Starbucks

It was very clean Starbucks.
The cream and sugar area was well kept and well stocked. In addition, the cashier was patient and friendly while I ordered my drinks.
Barista made it perfectly and rather faster than some other Starbucks locations.

First really cold Saturday afternoon in Oct., so obviously the place is busy, the coffee is good as usual, but the costumer service is HORRIBLE. The guy at the register didn’t greet me, took my order without looking at me, didn’t say thank you, and I had to take the receipt out of the machine myself, cause that’s what he expected me to do… He had already started taking the next order. I felt like a costumer in an assemble line. Nice, not! The baristas seemed bother by all the business coming their way… didn’t bother to smile either… Smile people! We are paying your salary!!!

Really dirty, I wanted to get a pastry but there is a whole bunch of flys and nats in the case. The guy making the drinks with the curly drinks has attitude and is not friendly and really unorganized while making drinks.

This is my favorite Starbucks spot. Very clean. Awesome staff. Fast. Polite. Nice seats to sit outside. Esp evening times, in Old Town Alexandria after shoppings and Old Town waterfront def hit this Starbucks!

How simple is it to cancel an order and re-​enter it because someone wants to get their free drink (gold card member, btw) but forgot to tell the cashier? And then your cashiers go «just pay for it». Pretty sure corporate wouldn’t be happy with this bad customer service. Wouldn’t be surprised if there’s new management within the year.

I like the staff that work on early morning in the weekend. A good morning coffee in the weekend for people that have to work. I think they did a OK job. Also, it is easy to park on the street.

It might just be my experience but, when I walked in no one greeted me or the guy behind me. The baristas just went on with their «business» and ignored us for about 2 minutes knowing we were there. Eye contact was made with every single employee there and still no one said anything. When the one barista finally made a move, she just stared at me and said «yea?»
“Hi, I’ll be right with you”
«Thank you for waiting, what can I get for you»
2 phrases that I wouldn’t mind if said to me when I was there.
NEVER coming to this location again.

This is really not as bad as people say. I hit this particular location just about everyday on the way to work. They team is usually on their «A game» and I love them all but some days things move a little slow or I notice attitudes and unhappy customers. Frankie is awesome. Get to know him. hes a big help in getting you in and out quickly ;-) Demitrious is great as well. Recommended them both.
If you do not want to wait in the long line either:
1. Come early enough so you have time to wait (allow 15 – 20)
2. Or walk down the street to the other Starbucks down by the waterfront. They almost never have a line. You will be in and out.
But this location is worth it if you have the time.

First time I’ve been to this location. Good service and pleasant employees.

I have been going to this Starbucks on and off for about 2 months… only out of convenience. At first, I was so happy to see this SBX because it was so close to work. I LOVE SBX but this is quite possibly the WORST Starbucks ever! It’s as if they bought the SBX signs out of the back of somone’s car and skipped all the necessary customer service training that makes SBX so fabulous. Every visit is just like the one before
At the counter, they ask for your order just like any other SBX. Sometimes they ask for it while you’re 5 or 6 people away from the cashier so you have to shout over the store music and talking customers, this can take 3 or 4 times before they fully hear your order THEN I love when they then ask for your name… people have names like Bob or Mary and they are asked to repeat their name over and over again. Other SBX locations’ staff will either walk down just on the other side of the case from you to take your order or come out from behind the counter to take your order as they walk down the line of people.
Another time there was a family just ahead me in line and two cashiers at the counter, the family had just given their order with one cashier so the other cashier called me over… in the time it took me to walk to the cashier, the first cashier asked for my cashier’s help getting the order together for the family. So without taking my order first he did!
Another time I went in and there were 4 or 5 employees behind the counter all talking while 2 or 3 of us were waiting for at least one of them to take our order… they were complaining about one of the other employees taking a break too long or something. This is very common occurance… the employees talking as if we (the customers) can’t hear them. It’s weird… I feel like I’m intruding on their private conversation.
One of the male employees never smiles while he’s taking a drink order… NEVER! He has a look like he hates everything and everyone and stares right through you. It was so distrubing I thought for sure after that visit I would not return again.
Now that’s just at the order counter… there are other issues at the barista counter:
While waiting for a drink to be made the barista needed a quick break and asked 3 employees if one of them could cover until he came back. NONE of them did. In the meantime, 10 and soon to be 15 of us were standing around waiting for our drinks. The barista comes back and with a shocked face said (to the other employees) he thought one of them were going to cover for him. You can tell by the looks on their faces and the shrugs that there was some kind of tension with the other employees and this barista like their were getting back at him for something, BUT AT THE CUSTOMERS EXPENSE? Again, they act as if we can’t hear or see what they’re doing.
Another visit, I waited for my drink at the barista counter and could see the barista making my drink, he puts the lid on and with hand still on lid proceeds to discuss his vacation time with the manager. One, I didn’t have time to wait any longer as I was on my way to work; and two, I didn’t care to have his hand linger on the lid for what seemed like an eternity for something that’s suppose to eventually touch my mouth. YUCK!
In the short time I have gone to this place, I have at least a zillion more stories to tell. The drinks are great, I’ve never had the food at this location but the customer service is terrible… not funny-​terrible where it can be slightly entertaining but it is terrible-​terrible. There are several local coffee houses nearby, they might be a bit more expensive but they are so worth it! Starbucks Corporate, please swoop in and save this store!

