Peet's Coffee — Restaurant in San Francisco

I have patronized this Peet's outpost several times. While it is conveniently located, and fare is standard (except for a delightful selection of uncommon snack foods, like wafer cookies, German chocolate, and baked veggie bits, plus stocks of the campus's premade lunches in the deli fridge), the service is haphazard at best, which is a dire problem for a chain.

In any chain, you should be able to walk into any instance and expect a bare minimum of quality of fare AND of service; it doesn't need to be tailored to every customer's whim and pleasure, but it needs to be CONSISTENT. If I wanted wildly variable quality, I would take a chance on a Mom-and-Pop shop or restaurant; at least then I would know that I could have the worst experience of my life OR the best. The power of the chain is not its quality; franchises are not for having the time of your life. Their power is consistency, reliability, omnipresence.

The baristas operating here are not consistent. They run the gamut of quality. Some are pleasant, responsive, knowledgeable, and efficient. I have no problems with them at all. On the other hand, you have some truly incompetent, rude, insistent, and lackadaisical baristas. I had one insist to me at length that there was no such thing as a "tea latte"--not that there was no menu item called that (annoying thing to insist, but understandable), but that such a thing literally did not exist (insane thing to say). Yet another refused to enumerate the tea selection when asked multiple times, just kept pointing at the boxes and claiming "not to know offhand", as though it's the customer's job to know what menu items are what, instead of the employee taking the order. More than one has insisted on repeatedly querying if you've been helped or if you're waiting on something, regardless of how you've answered. You could have told each and every one of them that you're not in need of help, and STILL one of them will find the time to get your attention to ask you the same question, like the customer can't be expected to get an employee's attention themselves if they need something. What, should I check the fridge behind the counter to see what milks they have in stock, too? Gee, maybe I'll make the coffee myself, too, and cut out the middle-man.

And, yes, these are simply the few memorably bad experiences, over the course of a couple years, with plenty of turnover, since the baristas are probably hired from the University student body (and I certainly don't recognize very many year-to-year). Yes, this is a lot of complaining over what are individually, by any standard, fairly trivial encounters. But it's not about any individual encounter. It's about a whole pattern of sloppy and incompetent work that makes an experience customer dread the idea of patronizing a place, especially if they order anything more complicated than a black drip coffee.

So, in summary, this particular Peet's is fine, so long as you don't expect decent service. Double-check your items before you...

They are convenient. That said, don’t expect them to care about the environment by supporting refills for a discount! Went here bought a coffee sat and drank it, then went up and asked for a refill and expected to get a discount just like every other coffee shop, and was told that they don’t do that here. Next time, I’ll opt for a new cup then.

In the interest of historical context, everywhere raised the prices on everything because of environmental concerns such that the cost raises would help combat global climate change by combating pollution caused by the creation of consumable products such as disposable cups.

So, what this location has done is take the good intention of hiked up prices and turned them into 100% profits, after the public has recognized the legitimate price hike to combat global climate change!!

Thanks A-holes!

Nothing worse than a company that puts its profits before everything and...

I like to go to this particular Peet's Coffee because of its convenient location. In addition, they have nice people that serve coffee and pastries. I do not feel unwelcomed when I make requests for a particular drink, which is a big plus considering other places may have baristas that are not understanding of special requests/customization. There are some seating right outside the shop, but most seatings are inside the...