £2.50 which I thought was a little high but must be worth it, absolutely not it was a warmed through soggy mess of pastry. Being new to the immediate area I thought this would be a great place to bring friends and family but I’ll find somewhere else, shame first impact has the most standing with customers.

Ordered an iced mocha and I’m pretty sure it was just Nesquik powder poured into cold coffee. Decided to order and americano instead and what turned up was an overly large, watered down, brown coloured coffee that was hotter than the sun. The weather and the outdoor space saved the day here.

Popped in for a quick drink before last orders only to be greated by rude staff. They made it very clear that they wanted us to hurry up and leave. Definitely won't be going back

Had coffee with my partner, excellent service and quality product ☕👌

Food was lovely, not a lot of options but what we had was good. It's easier to order at the bar than on the app though. Staff were friendly and helpful. Bench seating was good and it's got a nice atmosphere! It has a small car park which is free. Don't forget to enter your car reg!

Lovely place to hang out. Barry's finest.

As ever a 5* experience ... a lovely setting, fab staff, superb food and cracking coffee ... many thanks!! 😎

Great coffee, friendly staff and a lovely place to sit and work!

Too many screaming kids running around

Watch out for parking requirements You have to give registration Signage is poor especially via side entrance (which is one you use when parking!) No staff prompt when purchasing drink. One coffee and a £60 parking fine. Won't go back ad result

Great place for coffee; also has beers, wines and cocktails.

Love this place. Brilliant for all occasions. Quick coffee, lazy breakfast or cocktails.

The curry street food huts food tonight was outstanding . Thank you

Amazing coffee/bar, great food & drink selection and lovely vibe. Decor and ambience create perfect relaxing setting. Love it.

Friendly staff, dog friendly too. Coffee was delicious! Veggie sausages were passable, my friend reported her lemon and pistachio cake was very good.

As a business owner of Clear Hearing Solution, which is just cross road from Academy Bar, in Goodsheds building; I love to attend this coffee bar, to seen my business partners for discussions or just my dear friends for chat; atmosphere in Academy Expresso Bar is always inspiring me to be a part of urban Barry lifestyle and to cherish the moment. Also my patients

Great spot. Clean and bright with great service and friendly staff.

The dark chocolate and peanut flapjacks are to die for 😋

Live music far too loud couldn't hear a word anyone was saying

Wont be going there again as it does not take cash and I find that quite discriminatory for people who like to keep track of their spending

Expensive and a bit short of character. Seats aren't great. But live music and open mics are good.

Great atmosphere, coffee and service. Thanks team 👍🏻

Large latte and vegan sausage ciabatta with brown sauce £8.60. Mixture of tables and high stools. Cool trendy atmosphere. Order at counter and drinks are bought to the table. Card only, no cash.

Cool little place for good coffee. So busy when we went but it added to the atmosphere and the staff really kept on top of everything despite this.

Okay place. I found it a bit expensive. Coffee and cake over £6. Had better but lovely atmosphere.

Nice clean tidy reasonably priced drinks and food

Contemporary and clean but open plan industrial converted warehouses are always acoustically challenged (noisy)

Sandwiches are a bit bland, coffee is great.

Always enjoy myself here. Has a nice vibe

I have visited this place a few times, the first time I went I really enjoyed the coffee, since then I have been having breakfast and was not very impressed with breakfast this morning abd the time before.. we ordered porridge and it was like wallpaper glue, it was lumpy and stuck together it was awful, both porridges were the same? Completely dried out. My toast came, 2 hard pieces of burnt toast we’re like cardboard, coffee was cold. Really not impressed the last 2 visits, did not want to go up and complain. But paid quite a bit for some really awful breakfast.

Lovely interior. Good coffee. Great place to chill, and catch up with friends.

Reasonably priced items but the tables were far too sticky/unclean and the coffee was boiling hot. Not how coffee should be made. The atmosphere is otherwise fine. Definitely room for improvement.

It has gone down hill. Not as clean as it used to be. Why they let dogs in i don't know. Cant stand the thought of it. They have a perfect place to stay outside...

Had the most luxurious hot chocolate with marshmallows and cream, very comfortable space and different food truck outside each time I’ve been!

Nice place. Nice surroundings and lovely area outside to sit if not raining..

Nice atmosphere and lovely staff

Really disappointing, this place used to be fab with great coffee but not today. Coffee tasted like machine needed a clean and the Brie and Cranberry panini was undercooked and doughy and had hardly any brie in it. Not what it used to be in here. Honestly this place used to be my go to when I was in Barry but has really gone downhill.

Coffee was delicious - the food however was not. The avo smash was served on rock solid bread you couldn’t even cut through - I paid £2 extra for halloumi on the top and was given 3 tiny, paper thin (also rock solid) pieces of halloumi that were barely edible. My partner had the vegan sausage roll and the sausages looked undercooked. Disappointed to have paid £23 for this brunch. Would return for coffee but never for food.

Lush coffee, breakfast and brunch options. Excellent cocktails and beer selection in the evening also. Bart Ddu rum stockists too 😁🥃

Lovely, spacious indoor and outdoor seating . 3 choices of alternative milks, 2 choices of gluten free cakes and loads of 'normal' cakes, etc. Friendly, polite staff, clean cafe.

