Starbucks

There are a lot of reasons to hate Starbucks, it being the exploitative corporate organization it is. Still, for consistency of quality of the coffee, the place is hard to beat. This location won for me in the spring, summer and fall because the outdoor seating area is one of the most pleasant of any Starbucks nearby. Lots of trees and bushes in a small outdoor courtyard, with awnings and large umbrellas over the tables protecting you from the sun. The staff is friendly (as they are at all Starbucks) and they let you sit there all day on your computer using their Internet for free.
Now to the review.
Having worked at a couple of dozen restaurants in my day I have a few major complaints to air. Whoever trained the staff here must be some kind of idiot. EVERY time I go to this café I have to clean off an outdoor table because NO ONE ever seems to clean them off! The tables are always sporting whatever was been spilled on them the previous day; the chairs and tables are covered with dust and dirt from the street traffic, which must have taken days to accumulate; trash is allowed to blow around on the patio and the area looks like no one has come out at all all day to clean even one table off. That’s pretty f***ed up. In fact I’ve never seen anything like it before. No one seems to EVER go out to clean off a table when a customer leaves, which is STANDARD restaurant procedure, right?
On very hot days in the summer, I’d like to go inside but the company keeps their air conditioning on so high that it is actually impossible to be comfortable inside there without a hooded sweatshirt. This supposedly oh-​so-​socially-​conscious corporation seems to be climate change deniers; WTF is the idea of keeping the stores so ridiculously cold? Many have theorized that it is because the company doesn’t want people to «loiter» on the property. If so, then WHY DO THEY OFFER FREE WIFI? Anyone who opens a café should understand that the whole concept of the café is to ENCOURAGE «loitering»; the French café society which Starbucks seems to be emulating was ENTIRELY BASED UPON «loitering»: people wrote f****ng entire BOOKS while «loitering» in cafes; entire branches of Philosophy were created by people «loitering» in European cafes! Only in the stupid USA would a corporation like Starbucks completely take over the café experience and then f**k it up by making it impossible for people to hang out there by spending thousands of dollars a year needlessly freezing customers out of the place in the middle of summer! And they do it in winter too! Unbelievable!
Also, the outdoor seating area at certain times of the summer is completely infested with little green aphids from the trees and bushes, and hordes of spiders spin their webs along the windows to catch the aphids. Starbucks’ staff seems oblivious to this; the critters fall on your head, on your computer, crawl into your clothes… can’t these morons see this? Could Starbucks spring for a can of bug spray per week to use to keep the critter count below the near-​horror-​movie infestation threshhold? The staff could spray a bit of it before they clean the tables in the morning before they open — WHAT A CONCEPT!
I’m so sick of being frozen out of Starbucks that I have stopped going there and started searching for local non-​corporate coffee shops that actually cater to their customers’ comfort. There’s a much nicer and cheaper coffee shop called «Glenview Grind» just about a quarter of a mile south of this one on Waukegan I’ve started to go to. The coffee is great, the food is better and cheaper, the place is clean and the staff is just as friendly. Bye, Bye, Glenview Starbucks!

For such a small store, I’m impressed at how fast and accurate the number of drinks the friendly young staff cranks out in the insane-​out-​the-​door morning line.

This is one of my fav Starbucks locations. The employees are always really nice and they crank out the drinks fast. My only complaint is that it is kind of small so when it gets crowded its kind of awkward when you’re basically shoulder to shoulder w everyone.

Ok restroom is filthy. Also it’s 10 degrees out and it’s blowing cold air in here! I chose this place to meet a client and get some work done and we have to leave because we are cold even with coats on. C’mon.

Starbucks … well, if you like overly strong coffee (even Blond) then fine. Frankly, there are so many Starbucks they’ve become a cliché. I’d rather go for a local, neighborhood coffee joint where there’s a bit of atmosphere and coffee is priced the same as caviar. Besides, if I want to eat and enjoy a cup of coffee, Starbucks is not the place to go; their food offerings are limited and mediocre at best. I rated Starbucks as pricey for what you get … a brand name and over-​priced offerings. While Dunkin Doughnuts is the MacDonalds of coffee/​doughnut shops, it still has on of the better coffees on the market. Across the street from this Starbucks. Yes, I know, it’s not an aficianado’s place, but for just a good cup of coffee … well?!

Disappointed.
I stopped by Starbucks on a Friday afternoon for an afternoon pick me up. Went to the restroom to wash my hands, but found it dirty and no paper products available. I ordered a dark roast, which wasn’t available immediately, but the Barista offered a pour-​over. I obliged, but after leaving, found it to be not hot.
I’ve been to this location a few times and just haven’t found it to be particularly welcoming or a place I’d want to come back to. This’ll probably be my last visit for a while.

Really unpleasant experience! Running AC at really low temperature when outside was like 50 degrees.

Love this itty bitty Starbucks. The staff is always friendly and they’re fast. Be careful what time you show up cause there may be a line. Try the shakers perfect summer drink.

Clean, friendly, fast.

Overall, super friendly staff makes this one of the best stores in the area.
The seating area has three small 2-​top tables, one 4-​top table, bar seating, three bar height tables and a community table. My only complaint is the heating situation… it gets freezing cold in there sometimes!

Why does it take two people to take care of one over demanding customer? I feel bad for the employees and of couse I was delayed as a result! Coffee is great! Love Starbucks!

I love this Starbucks. Every person who works there is incredibly friendly and the drinks are always made perfectly. I’ve never had a bad experience or drink here and go out of my way just to get my fancy coffee drinks from this location.

The staff here is incredibly friendly. (When our internet went out for three weeks due to a slacker room mate «forgetting» to pay the bill) the Starbucks staff, let me use their internet for free, and then remembered me later, and asked if I found a new place to live yet! The drinks they make always come out perfect!

This is by far the BEST starbucks out of all of them. Once the employees get to know you, they start making your drink the minute you walk in. My dad goes there about 3 – 4 times a day to get his iced tea and they have seen me walk in there with him a few times so they know me as well. Now when i go in there to get a drink once in a while, they put it on my dads bill! They are so helpful when it comes to drinks and since they know our whole family we always have a little conversation about how things are going. They are also so energetic and funny, a great way to start the day!

OK Everyone on the planet knows Starbucks and what they offer. You love it or you hate it, I personally love the drip coffee, not so much the frou-​frou drinks.
HOWEVER — I will never forgive this chain (and this particular location) for introducing me to the 9^th wonder of the world, which was the Chantico drinking chocolate. It was heaven and hell all in a 6oz cup. I am torn about whether it is a good thing it was discontinued or not. Do I miss it? Dear, lord yes. But considering this thing had 390 calories, 21 grams of fat and 51 carbs, it probably is a good thing this melted chocolate bar in a cup is no longer tempting me every time I walk in to get a coffee.
Man, it worked good when PMS’ing though.

We all know what Starbucks offers. I just want to send a shout-​out to this store — I went there recently on a quest to find espresso powder (don’t ask). They didn’t have any pre-​made, but the workers were so nice they offered to take some beans and grind them into a fine powder. Fixed me up with a generous bag, at a nominal cost, and wished me luck with my recipe (one even told me to come back and tell them how it turned out). One of the baristas, don’t know his name, seemed like an absolute stitch; another actually went around the counter and opened the door for me (I was pushing a stroller and there was an incline). Friendly people!