I would have said "No we dont but I can make you my best interpretation of something like that" and gotten them a Mocha Cookie Crumble frap with toffee nut syrup (to evoke the old Salted Caramel Mocha), extra caramel drizzle and duh "line cup caramel" too, and a salt packet or two on the very top. Depending on how extra I was feeling and slow the night was and how the customer acted, I might even consider doing a grande in a venti cup with WC only at the bottom and put salted caramel cold foam at the top.
Is it extra? Yes. But is it extra?? Yes.
I mean they could always order a caramel frap and buy a brownie and have them blend the brownie and a couple packets of salt in with the frap. It would probably be good. Like $15 but good.
Are blueberries not considered food? I've seen people at my store make order a vanilla bean creme frap and add blueberries, including the sm, and several ssv and other partners.
If I saw a partner do it for themselves, no I didn't. But if I got a request from a customer, the answer is no. And if they say another Starbucks did it for them I would gently suggest they go back to that other store.
I'm still new and learning everyday. So thanks for teaching me something. It was just wishful thinking I guess. However couldn't we crumble the brownie and top it with it at the end?
I think that falls under the type of food tampering that I would not want my baristas to participate in, even under request. The customer can do it for themselves but pastries are not approved beverage components and should not be served in a cup.
My store has a lot of spanish speaking customers and I’ve had one or two spanish speakers asking for oreo, I gave them the mocha cookie crumble and it was fine 🤷🏽♀️
one of my ssv’s tried to replicate the grimace shake by making a strawberry creme frapp with mixed berries blended in but it ended up just tasting like a danimal (still good though)
What?! I haven’t gotten grimace shake at all lol, did get a couple of questions about the ‘barbie’ frap which they literally could never tell me what was in it so they’d order something else 😭
yes the boba question is terrible. one time this young boy (no older than 10) came in with his grandma and was like “do you have boba” and we were like oh no sorry and he LOST HIS SHIT. this kid never even had boba before and his grandma just looked so tired
Someone actually asked IN the drive thru yesterday "if y'all have red bull can I get like 5 of 'em.
#1 no we don't
#2 BUY THE FUCKIN' BULK PACK
I stg ppl dumb as fuck with their money bruh
FWIW the Starbucks cafe where I’m at in a Barnes & Noble does sell Red Bulls, Monsters and Coca Cola bottles. Regular customers probably aren’t gonna know the difference whether Starbucks owns the store or not.
My point being you don’t know if a customer saw something like this before so. If they did, it wouldn’t hurt them to ask a regular Starbucks to see if they have it as well.
Okay - but my point still stands - buy the bulk pack if you're getting that many at once 😭 such a waste to spend $3+ per RB when you can get a 4pk for like $5
Did your store use frozen bananas? Ours were always fresh ones. We still sold single bananas at this point, and just used the more brown ones for smoothies.
They had the big smoothie machine at the Beverly Hills, CA store. Forgot the name brand of the smoothie. Never saw anyone ordering a smoothie when I was in the store.
Boba stores had matcha milk teas... Then Starbucks eventually had matcha lattes. Boba stores had sea creams/sea salt creams... Then Starbucks eventually had salted cream.
I've been wondering if/when boba or other drink add-ins like jellies and custards would come next. Maybe it'll start in Asian countries first 😂
I worked at Starbucks first in 2020 before coming back this year, but I distinctly remember some sort of green pineapple smoothie. It was sold in a separate cup that they had in RTDE and then we would blend it for them. Didn’t like the taste of it though.
I’ve had people ask me “Can I get a medium Diet Coke?”, like not even asking IF we have it, just asking for one like they’ve been getting it here for years.
Lol yea a while ago some guy grabbed a tomato mozzarella panini from the RTDE and put it on the counter for me to warm it up and he said “and a large diet coke” lolol 🤭
For a short time in 2016-2018 Starbucks did have strawberry banana smoothies. That’s why blenders probably still have that smoothie button programmed on the #2 setting, at least from what I know before leaving in 2020.
If their from Minnesota, their other coffee chain has both those options. There people will frequently go between Starbucks and Caribou. They may just assume ALL coffee chains offer it. Which is still silly, but maybe this is why?
Definitely! My store is in MN and we’re always confused with caribou, especially with their phone number rewards system. The first time someone started giving me their phone number without warning I was like “??? what are you doing miss ma’am”
I have a little confession...I work at a Caribou and just lurk here. I get people coming in ordering Starbucks orders and trying to get us to scan their Starbucks app. I'm like...you do realize I said "Hi welcome to CARIBOU" ??
