Starbucks

Step into my office, where the baristas know my name (and deliver excellent service btw), Facebook is my water cooler, and a thousand writers bang away at a thousand Macbooks among a few people taking naps and charging their phones while the old man dressed head to toe in oversized houndstooth tweed shuffles around asking people to buy him a coffee and usually gets what he wants but never smiles or says thank you and generally gives zero fucks but then the place is suddenly taken over by a gaggle of sweaty spinners from Rocket Cycle across the street all jamming in among the strollers that are more like space ships and the power suddenly goes out across all of St. Clair West and I fantasize that it’s the beginning of the zombie apocalypse and soon we will have to fight to the death for the last asiago pretzel.

This location is a-​ok by me. There’s a decent amount of seating, though its a little oddly broken up with the arm chairs in the middle of the room. On my handful of visits the service has been great, but best of all, there hasn’t been a big line.

Y’all know the drill with Starbucks. I don’t need to tell you what it will look like inside, or what they have on order. You could close your eyes, conjure «Starbucks» and you’d know the answer to all those questions.
What you don’t know is that the staff at this one is particularly friendly. As a mom currently on maternity leave, this was frequently a summer destination for me as I looked to escape the heat and the staff treated me (and my table-​knocking stroller) great every time. Once, I left my purse hanging on the back of my chair when I left and they swiped it away, locked it in the safe in the back and called me to notify me that they had it. They also replaced a drink immediately, just because I mentioned that I wasn’t crazy about the one I’d ordered.
Score for me being an annoying customer: 0
Score for the way they treat me: 10

This Starbucks isn’t as large or nice as the other one down Christie and Dupont, but it’s also in an old corner bank and does a steady business, even with Cocoalatte and Noir only steps away. While I consider those other two cafes superior, I get free soy with my Starbucks card so I find myself here more often then I would like.
The staff are friendly and have been hosting coffee sampling the past few weekends I’ve popped in. My favourite thing about Starbucks, other than the reliable quality of their drinks, is efficiency. I’m not here to hang out (Cocoalatte and Noir are better for that). I just want to grab my drink and go. Even when this place has a line, I’m in and out in less than 10mins, which I always appreciate.

when i get lost. (literally and metaphorically)
which unfortunately has been occurring and more and more of late, i take a deep breath, and remember two things.
1. scream bloody murder if anyone tries some shit
2. there’s always free wifi and hot chocolate at starbucks
per my second trip to toronto, i found myself wandering about, with no viable international phone, and no way to getting touch with my friend. thank goodness toronto has a starbucks in every corner. no seriously, you guys have a LOT of starbucks…
popped in, free wifi, connected with friend, and so happy to get out of the cold in december. there’s cold, and there’s TORONTO cold. workers were super friendly (as is the entire CANADIAN population… compared to the US. that’s another review), and i swear to god the hot chocolate is better here than back in the states. maybe an extra sprinkling of dark chocolate, a bit of love?
whatever the case, i’m coming back for all the rest of the starbucks in toronto. i’m going on tour, baby!

This Starbucks must be facing quite a tough completion from Noir just down the street.
I do like how the space in here. Quite a charming old time vibe with extra high ceiling and the tables are not too close to each other!
The line was long and moving quite slow though on this Sunday afternoon… and no empty tables…
Ended up having coffee too go…