Starbucks — Restaurant in Oshawa

Let me preface this review by saying until today I was for years a regular customer here at the Starbucks at Taunton and Wilson in north Oshawa but will come here no longer. Nor will I recommend anyone I know come here.

Several years ago this location was amongst one of the best places to go locally for a coffee and to socialize with friends. The manager here was named Carlos and he ran this place like a ship. The store was spotless and the staff were friendly always going out of their way to remember all the regular customers by name. They were also well trained and highly efficient at pumping out the drinks and moving the line along quickly.

Since Carlos has left this place began a sharp decline. For a long period of time the store was filthy dirty and long over due for a renovation. The floors were always filthy and there were food stains on the walls that were never cleaned despite many complaints that fell on deaf ears. The counters were always filthy and the furniture had food and other debris lodged in it for years.

The company started to use the store as a training store rotating in different staff on an almost monthly basis and under a new manager they never bothered to learn customers names and were often rude and ignored regular customers requests about the condition of the store. The drinks were always coming out incorrect and the staff would work slowly Often chatting amongst themselves despite lines of customers backed up out the door. At one point there was blood in the bathroom on the toilet bowl and seat that had been there for several weeks and was never cleaned. The bathrooms were frequently filthy and if cleaned at all they only received a light cleaning. The furniture was falling apart. The manager never seems to be around and often when you order they never have the most common items in stock for weeks in on end blaming upper management for ignoring the store. Deliveries are made during opening hours and using the front door.

Fast forward a month and finally the store has received a much needed renovation. Only it hasn’t gotten better. In fact it’s far worse.

It’s clear Starbucks has become an institution of corporate greed and doesn’t care about its customers. Most of all it’s regulars and it shows in the way the store was renovated and furnished.

The new furniture is completely spartan uncomfortable hard wood and virtually all the seating is communal. It is clearly designed to keep people from sitting and socializing and I would honestly say I have been in train terminals and airports and bus stations that were warmer and more welcoming then this place. In fact I’ve seen inside prison and it was nearly as comfortable as this newly renovated non customer focused Starbucks.

It’s embarrassing. A place that used to be a cornerstone in the community is now a cross between a McDonald’s and a preschool day care. In fact some paper easels and finger paints wouldn’t be out of place here. If you come be sure to bring a pillow for your bottom side.

Sorry Starbucks. You missed the boat on this one. I for one won’t be coming back and neither will many of the other regulars that used to really enjoy...

Picked up an iced coffee and a panini from here a few days ago and was surprised by the quality of the sandwich. As always the staff are nice and the person who took my order heated it up for me. It was a chimichurri chicken and red pepper jelly….

For me it ended up being just a chimichurri and jelly sauce sandwich for $10 as the chicken was inedible. In fact it was so disgusting after tasting the first couple pieces I had to pull all the chicken off and put it in the paper bag in came in as it had the texture of a rubber band. It was so far from quality but being that I just took a hot yoga glass and had a busy day ahead of me I reluctantly ate the sauce and bread.

Starbucks you guys are a huge conglomerate that need to do better. You sell ice coffees for $6 and sub par sandwiches for $10 and yet you can penny pinch on food quality. Things are more important than pretty packaging and I couldn’t help but feel if I had just picked up a breakfast sandwich and iced coffee from Tim hortons that morning I would have saved myself $10 and actually...

I don't go to Starbucks very often - I usually go to treat myself ever now and then, and I am never disappointed in the service. Today I went through the Drive-Thru and when the amazing women over the headset asked what I would like I told her "I'm having a rough day, anything to help" as I was saying that I chocked up and was slightly embarrassed - she knew just what to do and made me feel like I was talking to a friend. When I got to the window I went to pay, and she told me that it was on the house, her coworker made it, here's a cake pop, hope you like it and I started CRYING, they made my entire week. I understand that they are super busy, and during the pandemic people haven't been the nicest to really anybody and they were just making the best of it, while literally helping me make the best of the day. I truly hope they are informed about how much I appreciate them. I sadly don't recall their names but I'm sure they'll remember the sad ginger that cried in their drive-thru at 2:30pm on a...