Starbucks — Restaurant in Santa Monica

Just had another stellar Starbucks experience.

My son saw a sign for a “brownie” and asked for it, so I ordered one. Only later did we discover he actually wanted the coffee cake—which had been mislabeled. Brownie and coffee cake signs were swapped. You’d think that after working there a while, someone might figure out where a sign goes. But hey, maybe expecting accuracy is asking too much.

I also ordered a decaf drink and repeated it, just to be safe (because, yes, they’ve messed it up before). That’s when Vanessa, stepped into her starring role: disinterested, mildly irritated, and radiating that special “please don’t speak to me” energy. Still, I left a tip—because somehow, I’m still trying to be polite.

When my son realized he got the wrong pastry, I calmly pointed out the sign mistake. Vanessa, without even bothering to look up—because she was picking at her nails, of course—responded with a bored, “So… what do you want?” An absolute masterclass in hospitality.

I asked her name and whether she was the manager, while my son panicked, terrified we’d now be labeled “Karens” for the audacity of asking for what we actually ordered and manager word. She even threw in a sarcastic comment to match—something about how “this is where the Karen story starts,” as if pointing out a mistake means I’m a meme instead of a paying customer.

And then, of course, the cherry on top: giggling behind the counter. Because yes—customers asking for the correct item is hilarious.

But the real encore came after I finally got the right pastry. One of the young guys behind the counter looked at me and asked, “What are you waiting for Miss?” Well, my drink. You know—the one I also ordered? Apparently, they’re quick with sarcasm but not so much with actually making drinks.

Maybe this is all normal in the Starbucks universe. I’m not a regular, so I can’t say if the “we’re good at everything except service” vibe is part of the training or just an in-store tradition. Either way, it’s impressive how confidently they deliver it.

At this point, I honestly welcome the robot barista takeover. At least a machine wouldn’t be grooming its nails mid-sentence or turning a simple correction into...

As of April 21st 2025 I have to edit my review from five stars to three for the following reasons:

I cannot support any company that refuses water without a purchase. It is illegal to charge for water in the state of California so the way around the law and the health department is to tell customers that they must make a purchase to receive a complimentary water. I cannot support this and although this was a corporate decision, it still falls onto the shoulders of the independent Starbucks. I will no longer be able to do business with Starbucks until free water is reinstated. If this is an issue about money then Starbucks can use the tiny cups that every other restaurant uses whenever they give free water to their customers. This issue with the water is certainly going to lead Starbucks into a lawsuit or some really bad publicity.

Furthermore, these new cheap lids are a disaster. They do not hold the coffee very well and I end up spilling coffee every single time. Get rid of these lids and bring the other ones back because these are cheap, they do not hold in hot coffee very well, and they pose a serious risk of another hot coffee spill on customers.

I do not want to hear about environmental issues, especially when Starbucks outsources everything to China and many of their cups are made by children.

My current rating is no reflection on any of the staff or the performance of the store itself. It is because of the corporate decisions.

Thursday January 16th 2025

I came into the store to see how it has changed and I was delighted to see that the tables and chairs are back for customers to enjoy their food and beverages.

It looks like this Starbucks is back!

I like to give a special shout-out to Miles, Justice, and Valerie for their years of service to the store and making a positive impact.

This particular Starbucks is very special to me. It's one of the first Starbucks that I started going to when I moved to LA. There's a lot of history here and a lot of great memories.

Just glad to see that this store is back and...

It's a nice spot, small but it has all the compnents that starbucks has, but it's not a place where you can hang in when you want to meet someone for a meeting, because there is a security on the parking lot timing your 1 hour limit. It's very small and the setting of the furnitures are extremely akward and inconvenient, it seems like it was not meant to be liked by humans. This place is near small businesses and a High School, considering where it is, it doesnt make sense it doesn't reflect the type of environment and type of people. It would not be where a High Scool student would want to hang with their friends. Service at this place is a hit and miss, they do forget orders, specially when you are the only person in the store for a good 15 minutes....and also when there is a line, you are the last person and had been waiting for 10 minutes, and they decide you are the one to wait a bit more until they finish all the drinks until they take your order. They will forget you are there, and would forget your order and that you ordered. And the order would be wrong and incomplete. It's a...