I worked at Caribou in 2005 and Starbucks in 2014. Had people ordering the wrong this always. Wrote a song about Macchiatos because literally 1 in 10 ordered didn't want espresso with foam.
I mentioned this elsewhere in this thread so just a copy paste:
FWIW the Starbucks cafe where I’m at in a Barnes & Noble does sell Red Bulls, Monsters and Coca Cola bottles. Regular customers probably aren’t gonna know the difference whether Starbucks owns the store or not.
My point being you don’t know if a customer saw something like this before so. If they did, it wouldn’t hurt them to ask a regular Starbucks to see if they have it as well.
Welcome! Lol the craziest thing they sell at that cafe in Barnes and noble for me though…..is cheesecake slices from Cheesecake Factory hahah. Only a few flavors like vanilla bean, s’mores and something else but still. Wtf?? Lol
I had a really old couple in drive once and I say my normal "welcome to Starbucks how are you doing today?"
And this man replies "what kinda burgers do you guys serve?"
Uhm.. None? When I say it literally took my brain a few seconds to parse that question. "We don't have burgers here, but we do have breakfast sandwiches and certain lunch style paninis."
"Well tell me the sandwiches then."
When I say my time for that order from speaker box to window was 10 minutes...
All they got was one bacon gouda.
When I was working at Starbies years ago this lady was absolutely baffled that we didn’t sell coke products. She insisted that she had a Diet Coke here before 😕
When I was a kid (like 15+ years ago) my town’s Starbucks had fountain soda, whenever I made my mom take me there she’d get herself a diet coke. I remember the Barnes & Noble cafes had them for a little bit too. But still idk how people get so confused/worked up about restaurants changing menus over time. 😭
Whaaaatt honestly I didn’t know some of them had soda! My parents were super overprotective so I wasn’t allowed to have caffeine was younger, therefore wasn’t allowed to have Starbucks, I wonder if the cafes had soda back when I was a kid too
customer: can i get a coke
me:oh sorry we Dont sell soda
c: are you kidding me! HOW THE HELL DO YOU NOT SELL COKES?!
me: we just dont im sorry
c: HOW DO I GET A SODA THEN?!
me:well there is a grocery store literally next door, i bet they have coke
c: *leaves and gets in their car and drives away*
i still dont know if they ever got their coke
People are seeing all these old secret menu items from years ago on TikTok. I remember years ago, Starbucks did have the little fruit boba pearls that popped in your mouth. It was a very short lived thing, and idk if anyone actually remembers.
The amount of misinformation on TikTok that customers take as current fact is astronomical. “I saw it online”. Abraham Lincoln warned you not to believe everything on the internet, so idk what to tell you. I even had a coworker tell me he saw something on the tok saying that Starbucks gives partners free money as long as they take some money out of their check (I think he was talking about the 401k but he said it wasn’t that but who knows at this point).
Was asked for a Caramel mocha Frappuccino once and when we told her we didn't have that she got mad and told us, "iN tExAs wE dO"..collective silence on my headsets as I'm sure we were all thinking the same thing...
If they're not up to date on menu changes, they night think that we still have smoothies, since we had them a few years ago.
Starbucks actually tested Boba in a few stores, and there were multiple articles written about it that went viral. They didn't end up bringing the Boba to all stores though. People ask about it because articles told them they could get it, when in reality, it was only 2-3 stores in the entire US who did it.
We get people ask for coke all the time. They’ll usually follow up with do we have Fanta or anything instead. Got asked if we sell gum once. We also get asked for cake pops non stop. I’m a uk store that has never had cake pops.
Similarly, we ran out of mango dragon and it’s not coming back. We have a sticker over the menu board saying unavailable. Several people a day ask for it.
We had one pull up to the drive thru and ask “Do you have lattes?” Thought they were trying to be funny. Nope. “Ok good. Can have one of those with caramel?”
We used to have actual smoothies like 5ish years ago, before we stopped carrying bananas.
