Starbucks — Restaurant in Viera

Coming from a former Starbucks barista.. I think the rudeness coming from one of the employees at this store is unacceptable.

My mom, sister, and I went to the Starbucks on Stadium Parkway, which was the first store I worked at a couple of years ago, then continued to work at the store on Courtney in Merritt Island, Cocoa, Rockledge, and Wickham I-95, so I have had my fair share of experience and customer interactions in the fast food business. I ordered an iced sugar cookie almond milk latte, with 2% milk, and vanilla sweet cream foam; and my mom ordered a carmel ribbon crunch, which both drinks came out how they are expected to be made. My sister originally ordered a matcha latte with oat milk and one pump of honey blend at the box, and on the sticker it did say “latte” but miscommunication happens sometimes and it can be a little difficult to hear people which is understandable. My mom respectfully asked if they could possibly remake the drink as a matcha latte and not a regular latte with espresso shots. People would ask quite frequently for drinks to be remade after handing them off at window when I worked as a barista and as long as the customers were being respectful and nice about it, it was never an issue. To also clarify, there was not a line of cars wrapped around the drive thru and if that was the case I could understand it being frustrating and stressful to have to remake a drink. What I find unacceptable is them not remaking the drink as a matcha latte and just adding scoops of matcha powder into the regular latte with espresso shots, the powder was not even mixed into the drink. My sister had noticed this after we pulled out of the drive thru, so my mom went into the store and instead of asking them to remake it a third time without charge, she had completely paid for a new matcha latte, with oat milk, and one pump of the honey blend syrup. Then the lady at the drive thru, I did not catch her name or see it on her apron, but it was a middle-aged, Asian lady said to my mom in the rudest tone “What is wrong with your drink now?” I understand everyone has hard and stressful days, but I don’t think it’s okay to take out your frustrations on other people, especially customers who were not being rude to begin with. I was in complete shock and for the third or fourth time mentioning this word, think what happened today was completely unacceptable behavior and know for me personally I would never have treated someone rudely for them wanting their drink to be...

I’m writing this message as a long-time, loyal customer who is beyond frustrated, shocked, and genuinely concerned about what I witnessed at your location this past Friday around 9–9:30 AM.

My friends and I have been coming to this spot for years. We love the workers. We love the atmosphere. They handle the morning rush with grace, energy, and teamwork that’s honestly rare to see these days. We’ve always admired how well they manage the crowd—until this week, when it all came crashing down thanks to a single individual.

A man in a black polo shirt, who we later found out was the district manager, sat in the corner like a watchdog and micromanaged every single thing your hard-working employees were doing. During rush hour. The busiest time of the day. Instead of helping or supporting the team, he disrupted everything. His presence alone brought tension, but then he started interfering with every detail of operations, creating absolute chaos.

It was painful to watch.

You could literally see the stress on the employees’ faces. You could see the customers getting uncomfortable, turning around, and walking out. It was like watching someone who had no idea what they were doing try to play “boss” in the middle of a crisis—and only making things worse. The flow, the system, the teamwork your staff clearly worked hard to build? He shattered it in minutes.

Let me be absolutely clear: if this is the kind of leadership you have representing your company, you are headed toward a disaster. That man is not fit for the position. He’s unprofessional, unqualified, and from what we saw, downright toxic. If you care at all about your business, your customers, and—most importantly—your employees, you need to remove him before he drives this location into the ground.

Please, hear me out. I’ve run businesses for many years. I’ve seen what happens when people like him are given power: your best employees start quitting. Not because the job is hard or underpaid, but because of people like him who destroy morale and suffocate good work.

Don’t let that happen here. You’ve got a great team at this location. Please don’t let one misguided, power-hungry manager undo everything...

I’ve got multiple locations that are relatively the same distance from my home. This one is technically the farthest, but I go to this one every time. Which is far too often for my pocket book, but that’s not a review topic.

I worked at Starbucks for slightly under a decade. Instead of working at a place and never going again, my love for Starbucks is still there. As an ex partner going to Starbucks is always hit or miss, because there’s a part of you that is always watching and it’s easy to get frustrated when things don’t make sense or you see that they’re not following Starbucks standards.

Which is why I always wind up at this location. I know high leadership has changed in recent years and with that changes have been made to bring back the old feel of Starbucks. Your neighborhood coffee shop, where everybody knows if not your name, at least your drink.

This store has ALWAYS gone above and beyond. It’s much faster and more efficient than the other locations. The partners, including the floaters (or partners that work at multiple locations) really do bring back that old school feel that I just came up with.

Andrea, Morgan, Daniel, Brittany (just to name a few if I didn’t name yall you know I love you lol) are the perfect mixture of efficient and friendly. Coming in and seeing them and chatting for even a minute genuinely brings a smile to my day and of course, my days that start with lovely little notes (I know they do it for everyone, but I’m special ok?) on my cup are always better. It’s really interesting to be on the other side of the transaction and I hope that I can bring them a smile like my old regulars did for me.

This team is great and I know they’re running that floor with less people than is needed a LOT of the time (something that is a corporate thing not a store specific thing something to remember if you’re reviewing these) and they still have an amazing attitude and try to make sure you feel taken care of.

Top notch. From an ex partner to the current partners, you’re doing uncle...