Starbucks — Restaurant in Santa Clara

My family and I frequent the laundromat in this plaza. Today was the second occasion my 17 year old son, who happens to be Black American entered this store and was met with zero customer service. The first time after ordering food and a drink he was left standing within order being filled while countless other customers placed and received their orders. After more than 10 minutes he inquired about his order only to to told they would “ look into it”. Most recently today while doing laundry, he entered the Starbucks, used the restroom and ask for a cup of water. He was told by the supervisor that it was against the law to give water or allow anyone to use the restroom unless they made a purchase. When my son offered to purchase the cup of water, he was told that too was against the law. We spoke and recorded the supervisor who reiterated the exact same sentiment to me as wel. He stated that it was against store policy to sell a cup of water and that my son could have purchased a bottle of water. I explained to him that he spoke with never to sell him a bottle of water. Thankfully we’re not the type of family to spend our money in these type of establishments who employ substandard staff and fail at demonstrating basic...

I definitely will not return to this location. Of the six employees working today only one was making drinks, one on food, and the rest "cleaning & restocking". I ordered a single refresher, nothing special and nothing notable. It took 14 minutes from completing the purchase to actually get my drink. At around 10 minutes we asked how long it would take and were told that they do orders as they are placed- across all platforms and in person. When he communicated this he was snobby and clearly pissed that we interrupted the ever so important conversation he was having with his co-workers.

During our wait I noticed that the employees would stop working many times to have conversations with each other. Again this would be fine if there was not a long list of drinks to make, and if they would be pleasant when interrupted, and even had more than one person making drinks. I don't know if I would say it was understaffed, just poorly managed. When you have that many orders a focus should be placed on finishing the orders, not having conversations and filling and already mostly full espresso bean hopper. It should NEVER take 14 minutes for a...

This happened a few months ago, but the experience left such a bad impression that I still remember it clearly — and it actually made me turn away from this store again today.

I had placed a mobile order through the Starbucks app with a customized espresso drink I’ve ordered many times before at other locations. But when I came to pick it up, the barista told me the drink “didn’t make sense” and refused to make it. The way it was said felt dismissive and condescending, as if I had done something wrong. I didn’t argue — I just asked to cancel. But then I was told that because I used a reward, I had to contact customer service myself to get it refunded.

What upset me most wasn’t just the inconvenience, but the attitude — poor communication, no willingness to help, and zero accountability. Today, months later, I happened to walk by and thought about grabbing a coffee… and then remembered that experience and changed my mind.

With so many other Starbucks locations around, I’d recommend...