Starbucks | Gateway Umhlanga — Restaurant in KwaZulu-Natal

BASK. IN. THE. AMBIANCE. I really love my trips to Starbucks, especially since I get to customise my own beverages, and mix and match a lot of what goes in! Being someone who has to follow a strict low carb diet for health reasons (Atkins diet), I really appreciate that I can choose to exclude things from my drinks. However, this is NOT a constant. Usually I order the exact same drink: Iced coffee with crushed ice, sugar free vanilla syrup, no milk and whipped cream. Most of the time, I get a barista who's willing to understand that I can't add cow's milk to my beverages. The net carbs of whipped cream is not enough to kick me out of Ketosis, but the lactose in cow's milk is. I'm not a huge fan of Coconut milk or almond milk, so I've never tried substituting the cow's milk for these at Starbucks. As I've said, most of the time I've gotten baristas who understand that your drink is your preference, but I've also experienced some tell me "No, we can't make iced coffee without milk." And I've even been given an annoyed look once last year. I've said to them that I've done it before, but they've said that's not something they know how to do. It's a bit of a smack in the face as if to say, "Oh, you can't drink milk?Then get our almond milk, or don't buy anything at all." I do believe that as a company, they do their best to accommodate everyone, and honestly when I get those kind baristas who literally do their best to help, it's wonderful. But I'm not going to pretend I get this service all the time. I've had some Baristas sigh, roll their eyes, spell my name wrong and give me strange looks when I try to explain that I can have whipped cream but not milk. Well, jeez, I'm annoyed too Karen(I've never actually met a barista named Karen, bit I'm classifying all the ones I smiled at who gave me an impassive dead-eye stare in return as 'Karens'). I love this place, and when I can get my low carb beverages without a hassle, it's wonderful. But, I really wish this was something constant and not based on what the barista feels like doing on a certain day. Starbucks is not a cheap cup of coffee, you're paying for something customised, for the brand and feeling, you should at the very least walk out with something you enjoy, happy. ANYWAY,aside from this, I would definitely recommend Starbucks of you've never been there, the beverages are divine (Especially if you can have carbs and not swell up) and you can usually find something to suit every individual's needs. Extra points for paper straws instead of plastic! Maybe we can do something about the plastic cups too soon... Nudge nudge,wink wink And a big nod to Starbucks for having sanitizers at the door. A little note: Maybe have someone spray the sanitizers into the customer's hands instead of letting each person touch the nozzle of the bottle, I understand the hand will be sanitized after touching it but there are loads of people who may be uncomfortable with this. Don't get me wrong, I'm really happy that they're there in the first place! I'd recommend this coffee shop to anyone who likes soothing atmospheres, the lighting is quite romantic.Everything is very simple,not overly done; you'll see tables and chairs, cushioned seats around small glass coffee tables, definitely great for a date if you want to sit comfortably with someone, or to catch up with a friend, the upstairs is also great for a meeting but it's been closed when I've been there. I do know that extreme loudness of customers within Starbucks isn't permitted because it disturbs other customers, so if you want to take a breather and escape your daily anxieties, then having an Americano here is a really delicious idea. The tastes are unique, and all caffeine addicts can tell you that a cup of Starbucks is one of the best pick me ups. Please go grab yourself a beverage if you haven't already! P. S: I hope you get a great barista who caters to...

The coffee is fine and I love the Chai Frappuccino but everything is woefully overpriced compared to competitors. Also , stop asking customers for a tip! Last time I paid, the machine had the option to leave a tip. You must be mad to think I’m going to leave a tip at Starbucks! You guys are a multimillion rand company, pay your baristas a liveable wage! Also it’s ridiculous that Pumpkin Spice drinks are only available for such a limited time instead of being available all year long. The store is also in desperate need of a revamp. Some of the furniture is in pretty poor condition and not as clean as you’d expect. Service can be better too. I’ve noticed a significant drop in service levels since the old manager left. Staff are just too busy carrying on their own personal conversations. Also, I’ve been accosted too many times by beggars in the actual store and management has done nothing about it! That’s a major safety issue that needs addressing. I’ve never had this issue at The Pearls branch. Also, going cashless is utterly ridiculous. Not all customers want to use apps or cards to pay. Also the app itself is so problematic with too less benefits for the green level while those at gold level get too many benefits. Again, management does nothing about this complaint. Don’t even get me started on their discriminatory social media policies. They chose to work with rotten “influencers” instead of collaborating with paying customers who keeps them afloat. They just love to pick and play favourites on social media. Either repost everyones content or...

I went there about 9:30 am on a Wednesday (mid-week) morning, with my eight year old son in tow, and so it was nice and quiet in there. The lady who served me was helpful. I found the place to be clean, and it looked really nice. I ordered the Espresso Frappuccino, which was very weak and bland tasting, which is the reason for my four stars instead of five. I had the exact same coffee, the Espresso Frappuccino, in Starbucks, in Bali, just the week before, it tasted out of this world great. So a big THUMBS DOWN to Gateway Starbucks for a watered down version of what could and should be a lovely ice-cold coffee beverage. I probably should have complained, but it's tiring to complain. However, to redeem itself, I must say this: my son and I shared a slice of the chocolate mousse cake - it had layers of white and dark mousse and biscuity stuff, and it was DIVINE. This cake, which I expected to be average, took me by surprise with how good it was. So overall, the coffee I had, which is what Starbucks is meant to be famous for, was very "meh" but their cake was a little piece of...