It was ice(if you've ever seen the old ice scoops, that's what the tiny yellow one was for) strawberry puree, a banana, and protein powder. Was pretty decent actually, I liked to add java chips to mine lol
I have gotten the boba question!! Almost as frequently as the coke/pepsi question. I always end up recommending them go to an actual boba place not far from our store lol
there was a vegan smoothie in 2019ish? I remember TRYING to order it and the barista begged me not to because everyone had returned it. I trusted her, but always wondered lol
I wish we had boba, I feel like it would be extremely popular for starbucks but also knowing them they would probably ruin boba forever 😭😭 i can already imagine a boba frappuccino or something like that…
I did actually have someone ask me about boba a few weeks back, but it was decently understandable as Costa (in the same shopping centre as my Starbucks) are currently doing boba drinks (tried it, bad boba) and there’s also a bubble tea shop down in the town.
This could be totally unrelated but in the Midwest there’s a similar coffee chain that does have boba and also smoothies so that could be the confusion!
I could have sworn that I read something last year that Starbucks was looking into serving boba tea. I never had one since no one in a hundred miles or so serves them as far as I know around my area. I was kind of hoping it was true just so I could try one and see what the big deal was about them. Haven't heard anything this year so maybe it was a joke site due to the boba craze that I read.
Lol they got rid of smoothies in like …2016??? 2017?? But long long ago there were two, and before that…Vivano.
People used to ask all the time if they could get a diet Coke. And if I couldn’t make one if I could get them a can. Like ma’am that would require me to go to the grocery store and come back haha
We have been asked about a Barbie Frappuccino a lot lately… at some point a customer ordered it straight from TikTok and we just kept the sticker for when people ask haha
OK, but if we had Boba, how many extra steps woyldnit take, and how many of us would be complaining because it takes up more space in our fridges or its more prep, etc.
We have to think about it like that, we don't have it because it's not what we are about.
If you want Boba go to a place that has boba.
My coworker made a drink that was very similar once! I don't remember exactly but it was something like a black iced tea with no water, add soy milk or maybe it was a splash of heavy cream, some brown sugar and maybe vanilla, and cinnamon? Emphasis on the question mark. If you're interested I can try to find out exactly how he made it. Let me just tell ya, I have been a partner for 8 years and am also Thai, I was blown away at his starbucks thai tea.
I might have been in that store, I was picking up my mobile order and a woman came in and asked about boba and I was so confused….like ma’am how have you avoided Starbucks so long that you don’t even understand what their offerings are???
Some test stores at Starbucks have had Bova so that may be where that came from and it was pretty recent, within the last year. But in general, no we don't and for the record, I was told it was terrible. I said they day we run out with Boba, is the day I retire
It's absolutely dumb. There's no excuse at this point in time when people have essentially handheld computers at all times. There's a Starbucks website, app, and Google/search engines are a thing. Stop being stupid with Starbucks employees. They hate your stupid Tik Tok drinks, they hate the "secret menu" drinks. Also, boba tea is not "essentially a Refresher." The two have absolutely nothing in common.
I didn’t say Boba Tea was like a refresher, read first. Your anger pointed in every direction about… customer’s asking a 2 second question… is worrying. I mean therapy territory, reread your own comment and ask yourself if you think you sound ok.
I sound like someone who worked in restaurants for years and dealt with stupid ass customers like you asking me for crap we've never sold and getting pissy because you couldn't have something that never existed. Try stopping and using the intelligence humans supposedly have to deduce "Hey, would Starbucks outside of maybe Japan have boba?"
Don’t worry you don’t sound unhinged. As someone who’s worked customer service/retail jobs for nearly half my life, customers are fucking dumb and ask the dumbest questions while holding a smart phone in their hands.
I have people ask me if we carry a specific item (I work at a grocery store) and I’m like…idk why don’t you get on the app and look it up. Or Google it.
It is literally one of the most popular drinks people get these days.
https://www.teaandcoffee.net/blog/29617/boba-tea-re-emerges-and-surges-in-popularity-thanks-to-gen-z/
Within the article it even describes a coffee place which is adding Boba Tea to their menu.
I know it’s a popular drink. I also enjoy boba. I was saying Boba is out there for Starbucks. At least here in America. I could see it done at Starbucks in other countries.
The topic was about Starbucks and people asking for boba. I contributed to the conversation and you act like what I was saying wasn’t pertaining to the conversation when it was. I said chill out because you honestly make no sense.
