Starbucks

They make my morning, every morning.

Great service! Fast & friendly. One unfortunate thing, they don’t currently have wi-​fi. I came in specifically for that, but there’s no sign noting that the service is off. Probably won’t be back again until all street construction is done & service is restored.

I been coming here for 3 years and its always a great experience. The staff always give me great recommendations for new drinks based on my usual beverage. Overall, I really love this location and staff.

I’ve been coming here for years and this location is great. Staff is friendly and location is convenient. All my coworkers are regulars and they know our names and what we like. Thumbs up.

This is absolutely, 100% the worst Starbucks location I’ve encountered in the city, if not ever. My drink is continually messed up with each and every visit. The Baristas are incompetent, and don’t even know which abbreviations to mark on the patrons’ cups before passing them down the line. Save yourself the trouble, and visit the Starbucks location just one block away at Michigan and Madison.

Slowest service with the rudest employees. With only two customers before me, it took 15 minutes to get an iced Americano. You would think that they’d have faster service during rush hour being that it’s in a high traffic loop location! There were 4 bristas that I could see working but while only 1 was making the drinks, the others looked unproductive. Seems to me that I’m not the only one complaining about slow service.
The questions is, why isn’t management doing anything about this problem?

I went to Starbucks the other day for a coffee before work. The barista’s were actually great which is a shock as I’ve never had an above par barista at this location. The Thursday AM crew definitely earned this location another star…

Terrible customer service! I used to work at Starbucks and it’s a great place to work! I don’t know how it can be that bad that you can’t even smile. Very sad.

This is the weirdest Starbucks in the loop. Nothing special about it. The staff is never happy. They take forever to make drinks. There’s outdoor seating, but why? It’s right in front of a bus stop so it smells like exhaust. Just go around the corner to the one on Michigan ave where they’re happy to see you.
The manager at this store curses under her breath if she has to move to help anyone or give them their order. Talk about customer service. I used to go to this one because it was right by the brown line which I take to work, but now I just wait til I get off the brown line and get coffee from the one at that stop.
I could continue, but it’s just more complaining.

Staff is rude and can’t get drinks made right. They swear and talk badly about their own management. Luckily, I discovered a much better Starbucks location around the corner on S. Michigan ave. amazing customer service and they understand coffee orders without rolling their eyes. (I wanted to review the better Starbucks location but couldn’t find it on Unilocal.)

Why does this one even exist when there are so many better ones on every other corner around this location? Consistently there is something wrong when I come here: coffee is too cold, they get the wrong order, the line is too long, it takes forever just to get a regular coffee. I just don’t understand why they don’t close this branch, it is out of date in décor and management.

Another Starbucks in the Loop; definitely a larger one with outdoor seating.
It’s right by the Madison and Wabash CTA stop and on the way to Millenium Park so there tends to be the tourist crowd more than the regulars.
Staff was friendly too.

Great Starbucks if you’re looking for something downtown that isn’t too busy. Indoor + outdoor seating is a plus. The store is clean and the staff is friendly and efficient. Other than that, it’s Starbucks, you know what you’re getting.

When it comes to Starbucks, you know what you’re getting. The menus at each franchise are just about identical, but there are distinct differences that make some branches more favorable than others. This review is meant to reflect what makes this Starbucks unique more so than the company as a whole.
The location here is very good. It’s near all that is going on in the loop and Millennium Park, but tucked away off of the hustle and bustle of Michigan Avenue. It’s almost always less busy than the Michigan Starbucks a couple blocks North. The two times that I have come to this store were for its convenience while waiting for a bus.
For frequent coffee drinkers, I also strongly recommend pursuing a Starbucks Gold Card if you do not already have one. By simply reloading and reusing a gift card, you can easily reach Gold status. By doing so you get free flavors, free soy milk, and a free drink after every 15.

One particular employee here (short, short brown hair, I believe her name is Michelle) has a problem with people who have allergy concerns. Occasionally at Starbucks I need to remind staff to use the soy pitcher instead of the dairy pitcher for my soy frappucinos, since I have a serious dairy allergy — and I do it very politely. Every single time they have been happy to comply and switch the pitchers or reassure me that the soy pitcher will be used, and this is why I love Starbucks.
Not this time. The young lady behind the counter rolled her eyes and said «That’s the way we always do it.» When I said that I had seen some people using the dairy pitcher for soy drinks, she snapped back «Just because that’s the way they do it at other stores doesn’t mean that’s how we do it here.» Taken aback, I said that I was concerned because it was a life or death issue. Undeterred, she continued «Yes, and that’s the way employees are taught.» Then she turned to her coworker and muttered under her breath «It’s gonna be a looong day.»
I have never EVER been treated like this at a Starbucks. If you cannot show the least bit of empathy for your customers’ requests, you probably shouldn’t be a barista.

Stop. Look around the corner to one of many other Starbucks.
I was shocked by the conversation the Starbucks employees were having the other evening with some of the lingering customers (clearly their friends). Keywords include strp poker, dirty hearts, and extreme open discussion of gay relationships.. . This was a shocking reversal from my prior enjoyable experiences. A good reputation can be torn down in an instant.
Not to mention they couldn’t manage their inventory and were out of both bold coffee and half and half, something that should be unacceptable for a coffee house.

The East Madison Starbucks is a small store with some decent, but limited indoor seating in the back. Overall, it is just an average store.
The store is relatively small. Its outdoor seating area has an unpleasant view of Madison. In fact, it sits directly in front of the Wabash bus stop of every CTA bus that travels west to Northwestern Station. The indoor seating area, in the back of the store, is reasonably comfortable but it is small, and it tends to fill up quickly. If you can snag a chair, or even one of the two small tables in back, you can work on you iPad or laptop in relative comfort.
The store has an average amount of noise. The indoor customer traffic can be substantial but it is confined to the front of the store.
In summary, this Starbucks is average, overall. It is best for using WiFi or reading the paper, both for an hour at most, and only if you can get a seat in the small seating area in the back of the store.

The staff is friendly here.

WE came here to do some work. I can deal with the occasional group of kids coming in a making a scene, but the disruptions were coming from the staff who were more interested in chatting and goofing around with each other than making anyone’s coffee. I went to use the bathroom where there was no toilet paper (there is exactly ONE bathroom in this place for everyone to share), so I went to the counter to tell the barista. There were no customers. Here’s the exchange
Me: Excuse me?
Barista: (turning away from her convo with a coworker) WHAT?
Me: The bathroom is out of toilet paper.
Barista: Um. Okay. (turns back to friend)
I waited 20 minutes for her to go change the roll. Finally after 25 minutes and three other requests, the roll was finally changed.
Ugh. I mean, I know it’s just a coffee shop, but this was truly terrible service.

Oh Starbucks. How I love thee. Should I worry about being a coffee addict if I have two Starbucks reviews written back to back? Nah…
This Starbucks is great. The reason? Because they know how to follow instructions here. When I say no foam, they understand what I’m saying. (seriously, its not that difficult, but other Starbucks baristas dont understand it) When I say fill that coffee to the top of the cup, they fill that bad boy till its almost spill over the rim. Yes, thats how I like my coffee…
This Starbucks is conveniently located near Sugar Bliss. So after I get my cupcake fix, I come here for my coffee fix. This store is surprisingly spacious. I dont know if there’s a lot of seats though because I’ve never sat here. But service is definitely great!