Caribou Coffee — Restaurant in Ellsworth

I was driving by today and was surprised to see they were open on Thanksgiving, so I pulled into the drive thru around 11:55 a.m. There was one car in front of me and I watched them have their order taken and get their coffee served out. I pulled up to the drive thru speaker to place my order, and they shut the lights/window off and didn't say anything to me as I pulled in. I thought something might be wrong so I drove up to the window, and there was no one there. No one came to talk to me to even tell me if they were closed, or explain the situation to me. I just wanted to buy a gift card for a friend, and I waited for a minute before seeing the "closed at noon sign" and driving away frustrated.

I understand closing early on a holiday, in fact I think it's the right thing to do. However, serving the person in the drive thru in front of me and then shutting everything off as I watch the person in front of me get coffee was pretty off-putting and rude, especially given that it was before their scheduled time to be closed. And then blatantly ignoring me as I wait by the window to see what was going on was also not the right way to handle the situation.

Again, I understand closing early or even being entirely closed on Thanksgiving. My issue is that if I pull into the drive thru at the same time as the person in front of me, before the time they were scheduled to close, you should serve both vehicles. Serving one and then ghosting the other is a really bad look for a business, regardless of the circumstances. I'm willing to give this place another shot, but I left feeling very frustrated today and I hope the situation would be handled differently if it happens again to someone else...

LOVE, LOVE, LOVE that we finally got a Caribou in Ellsworth! The staff are all so friendly and remember your usual each time you come in. They are also very good at making suggestions to what you may like if you would like to switch it up 😃 I highly recommend this location to all of you who are tired of driving so far for...

This Caribou is at one end of the local grocery store. It can be accessed from inside the store or via drive thru order & pickup. It was busy, but the wait time was short. I tried a new Holiday beverage & it was excellent. Employees were very courteous & friendly. I'll definately stop...