Coffee is consistent below average, service is consistent good, warm and well trained. I like the berry chia very much, should be available 100% of the time tho

I had a little chit chat with MCSI Group after our FMU at Chef Jessie’s. This was a perfect place to wait for the traffic to subside. The seat at the corner wasn’t that cold, great if you don’t have your jacket with you. I think this is the first place I’ve been to that offers paper straws. It gets flimsy if you’re not to finish your drink immediately.

I like Starbucks (a lot), almost all of the time, the stores are clean, baristas are well trained, pleasant and friendly, service is superb like one time (not in this branch, the one in the old Podium if I remember correctly), one of my friends dropped her drink while heading to her seat (without even having 1 sip yet) and the barista offered to replace it without any questions.

But for this visit I couldn’t give a perfect score because:

1) The day of my visit was the start of the price increase (Oct 1) though they did have a free upsize promo (Oct 1-2) as a consolation.

2) My drink took longer than usual and since Starbucks’ counters are “open,” I could see that the still empty cup
labeled with my order had been sitting there for quite some time because the barista prioritized other drinks (even the person who ordered after me got his drink first). I guess it irked me because it’s an unusual experience for me in a Starbucks where everything is efficient and quick. The barista in charge was not even the least bit concerned even after I had followed-up and simply said something to the effect of “wait lang,” it was another barista who showed some sense of urgency and apologized.

I want to give this branch a rating of 3 based on this experience alone which is technically what I’m reviewing but I feel guilty that it would be unfair to the other baristas who were friendly and efficient. My point here I guess is even just 1 person in a team can truly make or break the team’s (or a company’s) reputation. That’s just my 2 cents. 😉

In other better news (!), I was also able to redeem my free birthday cake slice. I got the new Dulce De Leche cake and although it was a bit confusing with all the different elements of the cake from the chiffon, icing, thin chocolate layer, nuts, cookie-like crumbs to the caramel filling —- it was actually good! Definitely so much better than their dry 16k Truffle Chocolate Cake (₱195) I had last month. (Tip: Did you know that you can redeem this benefit from your Starbucks card, subject to the conditions of course, within 60 days from the date of your birthday? Now you do! So in case you’ve forgotten about it, check the date and you may still have time left to do so.)