Starbucks

I couldnt even find this place. Tried with mobile gps and google maps, both times ended up at wrong place. Hmm. i am in seattle and i am searching for a decent coffee for an hour. i wonder what the hype was all about

How many Starbucks have I patronized over the years? Who knows, but certainly it is in the dozens. Of those, only three (so far) have warranted reviews, either because they are so extraordinarily good (
) or extraordinarily bad (
). This review falls in the latter category.
Just how bad is the Starbucks located in SeaTac Airport’s North Terminal? Let me answer that by describing just how far out of the way I will go to avoid it.
When one first enters the SeaTac Airport parking garage, you are directed to go up a specific ramp depending on the airline you are flying. The objective of this shepherding is to have you park as close as possible to your airline’s check-​in counter. Of course, with modern conveniences like mobile check-​in and electronic boarding passes, these counters have become irrelevant unless checking baggage, which is a rarity for me. Generally when entering the parking garage I will skip the first ramp and take the second ramp which delivers me to a parking row close to the TSA checkpoint that empties into the Central Terminal.
Why this strategy? Simply because the Starbucks in the Central Terminal is large, adequately staffed and fast – the absolute opposite of the North Terminal Starbucks. Even on those occasions when I take the first ramp, which dumps you off closest to the TSA checkpoint to the North Terminal, I will walk past that checkpoint, past the C gate checkpoint and enter the Central Terminal checkpoint so that I have the easiest access to the Starbucks located there.
This has worked for me countless times. So why would I ever deviate from it?
Because I’m an idiot.
The morning of October 23 I arrived at the airport 60 minutes ahead of my flight as is my custom. For whatever reason, I ascended the first ramp of the parking garage and found plenty of parking on the 7^th floor. I entered the terminal, bypassing the ticket counter as I had my boarding pass on my phone, and found myself at the North TSA checkpoint. Now here’s the point where I got all stupid. «How bad can it be?» I thought to myself. I’m TSA Pre-​Check (
) so I’ll be through security in a minute. Even if there’s a line at the Starbucks I’ll have plenty of time.
Sure enough, I was through security in a minute. A minute later I was on the train to the North Terminal. Upon reaching that terminal I made a beeline to the Starbucks and immediately felt defeated as I surveyed the enormous line. One, two, three… twelve, thirteen… eighteen…twenty. There were twenty people in line at that point.
Oh geez. How long is this going to take?
I grabbed my phone and set the timer. 12:42 later I had my drink. That’s approximately 62 seconds per person. Now maybe that’s a reasonable number and it’s the 20 people in line that’s not reasonable. I don’t know. But what I do know is that in the setting of an airport where people are rushing to catch flights, you’ve got to be efficient and there’s got to be a sense of urgency and there’s something about that Starbucks that makes it the least efficient Starbucks of any I have ever visited. I guess I should be grateful though. My triple grande, extra hot, no-​foam latte was perfectly prepared (+1 star). Before departing, I counted again the number of people in line and it was up to 30, meaning the people now at the end of the line had an 18:38 wait.
That’s unbelievable. But, I didn’t spend a lot of time pondering it. I had my drink. Time to board the flight. Now let’s see, what gate was I at again? I checked my phone.
C8
Are you kidding me?
FML.
Pro-​tip: Need a bio-​break? Order your drink and then hit the restroom. By the time you’re back your drink will be near the front of the barista’s queue.