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Starbucks Coffee
Rating Details »
Category: Coffee & Tea [Edit]
Neighborhoods: Near North Side, River North414 N Orleans St
(between Hubbard St & Kinzie St)
Chicago, IL 60610
(312) 467-1173
- Nearest Transit:
-
Merchandise Mart (Purple Express, Brown)
Clinton (Pink, Green)
- Wi-Fi:
- Paid
6 reviews for Starbucks Coffee
5 Stars! Yes! It's true!
No, this isn't a review of Starbucks coffee or calories or politics or consumer culture. Who cares, Starbucks coffee is better than most, you know what you get, and they're better at it than most small shops. Remember when coffee used to come in styrofoam?
Having frequented some similarly busy Starbucks coast to coast, I really have to commend the staff here. They're all really nice - in other stores you'll get one that's great and the rest could care less, but here .. they're all great.
They almost always smile, they hardly ever fuck up, and when they do, they always make up for it. Also, they remember my drink better than I do and they know their customers by name.
Staff are brilliant. They are courteous, polite, efficient and actually engage in conversation (a lost art in our text/FB/email/blog era). If you are ever feeling low and need a caffeine injection and a smile, this is your spot.
Okay, so I try not to frequent any corporate-driven coffee shops because I like to keep the Independent entrepreneurs up-and-running if my small contribution would be of any help (may Filter rest in peace - and with my nutty Dunkin Donuts affliction aside). BUT...I have a crazy obsession with pumpkin every autumn and it is always my goal to scope out establishments that will give me pumpkin and give me NOW.
Sometimes I break down and get my quick fix from the corporate corner-huggers if I haven't had time to make my favorite pumpkin cake (why haven't I baked one yet this season?! slacker!). A couple of days ago I tried my first pumpkin scone from a Starbucks and I have to say it was pretty good -- maybe flavor-enhanced by all the frosting, but even so it was very satisfactory.
Well, in craving that scone again, I tried going yesterday and ended up getting a pumpkin muffin from a nearby Dunkin Donuts, don't ask. And today I went again and they were out of the scones! Arg! I ended up buying a cinnamon scone out of spite since I stood in line for so long, which was NOT what I wanted. I was so sorely disappointed that I said, "Screw it!" and walked down a couple of blocks to the next Starbucks. I know...pretty pathetic, but I was on a mission.
I must say this Starbucks on the corner of Orleans and Hubbard was this morning's saving grace. They were my dealer of gourd-flavored drugs. Their friendly case was FILLED with all the pumpkin scones you could want. And the chain of staff members were all smiling and grooving like they knew they had the shit. Because they did. And I got it. All 620 calories and 31 grams of fat of it! Aww yeah....That's it, baby.
Hmm...Maybe this weekend I'll make my pumpkin cake. Either way, thanks to this Starbucks for pumping the pumpkin in me.
I give it 3 stars because it's still not the greatest coffee in the world, but I do give this location props for it's friendliness and speed.
While standing in line an employee knocked a glass of milk off the counter behind me. The milk exploded all over my back, my legs and shoes. A customer behind me was kind enough to grab some napkins and blot the milk off my back. I cleaned off my pants and shoes. The employee never apologized, but after I cleaned myself up she did ask if I could "use a rag?"
To add insult to injury, they didn't even offered to buy my drink.
Ah, Starbucks. The Sarah Palin of coffee. They never succeed to meet minimum expectations.
It took 3 sips to taste the dairy in my "soy latte." I'm lactose intolerant, so this could have seriously ruined my day. After admitting that the drink was wrong, the barista made me a new one. He didn't even say "sorry." And no freebie coupon. That barista screwed up at least 7 drinks today in the 2 hours I was there. Everyone was complaining... "um, this has foam. I ordered no foam." Or "This has mocha, I didn't want a mocha frapuccino."
Guess that's what I get for going to Starbucks.
I don't drink coffee. It is gross. There I said it. And I don't go to Starbucks. Anyways, the first time I went here I ordered a measly hot chocolate. It was very crowded and the staff had no clue on how a line works. The girl taking orders was calling out made up crappy drink names and was litterally throwing the marked cups down the way. People who ordered behind me were getting their chai-tea skim-latte-grande-frappe with soy milk double frappe mocha before me. I finally said something to one of the barstools and had no care that I wanted a measly hot chocolate. And it was nasty.
I went there a second time to get the strawberries and cream thing. Size medium and it was definitely tainted with nasty. Something was sour and probably out of date. I about gagged and I had rot gut for a while after wards.
