Starbucks — Restaurant in Santa Monica

New update on July 19th, 2025: Unfortunately I have to reduce my 5-star review down to a two star review. The reason for this is because of the new rule that Starbucks will no longer serve water unless you buy something. Technically, it's illegal in the state of California to deny anyone a glass of water. Starbucks gets away with this by saying the following:

"Unfortunately, we can only serve a complimentary glass of water with a purchase."

And they have to say it exactly like that. Otherwise, it's a violation of state law and they can be fined.

One of the reasons that corporate decided to go along with this new policy is because they said that they have given away free water for the last 20 years and will no longer do so. The other reason is because they don't want to attract the homeless into their stores anymore.

However, for the regular patrons who come here to this location almost every day, you can see that there are four or five homeless people who have been coming into this store every single day for the last 5 years who sit all day long with their phone and don't even buy anything.

Management, you have to speak up against against corporate for this nonsense about denying water to people. You are setting yourselves up for a lawsuit. One day some VIP is going to come in, get denied a glass of water, have a heat stroke, and their attorneys are going to file a lawsuit while KTLA Channel 5 covers the story.

Furthermore, you have to start elling the homeless that they can NOT sit there all day long or sit down at all without a purchase.

This is not a homeless shelter or an adult day care center. This is a place of business. While my motto is help the homeless....you are not helping them by enabling them. Customers are tired of the homeless coming in and taking over the chairs and the charging stations and sitting there all day.

Make a change...

I recently visited the Starbucks on Montana Ave in Santa Monica and I must say, I was thoroughly impressed. From the moment I walked in, I was greeted with a warm smile and friendly service from the barista.

The store was clean and well-maintained, with plenty of seating options for customers to choose from. The atmosphere was cozy and inviting, making it the perfect place to relax and enjoy a cup of coffee or catch up on some work.

As for the coffee itself, it was absolutely delicious. My latte was expertly crafted and tasted like a dream. I appreciate the attention to detail that Starbucks puts into their drinks and it really shows.

Overall, I had a fantastic experience at this Starbucks location and I highly recommend it to anyone in the area. The service, atmosphere, and coffee all exceeded my expectations and I will definitely be returning in the future. Five...

I have also had some disappointing experiences at this establishment. On several occasions, when I have placed a mobile order and arrived to collect it, one or two of the items I ordered have been charged to my card but are not available. This is quite frustrating and happens more often than not. They never seem to update their system, and I would prefer not to be offered a different item. If the items are not available, please update your system so that I do not waste my time. The level of inefficiency at some of these locations is truly astonishing. I would advise against contacting upper management, as they do not follow through on their promises. Some of the employees who used to work at 11th and Wilshire have transferred to this location, which makes it even worse and is the reason I stopped going to...