Starbucks Coffee Company

I almost never leave reviews, but this experience was bad enough that people deserve a warning. I stopped at Starbucks - 704 England St on Christmas Eve, expecting what should have been one of the easiest orders imaginable: a couple of iced coffees. Nothing fancy. Nothing complicated. Just coffee with ice so it wouldn’t be hot. What followed was an absolute disaster. There were only two employees working, which is already a failure on management’s part for Christmas Eve. The store was busy, the line kept growing, and instead of urgency or organization, the employees were moving slowly, chatting, and more focused on standing around and looking pretty than actually getting orders right. At one point, instead of fixing the problem, one of them literally said something along the lines of “

I ordered a tea, and unfortunately the experience was very disappointing. The cup was leaking, and after going back to address the issue, I was given a regular plastic lid instead of a proper hot cup lid. Prior to that, the tea had already spilled all over my outfit, which was extremely frustrating. On top of that, the tea itself did not taste good. Overall, the order was messy, poorly handled, and not what I expect from a Starbucks location.

I just went in this morning to pick up my coffee before work, as soon as I went in there the young ladies in the line greeted me and were being very attentive and polite even though they were clearly hard at work during the morning rush. I was over 10 minutes late to pick up my coffee, but the coffee was still hot and very delicious. The line workers are very welcoming and hard working.

Loved both of my coffees we got here, our machiatto and their new pecan cortado, delicious! And the service is amazing. Got a cute note that made my day ❤️ also made sure to grab a Virginia coffee cup, I only have good memories from our familia vacation here.

The Ashland Starbucks is almost always extremely busy, and the recent change to their ordering format does not seem to have improved the flow. One of the biggest issues is that the second entrance is blocked by the neighboring Mexican restaurant. This creates a potential safety concern, as it can feel like a fire hazard when the parking lot is full and the line of cars extends into the lot. Often, there is no way to back out of parking spots or move until the line diminishes, which can be frustrating and stressful. I would recommend visiting a different Starbucks location if you have the option. While the employees at this location are consistently friendly and polite, the service tends to be slow. The combination of being rushed to place an order and then waiting a long time for your drin