Good coffee in relaxed atmosphere

Great cocktails and had on great live performances

Lovely place, excellent coffee etc, so nice to once again meet up with friends for chats.

Absolutely gorgeous downstairs had a lovely time

I can't belive so many poor reviews on The Academy Espresso Bar ??!! We visited for breakfast on 22.07.2022 having stayed at the nearby Premier Inn whilst attending our daughter's belated graduation ceremony in Cardiff the evening before and, have to say, we really enjoyed our visit and didn't experience any of the poor comments shown here We had the pancakes with nutella and granola bowl (with Greek yoghut and fruits) with two fresh orange juices and these were very tasty and really hit the spot We sat outside along the side of the property on what was a very pleasant, warm, morning. The service was swift but unhurried, the welcome was wam and the ambience of the place really funky, trendy and pleasant Without doubt we would visit again and have told our daughter to make a trip out to vist for herself

Nice coffee, can be a little bit of a wait before it comes to the table, but hey ho, not that much of an issue. Better on a weekday, can be very noisy on a Saturday. Real surprise that they no longer take cash. (They actually refused to accept my cash payment). So be warned to take two cards in case the machine doesn't like the one you are trying to pay with - as the cash in your purse is not accepted here.

Very nice for girly afternoon very relaxing it's lovely the dogs can go there and I got lovely seating area outside oh very nice indeed

Nice coffee, dog friendly, very pleasant stress free cafè experience.

Good service very busy like that they had blankets to wrap.arou d the children as it was raining when we visited sat outside no room inside

Easily my favourite coffee place in Barry. Staff are friendly, it's conveniently located, nicely decorated with a great atmosphere, a few beers on tap as well as an extensive coffee and tea menu. Snacks, sandwiches and pastries/cakes available too. I'm yet to visit during the open mic night that's hosted here but have heard nothing but great things about it.

A lovely dog friendly cafe. Expensive food for the portion you get but otherwise a great experience after a trip to the beach

Good for a breakfast. Delicious coffee and a good cocktail selection in the evening.

Watery coffee too expensive Could get better for cheaper anywhere else in Barry At least the dog liked it

Lovely friendly atmosphere. Great coffee Wheelchair and dog friendly.

Delicious coffee and great food. Staff are brilliant…..our pooch enjoyed a little pupachino!

Nice enough venue and it's great that it's dog-friendly, but the service is slow and although the menu looks very tempting, the vegan sausage bap was just terrible. So dry that it was more like a slice of bread between two buns. They need to change their brand or cook them differently. I literally could not choke down the whole bap, even with tea. My sister had crushed avo on sourdough and although the portion was good, the toast was cold and the chillies on top were way too hot. Stuff took a long time to come and there were only three members of staff visible on a busy bank holiday.

After lunch at Goodsheds, headed to the Coffee Academy to chill out a bit. Fablas Ice Cream Truck was parked outside, so grabbed a cone before heading in for coffee. I must say that the soft serve is really nice but a tad too sweet for me. Couldn't really taste my hot chocolate after that. 😂 but the Coffee is really nice, my friend even bought the beans back home.

Great coffee and friendly customer service.

Love it here, the coffee is the best, great staff fab atmosphere I would definitely recommend to family and friends. Parking outside. Food is delicious.

Really great coffee shop and bar. Also the street food vendors that are there from time to time are excellent. Academy is really lively, and has lots of events - the open mic and quiz nights are particularly good. There is a nice outdoor space when it's sunny, and inside is a lovely, open, modern space. Love going here

Lovely milkshakes and the staff are so friendly :)

Very nice place to visit for a coffee, cake and catch up

So unsatisfied with my visit. I travelled from Cardiff by up visit this bar after seeing positive Instagram posts. However sadly once again Instagram lied. I explained my train was delayed by 30 minutes and with there being no contact information online I had no way of contacting the restaurant to let them know I was going to be late. I arrived and was met by a extremely rude and scruffy looking employee who was disgruntled by my lateness. She provided no customer service whatsoever and we were made to feel like a nuisance in the restaurant. It is very displeasing as the cocktail was delicious and the venue was up and coming. It is a shame that the customer service let it down so greatly. I would like to let the owners : managers know of such bad service so this can be remedied and it can be a nice place to visit in the future.

So, several instance this month. For 2 weeks in a row I visited the drive through to get a coffee on a Saturday morning. Now you would have thought that knowing there's a maket in the nearby goodsheds complex, you'd have enough staff to service additional business? Not here, 1 person in the drive through for 2 Saturdays on the bounce trying to cope with the demand, badly! The staff member today actually shouted out the widow " I'm on my own, you're gonna wait a long time so find somewhere else"? So everyone did! My wife then went to the Academy coffee shop nearby with 2 friends today for a coffee to be told by a guy behind the counter that coffee would be 30 minutes. This business is a joke and the problem is obviously down to lack of staff? Covid has been, now businesses are trying to recoup lost revenue and staff are taking the brunt of it! Shameful.

The place is nice but everything on the table was grubby. All the plates, the glasses, cutlery - all dirty. Luckily I only got a sausage bap so I could pop it on a napkin instead of the dirty plate but if I'd ordered an actual meal I wouldn't have eaten it off those plates.

Wonderful fortnightly open mic, great fun

Great coffee in a lovely surrounding

Lovely atmosphere and great food! Definitely recommend