Starbucks — Restaurant in Alameda

Lots of space and nice outdoor seating area (2/5 green stars) There’s a lot of seating (including outdoor) but like most Starbucks these days there are no power outlets. Indoor and outdoor seating gets lots of sun exposure. Free parking all day in the parking lot. Music quality at Starbucks has gone downhill lately (lots of insipid EDM) and unfortunately they keep the volume really high in this store, so it’s oppressive at times.

I’m also giving Starbucks 2/5 “green stars” for social and environmental impact, based on the following pros and cons:

Pros: • Decent benefits for staff. In the US, employees are eligible for coverage of a bachelor’s degree. • Starbucks is committed to hiring 100,000 Opportunity Youth by 2020. • Starbucks announced a plan to hire 10,000 refugees in response to Trump’s proposed Muslim travel ban. • Diversity. E.g., Starbucks covers health insurance coverage for partners in lesbian and gay relationships.

Cons: • Starbucks haven’t published prices paid for green coffee since 2011. Indications are that their CAFE purchasing standards are inferior to fair trade or good direct trade practices. • Animal welfare: The Business Benchmark on Farm Animal Welfare gave Starbucks the second lowest ranking. • Food waste: All of the food in their pastry case is for display only – it will be thrown away after a few days. • Plastic waste 1: most of their food items are individually-wrapped in plastic (they are unwrapped and then served in...

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly:

Good...remodeled, nice furniture and floorplan although looks a bit bare. Also seem to have stopped catering to the undesirable crowd that created many dangerous and unpleasant situations for the other patrons.

Bad... They removed all electrical outlets. No place to plug in a laptop, tablet or cell phone.

Ugly... On my Christmas Day morning visit I asked for more half and half as the only pitcher on the bar was empty. The manager looked at it then refused saying there was plenty in it and she wasn't putting more out until that one was finished. At that point, feeling like a scolded child, I attempted to use what was remaining which was that last little splash (which went not only in my cup but all over my hand and the bar as well). Moral of the story...full or empty, where was the customer service? Trying to please a customer? By the way, she watched me and as soon as I poured it she brought out the new pitcher. The old one was literally still in my hand.

I'll never go back unless like today, the other coffee shop half a block...

Look, I’m not the kind of person to write reviews period or give bad reviews in general and I’m not trying to be a Karen because I understand the job of a minimum wage worker but I’ve gone to this Starbucks for years, I mean almost a decade and they have continuously failed to provide good service. First off almost all the customers are extremely rude I mean not just mildly rude like explicitly rude. There is only one worker who I can acknowledge to be truly amazing and they have honestly been a great server. But aside from that these workers will mess up your order and I don’t mean a small mistake I mean incorrect sizing completely different drinks and intentionally making petty mistakes and when you ask for a correction they get extremely upset and are so rude about it. I’ve never spoken up about most of these issues and usually move on with my day but I honestly just can’t do it anymore. To be honest I think they all hate their job and end up channeling that energy in their service. I swear I’ve never written a bad review in my life but this was...