I had a good experience here, I drink regular coffee and that is what I got from a barista with a great attitude.

It’s Starbucks! XD
Not the greatest coffee, but I appreciate the consistency.

Here’s the thing about this Starbucks: no matter how bad the reviews might be (and how bad the store might be), they will always continue to get business and be PACKED as long as they’re open. Why? Because it’s on a busy street in the middle of Old Town, right next to the Alexandria Courthouse, surrounded by thousands of business people and tourists that need their coffee fix. So, they probably don’t pay attention to the ratings… oh well.
I won’t go into the taste because most people like it and that’s fine. That being said however, Starbucks coffee is not what I would call «specialty» coffee. They don’t really care about your drink or whether you like it once it’s out there on the table. As a customer, you are the end point of an assembly line and I think most people know that. At this Starbucks, the baristas are nice. My main qualms are the dirtiness and lack of staff. The trash was packed and there was spilled milk and sugar on every table. I know Starbucks has the money to hire a third person during the day, so why not do that so the drinks come out faster and someone can wipe down the tables every hour or so? Just a thought. As for the waiting time, sometimes I come in and there’s no wait; other times it can be ten minutes or more.
In the end, this place would still be packed every morning even if it got a hundred one-​star reviews, but it won’t because the people who work there are friendly and the people who go there need coffee. Go figure.

It’s ridiculous how much I go out of my way to avoid this location.
It’s hard to describe all the ways in which this place consistently fails, but service is the main issue, though some nice people do work here. It takes much longer than expected to get your drink. They throw away baked goods like 2 hours before closing. The tourist traffic does not help, and I understand the workers getting tired and absent-​minded and even unpleasant to a certain extent… but even with all that understanding, I’m still usually mostly disappointed when I leave. There have been some management and personnel changes over the years, and it may have gotten slightly better, but not better enough. Though I could get there in less than 10 minutes — walking, I’d much rather go anywhere else… even DC sometimes. But I like that it serves to remind me that there are so many better small, local businesses that I should be supporting instead. Misha’s, Killer ESP, Grape and Bean… etc etc.
The tourists can have this Starbucks all to themselves.

The Internet connection at this location is deplorable.
I should not have to spend 20+ minutes trying to connect.
Staff are usually great. And a Starbucks drink is a Starbucks drink. (Although, the new smoothies are gross).
This location needs to work on their Internet connection issues.

Very busy, almost always no seating and long wait times for drinks.

One of the coolest Starbucks I’ve ever been to. We really enjoyed it and the history of the building it’s in. Great service to.

Best Starbucks in Alexandria.
Staff is very knowledgable and friendly. It’s a very busy location so a line does form at busy times (8 – 9 weekday mornings). After only a few visits the staff learned my name and remembered my drink choice.
I think some of the reviews below have the wrong location. There is another location on King Street close to the waterfront. The Unilocal photos are actually from that location.

Worst Starbucks I’ve been to in the DC area. Slow service, mess up a lot of drinks, rude staff. It is made even compelling by the fact there is a great one just 5 blocks down on Union street. Trash overflows, the place gets dirty, it takes forever… just not a good experience going here usually.

A Starbucks is a Starbucks. It makes me kinda sad that they turned a historic building into one of these places though. It used to be the Old Seaport Inn. They even have the old sign over the mantle in the Starbucks.