Starbucks

When I lived in the neighborhood, this was my go to spot. The staff was friendly and super nice. Great place to curl up with a book on a Sunday afternoon.

I’m not a frequent visitor to Starbucks but I don’t mind this location when I’m in the mood for a drink. I came with my coupon for a free drink to celebrate my birthday. You can sign up online and they will mail you a card for a free drink with a 2 week window to use it.
It was a sunny day and I was craving a sweet drink. I was glad to see no line up (this location seems to be a lot quieter than the one 2 blocks west) and I asked the barista what drink would be like a frozen hot chocolate. I didn’t catch the name of the drink but it sounded good so I ordered it with soy milk. The only thing was, he should have asked what size I wanted instead of giving me the grande. I probably wouldn’t have been able to finish a venti though as it was a filling drink.
The barista who made my drink was friendly. I enjoyed my drink as it wasn’t too sweet but it had little pieces of what seems like chocolate bits. I found it was very filling as well and I wasn’t hungry for food after. I wish I got the name of the drink, but I’m sure next time I can ask the same question and likely get the same drink.

I’ve driven past this Starbucks many times and thought it looked like an interesting place. I’ve never stopped, but today I found myself downtown and thought I should stop in and have a look.
Overall I’d say it’s a pretty nice Starbucks, but it suffers from one fatal flaw as a work location (unless you live nearby) and that is the pay parking. I didn’t spend a lot of time driving around looking for free parking, because I don’t think it exists in this area. $ 3.00 an hour.
It’s great if you live or work nearby and have the parking taken care of or are using transit to get here. Otherwise, if you’re driving, forget it, unless have a meeting set up here. Work for a few hours and it’s going to cost you, not to mention the inconvenience of having to go plug the meter. It’s at the bottom of an apartment building, so I’m sure the residents know this location well.
Busyness — There are a lot of apartments around here so I expect this place is pretty busy in the morning. I wouldn’t mind a Starbucks near my house.
Noisiness — For being pretty steady, it hasn’t been too bad for a Friday afternoon. It’s winter now, so I don’t know what kind of crazy person would order an iced drink to get those blenders going. But, it is Canada.
Ambience — This isn’t your usual boxy Starbucks. It clips off the bottom corner of the building so it has an unusual layout. The windows seem to line about half of the walls, so it’s quite bright inside, with high ceilings.
Power — I didn’t really see many outlets at the tables, so you may have a problem unless your laptop is miserly with the power.
Free wifi — Available and works well.
Staff — Friendly and efficient, as usual.
Seating — There are 21 seats here, with one large table to work at. If you’re into relaxing in an easy chair, there are four of them tucked away in the corner and there’s an electrical outlet there. Perfect place for a power meeting or power nap. The rest of the tables are the square type with two chairs each. I like them much better than the useless round café style tables.
Security — It’s a nice neighbourhood, but if you’ve read my other reviews you’ll know I’m just paranoid about that kind of stuff.

I went in here this morning and I was already running late. There were 7 people in line in front of me so I felt pretty nervous. Ahh, I needed my coffee so I sucked it up and waited in line.
The line moved quickly and soon I ordered my favourite beverage: a skinny vanilla latte (and a tea latte for my boyfriend).
As the barista was finishing up the drinks in front of mine, the woman in front of me spilled her drink everywhere and it held up the line. The barista was really friendly about it, told her not to apologize over and over again and she quickly cleaned it up and continued on with her drinks.
I really liked this location: It had the speediness of downtown cafes but the friendliness of a neighbourhood coffee shop!