Starbucks

I’m gonna lowball this… but I’m
Pretty sure I’ve had over a thousand Starbucks by now.
I would LOVE to give this Starbucks a good review. The people there are very nice. They smile when I get in and make conversation. Since I get from one to three Starbucks a DAY from four different places, most of the baristas recognize me.
Unfortunately, there’s a large turnover. Possibly Starbucks needs to do a little more to keep good employees?
This store gets busy. They ALWAYS pass over the hot drinks for the cold ones, I guess they make more money on those — again, that’s a Starbucks corporate thing, but it bites for customers who spend a lot of money and time developing relationships to get good service.
One week ago, I ordered my regular. I say it slowly, and clearly, and happily repeat it. Grande. Takeaway. Soy. Latte. Warm. Extra shot. I try and WATCH the barista write it, but sometimes they move fast. Maybe in the future I’ll slow the line down and ask to read the cup? In her haste, the woman writing it down wrote non-​fat — cow milk — instead of soy. This is a fairly large problem for me. I’m vegan, and pretty darn lactose intolerant at this point. So… just in time for a nearby park, I puked it. I had only had a few sips, but it was enough. I called to complain, and the girls who answered sounded bewildered.
Today, my husband ordered my regular again. I sent him a double spaced text, and since it got messed up the last time we were at this Starbucks, he assures me he ordered slowly and clearly. He popped out to where I was with our dogs, and took off. I took a sip, and thought it tasted extra sugary. Which is a problem. Not only because of the vegan — most sugar has bone char — and that’s disgusting thing — because I have been avoiding sugar in general and my body hates it. I know there is sugar in the soy, and it does cause a mild discomfort, but it’s bearable. Since many Starbucks worldwide carry different brands of soy… it would be hard to know the bone char situation. Maybe Starbucks Corporate can look into that? So after a couple of more sips, I realized that they had made me sugared soy milk with no espresso. I was super lucky this time to make it home to the bathroom before puking.
About five months ago, I stopped drinking coffee, and therefore Starbucks. I started again after a month or so. After my second crappy experience… I guess I’ll make coffee at home from now on.
Goodbye Starbucks.

A little overpriced, but a nice location and handy after a busy day to relax with a coffee or tea at a clean coffee shop with nice décor. The staff can always answer my questions.
Would avoid the filter coffee though, yuk!

Of the various Starbucks in Kingston, this one is the favoured of mine and a colleague.
Good candy, good eye candy, good drinks, good service.
In fact, they do Strawberries And Cream perfectly, and faster than any other Starbucks I’ve been to.
If you’re after coffee or any other drink of theirs, and are near the centre of Kingston, go for the Bentalls Centre branch.
They can get busy at lunch, as is to be expected, but with seats outside (sometimes), by the service counter, and around the corner for sofas, there are quite a few seats to go around.