Starbucks — Restaurant in Lakeland

I love Starbucks. I come from Washington state where there is literally one on every corner. Even worked for them for a short time. I know the expectation of thier partners in regards to customer service. This review is strictly to this location and not Starbucks in general. This location has been slowly going down hill over the past few months. Prior to the remodel. Went through drive thru tonight and ordered a venti shaken black tea lemonade with half the syrup. The drive thru worker seemed confused but took the order. I get my drink no issues. Leave for Publix. As entering Publix I take a drink of my tea and something doesn’t taste right. It’s been a while since I had one so I look at the label. It says “toffee nut syrup”. Ok. It’s ok. Mistakes happen. So I go back to the location and go inside this time. There are plenty of workers behind the counter. No one acknowledges me at all. I’ll wait as long as I need to but just acknowledge I’m there. Then finally after a few minutes a woman comes to help me. I tell her what happens and tells me their intercom is horrible and next time I need to tell them 3 pumps of cane sugar syrup. No sorry. No don’t worry we will take care of that. Just a simple you need to order better next time. It wasn’t that she informed me how I could prevent this in the future. It was the way she said it. And this is not the first time I have had this kind of experience with this partner. I will be avoiding this Starbucks location...

Just your average Starbucks but I have found that anytime there is a mistake with my order it’s always some random excuse. “The mic wasn’t working” “Oh we make this different now” “Oh sorry she/he is new”. Just say sorry and remake my drink that I overpayed for. (If you want to read a story, read on) Tip: If you have a drink with ice, you HAVE to ask for light ice unless you want a cup of ice and you want to take one sip and be done. Anyway, I ordered a tall iced passion tango tea with coconut milk and light ice. I look at my drink label after receiving my drink and read “Extra Ice”. Who the heck in their right mind would ask for extra ice in a Starbucks drink? Nobody, that’s who. First of all, when I was at the drive through, it even said “light ice” on the order screen. Second of all my drink was not even made correctly. The lady who took my order got all confused when I added coconut milk yet it’s the same thing as a pink drink which they make nearly 100 times a day. There was literally NO tea in my drink it was coconut milk. I went inside and gave them my cup of ice with a drip of coconut milk and I get an “oh yeah that’s not right” mmmk They remade it correctly that time. Also, if you ask for a shot of espresso in any drink, lower your expectations cause they are probably going to leave it out. It’s kind of like checking the mail box, sometimes you look and it’s there, and sometimes it’s not. But overall, if you really want something I’d recommend...

Update 12/9/2020: The staff do a good job with app orders and now that I'm used to the app, I think it works quite well. Staff are always welcoming but clearly quite busy.

I was going to order a premium coffee (misto), but the app reported the store was out of product to make my order. Ditto on a number of cold-brew and other specialty drinks on the menu. I ended up with a regular coffee (very good!).

This store is frustrating because it runs out of product. Today, I suspect it was almond milk. Also the egg white sous vide was unavailable. I've run into this a few times, more than I'd like, at this location.

That's on the manager. I'm sure there is sales predictor software that SB uses, so hopefully this won't be an issue going forward. Of course, sometimes suppliers don't come through, and some products can't be stored for long due to serve-by dates.

Previous review: Good, if pricey, coffee and snacks, espresso is not good, okay for mixing I guess. Doing a decent job with COVID precautions. Offers outdoor seating only along noisy S. Flat. Ave., but it's comfortable. Staff are nice. Some menu items on SB app are...