Starbucks

Not my usual Starbucks but the one on High Street was closed so here I was. They have a lot of seating but no comfy couches which I think is a necessity. The staff there are friendly but did not know what kind of promos were happening for Rewards members which didn’t impress me.

This location is a good one for people watching. Lots of police were frequenting this spot when I visited most recently. But even on a brisk fall day the patio area was in use and the wifi was pretty helpful/​convenient. Most Starbucks locations are pretty standard but this was a worthwhile visit.

Terrible customer service. You ask for blond they give you medium roast thinking you won’t notice. After complaining, they just gave me attitude rather than fixing the problem. Only after I contacted the head office after the 3 or 4^th time they’ve done it, only then i was satisfied. Usually don’t go to that location bc of that but sometimes I have nowhere else to go.

The first thing that was immediately apparent to me upon my initial visit to this Starbucks location is that it has the worst interior seating layout of any Starbucks I have ever seen. Unless you are at a table touching the east wall, you will either have people in line to order, or people in line to receive their orders, brushing against you constantly. Consequently, the very few premium seats tend to get snapped up fast by people with laptops who occupy them for hours at a time. There are no nice seating areas tucked away from the line ups like at most other locations. Fortunately, they do have outdoor seating, however this being Edmonton, there aren’t that many months in the year where it is viable to use them.
The other gripe I have with this particular location is mediocre service. I’ve pretty consistently found the staff to be friendly but disorganized. Today I walked up to the till, with no line up, and was asked by a staff member at the desk to wait a moment. She then leaned forward and started writing something, with a pen in her hand. After a minute or two, she grabbed a cup and wrote a name on it, then passed it over to the barista making the drinks, apologized, and said that she forgot to write down a drink order (why this took more than 10 seconds to rectify, I’m not sure). She was friendly, and I placed my order and paid.
I then waited near the barista who was making the drinks for several minutes, while he made five or six drinks, none of which were mine. Just as I was about to interject and ask if my order was coming up, the barista asked if I was waiting for my order. I stated that I was and restated my order, and he mumbled something apologetic and said that it would be right up. It was clear that he had no idea about my drink order, but at least he was polite, saw me standing there and thought to ask.
This was two hiccups for one order, and altogether it took probably three times as long for me to get my drink as it should have. I’d shrug this off if it happened once, but it was fairly typical of my experience there. The quality of the product is on par with other locations, but I’d recommend the location on 11 410 104^th Ave for better service and a better interior layout.

This location is sure busy! I’m here on a holiday Monday and for the last two hours all the seats indoors have been utilized as well as the patio.
I LOVE the fact that this location has a huge patio with like 6 tables!
The staff are competent, the drinks taste like your typical Starbucks, so that’s all good.
Though, they lost a star as I cannot find plug ins for laptops. Thank goodness my laptop has a long battery life — I’ll def come here again to work.

I usually go to this Starbucks every morning. For the most part it’s like any other Starbucks, they have messed up my drinks a couple of times because I usually change it up everyday. And sometimes the barista will see me and make me what I ordered the day before. I guess that’s not really a bad thing that they recognize me as a customer? Sometimes the staff is slow in the morning. And if you get there in the late morning, don’t expect to get any to yogurt, sandwiches or bistro boxes. They will all be long gone.

I LOVE this Starbuck’s. Every time I stop in the staff are super friendly!

I was never a coffee shop goer until I moved into a condo with a Starbucks on the ground level. It started with me requiring internet access before I had it installed in my condo, and needing to buy something from Starbucks in exchange for that free internet. Now I’m addicted to lattes, and about $ 25 poorer/​week!
Generally, I find this Starbucks location to have poor service and sometimes poor product quality. Oftentimes I will be waiting to place my order while the staff members are chit chatting with their backs turned to the counter. I find this to be a customer service problem at many retail establishments these days, and I’m always taken back to my days in retail when we were taught that the customer comes first, and if there aren’t any customers, you need to busy yourself with cleaning, stocking supplies, etc.- anything but chatting.
When it’s finally time to place the order, the staff are sometimes unaware of their own products, or I have to repeat my order several times (I would think that Skinny Vanilla Latte is pretty standard!). Also, upon ordering decaf coffee on behalf of someone else, I’ve been questioned several time as to whether I really want to wait for it (perhaps because they don’t want to take the time to make it?). Usually if someone orders decaf, it’s not for fun and giggles… it’s because they can’t have caffeine. Therefore, yes, I did want to wait for it.
I guess the real indicator of how I feel about this location is that despite the fact that it’s on the main floor of my condo, I’ll often pass by it in favour of going to another coffee shop to get my beloved latte. I’d rather wait out the 10 minute bus ride to Second Cup or Le Prep to get my beloved latte than be set in a bad mood after dealing with this particular Starbucks location.

Starbucks is Starbucks. And while I am not a huge fan of their coffee (in my opinion, it always tastes a little burnt) and I find it a bit disconcerting that their pastries, sandwiches, and drinks taste the same all over the world (no local flavours), as far as huge chains go, they aren’t as evil as the rest (their labour practices are better than most other multinational corporations, for example).
However, I prefer to frequent locally owned cafes for my java fix, so I have only been to this location once. I found the layout to be awkward, with massive columns taking up huge amounts of space and larges shelves of merchandise taking up even more precious real estate. The result is a very crowded seating area with incredibly few seats available. I found it claustrophobic and awkward not a pleasant place to sit and enjoy a cup of coffee. Perhaps in the summer months with the patio open it might be nicer. But this is Edmonton. And our patio time is quite limited.
I found the baristas to be pleasant and helpful. And the food and beverages tasted exactly as I expected them to, like Starbucks.

I’ve been going to this Starbucks more often since the Second Cup across the street closed, and I’ve always found the staff here particularly friendly and helpful. I’ve even got a free latte when they were out of my first choice, and I went with what the barista recommended instead. Definitely makes you want to come back :)
My main complaint about this location is that there isn’t a lot of seating, and the last few times I’ve gone by with the intention of getting a coffee and reading, there haven’t been any free seats.