Starbucks - Kanata

I was shocked when the girl at the restaurant turned me away at 6:10 in the morning, despite the fact that they have always opened promptly at 6 am. She informed me that they were still closed and told me to leave. It was a confusing and disappointing experience.

Not much surprise here: if you like Starbucks, this location is fine. The coffee is good, the drinks are good, and they are branching out to making more food and snacks. Not a shocker, but if you like Starbucks, this is a location and it serves Starbucks products. I drink coffee, and while I find over the last several months their coffee has gone downhill, I'll still drink it and order it from here when I want a coffee.

Not that long ago, this was the best Starbucks in Kanata. Now there are no good Kanata Starbucks. The management must have changed at this location because the attitude is now the same as the other Kanata locations: old, stale and undrinkable coffee can still be served with a smile. And if they do have to replace an undrinkable cup of coffee, they will make you wait for 20 minutes instead of doing what the good locations do: make a fresh coffee by hand. I want to be clear that the staff at the cash can still be quite pleasant, but they have been given guidelines from their managers that are designed to save a few pennies and disappoint their customers. Surely if Tim Horton's can have a rule about keeping coffee fresh, Starbucks could do the same. But, somehow, this American icon has no standards regarding the freshness of brewed coffee. I have been told on more than one occasion that the brewed coffee has been sitting for hours before they served it to me. Yuck.

Pretty typical Starbucks. Don't expect the high volume and efficiency of a downtown location. The drive-through window is staffed better than the inside counter.

The staff at the drive-thru are incredibly welcoming, to the point where you may question for a moment if you're in the right place! But in a truly positive way. Every interaction at the window is sure to leave you either laughing or with a smile on your face!