Caribou Coffee — Restaurant in Detroit Lakes

Terrible. I love, Love, LOVE Caribou Coffee everywhere but here. I walked into Caribou Coffee in DL, MN this morning around 11:45 am. (The drive thru was packed.) I opened the door, I didnt even step inside the restaurant & turned around to leave; wall-to-wall people. I couldnt tell where the "Order Here" Line ended & the "Pick Up Here' Line began. I figured some sort of restaurant delays or maybe it was just too close to lunch time. I left for 1.5 hours & came back, similar issue. I chose to wait in the drive thru. Once it was my turn to order, I ordered an Iced Americano (large) with 1 pump of carmel & a splash of Almond milk. I asked about the Maple Waffle sandwich's cheese: "Is the sandwich pre-made or can you hold the cheese?" The barista (#1) said she doesnt notice the cheese & I'll be fine. I told her, "No, I'm lactose intolerant, I'll definitely notice." I didn't order the sandwich. I ordered a plain Everything Begal, toasted. She asked if I wanted cream cheese. I was a little irritated as I already stated I'm lactose intolerant, but said "No Thanks". I finished my order & there was about 3 vehicles infront of me. I drive up to the window 15 minutes later. The barista(#1) accepted my payment & gave me a straw. She asked me to hangout while I waited for my drink to be made. As I'm waiting, I see another barista(#2) make a large iced coffee beverage & pours milk (gal. jug w/blue cap) into the beverage not carmel. Puts a lid on the beverage & set it near the drive thru window. Continues to make another large iced coffee beverage & puts cream in that one. The original barista(#1) comes back & give me the beverage with the milk in it. I give it back to her & tell her I watched the other barista(#2) pour milk in it. She took the beverage from me & asked the barista(#2) making the coffee if she put milk in it. The maker shook her head & said no. Barista #1, stated that I saw Barista #2 making someone else's coffee but I didn't get that one. She gave me back the coffee. She expected me to pull away. I "hung out" for a bit longer & asked if my begal was coming? She seemed annoyed & walked away. I took a sip of the Americano that was made in front of me with milk & it tasted like milk... weird. She came back & gave me the begal. I drove away. I didnt even get out of DL before I had to pull into a public restroom. Like I said, I noticed. So many negative experiences in this 25 minutes to wait for a Large Americano w/ Almond Milk & Carmel. Excluding waiting 25 minutes for a coffee beverage & a begal that should never take this long. The rudeness alone is enough to give my business to another establishment. I work the public on the daily & dont believe in the phrase "the customer is always correct" but when I visibly see an error & tell you of the mistake do not tell me that I'm wrong. I'm not from DL. But my drive home took increasingly longer due to the error of milk being poured into my coffee. Thanks Caribou Coffee of...

The bou in Detroit lakes has had struggles the last year with staffing and losing their general manager this last summer but it seems like they're getting it together! When I go I'm met with cheerful attitudes to customers and coworkers. They genuinely seem to love their jobs and it shows in their work. My coffee is always perfect and the current staff are amazing!!!!!!!!!! I saw some reviews about cleanliness from last summer too and I just cannot stand for it. As a regular it breaks my heart people didn't see them trying their best with the current situation and making false assumptions about the cleanliness. It was always clean and always is clean when I go there. Last summer 2024 was a literal nightmare it seemed for them especially in the morning. Poor things could barely keep up with orders let alone taking the trash out that people overflowed and to top it off their machines kept breaking! And the bucket picture I saw I've asked one of them before about it when I saw them cleaning their bakery case glass with some. They have a separate chunk that they used to make it less streaky when cleaning the mirrors and used another separate stash for their case. I haven't seen them using them for a while though but it was always really clean after they did. I started using coffee filters to clean my mirror at home after they told me it and it works so well. I love my detroit lakes bou people and people really ought to give them a break before posting...

I am a big Caribou coffee fan and have the opportunity to visit many locations. I love their coffee, and in this case the coffee was equally fantastic.

Most all locations I would rate much higher, but this location is lacking. I was at the Detroit Lakes location twice in three days and spent about two hours there each day, and in both cases I had the exact same experience.

First, the staff Friday afternoon seemed uninterested and short. On Sunday morning the "older" staff - two women who appeared to be in their 60's(?) were rude and discourteous. No smiles, no hello, no your welcome, just an unhappy look and that beamed grumpiness!

Second, this place has flies. Not only were they buzzing me, but I noticed the same with other customers as well. It wasn't barn like, but I venture to say that there were 10-15 bouncing all around the store and customers. I even heard the older crabby staff taking about the flies as they were landing on their work stations.

Because they are 0-2, I will not visit this location when I'm in the area and would recommend that staff be offered "happy" training after you hang fly strips from...