Starbucks — Restaurant in Columbus

First time in since the remodel! It definitely has more of the standard corporate-friendly white, beige, and grey tones in their walls and furniture now. They tossed most of the artwork and barista drink recommendations they had on the walls and cut down how much space the baristas have to work up front, which makes this location feel a LOT smaller than it used to be. The pastry case and ready-to-eat/display section is also super tiny and shoved into an awkward corner, which made selecting things to eat feel slightly claustrophobic.

The person at the register who took our order (missed their name, but they had a cool bridge piercing and said I reminded them of Garth from Wayne's World, which definitely made me smile) was incredibly sweet and eager to give a good experience! I cannot say the same for the majority of their crew.

We ordered two baked apples croissants, a double smoked bacon sandwich, a venti apple brown sugar oat milk frap, and a venti nondairy apple chai. I received one of the croissants and my venti apple chai after hearing my name. Off to a good start!

The problems came afterwards. My drink was made into a grande size, despite paying for a venti. Easy enough to fix, and a different barista (one with long, dark hair in a pony tail, no glasses/piercings, from my recollection) was quick to help out and the drink they remade tasted great!

But then, I got my sandwich.

I wish I had taken a picture, but the top bun was just COVERED in chocolate. As a barista myself, I'm assuming there was an order for a chocolate croissant before my food order was placed, and the leftover chocolate from the ends of the croissant just went from the tongs onto my sandwich. From there, I'm assuming the barista at the oven just couldn't be bothered to change it and sold me that one. And, honestly, I was already so anxious about having them fix the drink mess up from before, I just picked most of the top bun off and ate it slightly open faced style once all the chocolate was off.

We still hadn't received our other apple croissant, and I'm assuming a mobile order customers may have grabbed it by mistake or something. But I just let them know by saying, "Sorry, but I'm still just waiting on my second apple croissant." The cool cashier was quick to try and help, but a different barista with short hair with dyed tips and glasses chimes in with a, "Well, actually, you only got rung up for one of those," without even looking at the order through the machine, or asking to see my order tickets on my food and drinks.

I'm thankful that, as a barista, I could read it and clearly call it out, "No, actually, I have food items 2 and 3 out of 3. I still need food item 1." And THEN they chime back with a, "Oh, okay, we'll get that."

After such a good set up from the barista from the register, it was frustrating seeing the rest of their team just essentially not seem as passionate/interested in giving a good customer experience. Nobody could even bother to apologize. Hell, I ended up apologizing more because i felt like such an inconvenience to them. They couldn't even say goodbye or acknowledge us at all.

Well, if I'm that big of a bother, I won't be back to inconvenience...

It has gotten to the point where I only come to this Starbucks once or twice a year, tops, just to see if it has gotten any better.

TLDR; It hasn't gotten better.

The staff are friendly, but the store seems to prioritize drive through and online orders. Order in person, and be prepared to wait, and wait, and wait. Last time (about 6 or 8 months ago?), I waited 30 minutes and then another 5 because they got my order wrong.

Today, there were only a few walk-ins, seemingly few online orders, and it still took 15 minutes to get my drink. The staff made at least 10 or 15 drinks for drive through during that time (and a couple for online orders). Point is, they were not busy enough to have needed that much time to make one venti iced mocha.

Also, did they change the recipe or the coffee or something? My venti iced mocha with an extra shot of espresso looked like milk with maybe a half shot of coffee - the color was much closer to milk than to coffee. Last time, I had a grande iced mocha, and it was dark, not white.

I think maybe they forgot the mocha today, but the person insisted that it was a venti iced mocha. After waiting 15 minutes, I was running late and didn't have time to argue with them.

Finally - the taste was not good. They did something wrong. Maybe I'll try again in...

Visiting this location for two weeks straight...and it's an interesting locale. Standard Starbucks fare. Usual if somewhat impersonal service, although they clearly give preference to the drive-thru orders. Unfortunately, it rates only two stars for the quality of the location itself. It's just not a place you want to stay and enjoy. The counter areas are always dirty. Spilled milk, ice, coffee, water, food crumbs are about the counter and prep areas. The floor normally has used napkins, cup holders, food and such all over. There's no attempt to control the acustics in the sitting area, so you are bombarded by everyone's conversation along with whatever music the store is piping through the speakers. Everything echos. There's only four leather chairs...and if there's anyone camped out "working", they normally take up all the seats with their bag or backpack. Certainly not the stores fault, but they could separate the seating areas with end tables to discourage one or two people from occupying the only four comfortable seats in the place. And it seems almost every time, my drink will have spilled liquid running...