Starbucks — Restaurant in Richmond

(Tried posting the review months ago but seems to have triggered a glitch. Kept telling me to “try again later” till edited out the arrow brackets. BTW if you put text in arrow brackets now, it deletes that text)

The service at this Starbucks location on Bridgeport is generally always good. Quick, friendly & customized accurately - however there are some exceptional staff that truly stand out. Notably my most recent visit on Apr 23 at 9:30 as also the same lady on Mar 19 around the same time is truly personable & friendly.

Admittedly the first time she prepared my order it was a reward order so it was pretty crazy. Sorry I’m Asian, I like to maximize my value albeit reasonably. As a customer, I do still hope businesses that add value to society like Starbucks makes a profit though as most people know the mark up on coffee & baked goods are pretty high. As an example, apparently Tim Hortons donuts cost 0.12 to produce and sold for 1.2; remember that time years ago when franchisees had a dispute with Timmies and they were afraid of their margins being revealed publicly? And their donut doesn’t even taste good. Tim’s service has gone incredibly down hill though & haven’t visited a Tim’s in almost a year. But every SB I’ve been to has always had exceptionally friendly staff, clean stores & consistent products. I’m a fan. I guess there’s truly a notable difference between franchises & corporate owned operations. Starbucks seems to care about their quality & brand. Tim’s ever since bought by RBI appears to be trying to squeeze every value out of it at the expense of their brand & legacy so their franchisees neither care to maintain the brand image & consistency imho. It’s hardly Canadian anymore. (Although, neither is Starbucks but Starbucks has great service & cleanliness. Don’t get me started about hygiene at Tim’s.) so, base on their margins & the fixed cost of labour… the added cogs probably wouldn’t make me a negative customer though I think I’m pushing the limits lol. I do buy a lot of their Starbucks mocha energy drinks though. (sorry, I just don’t drink coffee for lattes & fancy drinks but the convenience & practical benefits & nutrients.) Like I’m talking 7 espresso & 7 other customizations. Now some baristas would have balked at such an order - although most are actually great. I actually keep it as a concentrate & add hot water to it as an “instant coffee” of sorts. When I entered to pick up my order around closing time on March 19 or March 12, I was greeted personally with a thank you by name & a genuine smile & warm wishes. (I was there both days - both were pretty crazy reward orders. Don’t remember which day the personnel was.) You can change Aeroplan points to Starbucks stars. And Starbucks also has a lot of challenges that make it easy to accumulate stars. Overall the value proposition of Starbucks is very positive if you use it right. Lol. It’s good coffee & Starbucks is consistent & their coffee always keeps you more awake than any other coffee company. Or rather not just awake but productive. I also like that you can add chai & mocha sauce which I do for the health benefits. Their mocha sauce is like pure cocoa effectively which is filed with antioxidants. Chocolate is actually healthy for you imho. Whereas chai w/ the cinnamon powder & nutmeg & spice is likewise filled with other antioxidants and has neuro-protective benefits. Hence I like the option of adding chai & mocha to drinks. I do use it often as well as a mixer for other coffee since you can’t find their sauces in store.

Apparently the new initiative by Starbucks is to return to the local coffee shop vibe & personalization w/ a people connection, & this staff truly exemplify so. I didn’t catch her name unfortunately on both visit but she was warm, genuine & friendly. It’s notable. The second time I visited there was a nicely written “nice to see you again!” Smilie face which was a nice touch.

Exceptional barista & truly a gem for their new corporate initiative of returning to the third place model & personalization as a...

Ordered an iced green matcha OAT latte and received an iced green matcha MILK latte. Unfortunately,the label didn't indicate the type of milk, and off I went to Costco. Took a few sips and realized it was NOT my vegan drink. Had to go back and caught the girl who took my drive through order. She was polite and apologized. HOWEVER, the barrista gave her attitude when she explained the situation and was making nasty faces when she looked up to realize I had been watching her the entire time. She NEVER once even apologized. I've been vegan for 8 years, and this woman single handedly broke my streak. You would think they would've gone above and beyond. In Portland, at the very first Starbucks, they messed up on a black coffee order, and they were all so sweet, made us a new coffee, AND gifted us 2 gift cards AND sincerely apologized! Sad state of affairs for this popular Richmond location. Most likely, it won't return and will go out of my way to another location. Wish I asked for the barrista's name. I was there on August 15 around 4 pm and then again before 5 to correct my order. Any management reading this, please educate your staff on how to properly rectify...

Such a busy location, but convenient for many headed to or from the Airport.

Was in the store to grab my morning coffee on May 17th, and after ordering a Grande Iced Americano at the counter, I waited for 12-15 minutes with no sign of my drink being made. Out of time, I enquired at the counter and they could not find my drink the queue so with the comment that "this sometimes happens", they offered a refund and I went away coffee-less.

A quick follow-up with the store manager by phone (as was offered at my departure) wasn't productive in explaining the situation or really any offer to 'make it right'.

Now, I understand that mistakes happen, and as I said, it's a busy location. The thing about mistakes in this industry is that they require robust follow-up and in this case, the manager was not equipped to address the issue. He stumbled through a, "huh, that's strange" explanation and didn't really know what to do.

Anyhow, maybe that where things are at these days, but without being willing to totally lower my expectations for a nearly $5 simple coffee order, I'll...