Starbucks

Why can’t people just be grateful that it opens till 2am… Although the line is long, and sometimes things went wrong. But it is literally the busiest coffee shop I’ve ever visited, and they are already pretty fast given the amount of people waiting in line.

If you value a) your time b) your money c) your sanity, AVOID this place. Just go across the street to the Rotman XChange cafeteria – literally, it’s across the street, it will take you 30 seconds – and they will make you a much better latte for $ 3 in 2 minutes flat. Here, there are MASSIVE lineups all day long, completely disorganized staff, and constant cock-​ups — although today’s was actually the worst I have ever experienced, in any coffee shop, anywhere.
First, the person behind me in line got served before me. Then the server walked away as I was giving her my order. Then I waited for my coffee, and waited, and waited. When I asked if the small coffee that had been sitting there getting cold for ten minutes was mine, the barista barked «No.» Ten minutes later, my coffee still hasn’t appeared. Guess what! That WAS my coffee, except they got it wrong. Back to square one. Then they tried to make me what I actually ordered, but it turned out they were out of an ingredient, so someone had to go get more. A full THIRTY MINUTES after joining the line up, spent standing around in the butt-​ugly, fluorescent-​lit Robarts cafeteria, I finally got the small coffee I had spent almost five bucks and thirty precious minutes on. Meanwhile another customer had come back and thrown her coffee in the bin because they also gave her the wrong thing.

It’s okay for coffee but stay away from food, unless you like cockroaches!

This place has heart. The employees make it okay, despite all of the negatives pointed out in these reviews.

I work in the south end of campus, so I don’t go here very often, but every time I do, I usually turn away and head to the one on College & Beverley. The time it takes for this lineup to reach the front will be as long as it takes for you to take the extra walk.
As an industrial engineer, it really irks me that they have ONE barista serving the endless lineup at Robarts, the largest and most central library on campus. They should consider all of the revenue they’re losing to other locations.
If you don’t want to cross the street, there’s also one in the CCBR.
Both Starbucks locations accept the gift card. The U of T locations that don’t are the Aramark cafes that serve Starbucks coffee. Don’t EVER go to those locations. They don’t even give you free refills.

Do not get Starbucks here, unless you really have NO time to spare during your cram session or while you run to class. They charge you more than what you would usually pay at a regular Starbucks that is not university affilated, and their drinks is not extra amazing. You pay so much to attend UofT, why should you pay extra for your Starbucks? And yes, the extra cents count, especially if you’re a student and you’re on student loans!
The Starbucks on campus seem to not adhere to the same standards as the regular franchises as the ones at UofT do not have the same products (cups, thermos, etc) or snack products… if at all, most of the time they don’t even carry these products! So yes, spare yourself and take a walk to a «real» Starbucks. The oxygen might do your brain some good as you try to overload it with stuff that you will never have to use in real life after graduation.

If you’re on the U of T campus and you MUST have your Venti frappa-​lappa-​mocha-​toffee-​baby-​ccino, then this is the place you go. This Starbucks is located on the 2^nd floor of the Eastern Bloc-​esque Robarts Library; you can’t miss it because the line is always about a gajillion miles long. Not unlike a bread line in Soviet Russia. In Robarts Library, Starbucks drinks YOU!
Anyway. Despite the numerous problems that this Starbucks seems to have (sometimes, they run out of mocha; often by 4pm, the pastry case is practically bereft of goodies; most of the time, you can’t use a Starbucks Card), I will commend them for being fairly quick given the amount of people waiting. It’s still not the fastest cup o’ joe by a long shot, though.
In summary: if you have the choice, go elsewhere. However, if you are trapped in Robarts with a quarter’s worth of studying to catch up on (like I am doing right now), then suck it up and wait in line — it’s the only place for a latte in the building.