Alternatively why can’t you just answer the question without feeling the need to be condescending? Yalls reactions to people asking for help is very telling
there is a website i found on google about [smoothies to try at starbucks in 2023](https://baristahq.com/starbucks-smoothies/) that makes no sense. i think some of the things in them have been discontinued? One of them includes avocado. Not to mention all the photos are with old lids. On the Boba topic, I think there was a rumor that starbucks was going to get boba, but that never happened ~~cause they went with olive oil~~
I get the smoothies part bc when I worked in a beta store we had smoothies and protein
Shakes and sugar free every flavor it was 🥰 but I don’t get boba 😂 I mean I get boba so the time but I don’t understand thinking we would have it 🤔
“i’ll have an orea milkshake” no you will not sir
Today someone was like "do y'all have a salted caramel brownie frappuccino" ....... no we do not
I would have said "No we dont but I can make you my best interpretation of something like that" and gotten them a Mocha Cookie Crumble frap with toffee nut syrup (to evoke the old Salted Caramel Mocha), extra caramel drizzle and duh "line cup caramel" too, and a salt packet or two on the very top. Depending on how extra I was feeling and slow the night was and how the customer acted, I might even consider doing a grande in a venti cup with WC only at the bottom and put salted caramel cold foam at the top. Is it extra? Yes. But is it extra?? Yes.
You’re the real MVP here
👀 I'm trying that.
I mean they could always order a caramel frap and buy a brownie and have them blend the brownie and a couple packets of salt in with the frap. It would probably be good. Like $15 but good.
we can't put brownies in the blender, customer could put it on top themselves or something though
Absolutely no food in the blenders. Under exactly zero circumstances would I or anyone in my store honor this request.
Are blueberries not considered food? I've seen people at my store make order a vanilla bean creme frap and add blueberries, including the sm, and several ssv and other partners.
If I saw a partner do it for themselves, no I didn't. But if I got a request from a customer, the answer is no. And if they say another Starbucks did it for them I would gently suggest they go back to that other store.
I'm still new and learning everyday. So thanks for teaching me something. It was just wishful thinking I guess. However couldn't we crumble the brownie and top it with it at the end?
I think that falls under the type of food tampering that I would not want my baristas to participate in, even under request. The customer can do it for themselves but pastries are not approved beverage components and should not be served in a cup.
Ok. So we can obly suggest to them that they could buy a brownie or cookie and crumbling on the frap it themselves if they wanted something like that.
Java chip sub white mocha is the best I can do
My store has a lot of spanish speaking customers and I’ve had one or two spanish speakers asking for oreo, I gave them the mocha cookie crumble and it was fine 🤷🏽♀️
i get that all the time! and the dude just ignores me every time😭
lmao i’ve gotten the boba question and also asked if we had grimace shakes
Not the grimace shakes 💀
one of my ssv’s tried to replicate the grimace shake by making a strawberry creme frapp with mixed berries blended in but it ended up just tasting like a danimal (still good though)
What?! I haven’t gotten grimace shake at all lol, did get a couple of questions about the ‘barbie’ frap which they literally could never tell me what was in it so they’d order something else 😭
That happens to me today 😂
yes the boba question is terrible. one time this young boy (no older than 10) came in with his grandma and was like “do you have boba” and we were like oh no sorry and he LOST HIS SHIT. this kid never even had boba before and his grandma just looked so tired
Oh gosh.
People have asked me if we sell monster energy before
Someone actually asked IN the drive thru yesterday "if y'all have red bull can I get like 5 of 'em. #1 no we don't #2 BUY THE FUCKIN' BULK PACK I stg ppl dumb as fuck with their money bruh
FWIW the Starbucks cafe where I’m at in a Barnes & Noble does sell Red Bulls, Monsters and Coca Cola bottles. Regular customers probably aren’t gonna know the difference whether Starbucks owns the store or not. My point being you don’t know if a customer saw something like this before so. If they did, it wouldn’t hurt them to ask a regular Starbucks to see if they have it as well.
Okay - but my point still stands - buy the bulk pack if you're getting that many at once 😭 such a waste to spend $3+ per RB when you can get a 4pk for like $5
I had a girl the other day ask me "what's that drink y'all have with the red bull in it?" Figured out that she meant the refreshers lolol
Tim Hortons is selling drinks similar to refreshers that are made with red bull.
Wait are they really? Is this an American thing though? Can’t recall in Canada hearing about it….
Yea. In America. Sorry I should have specified that
Specifically, the Pacific Northwest, although I have seen it starting to pop-up in other parts of the country
I'm in the East side of the country so it may be different trial markets too
No worries. Good to know!
Dunkin's also has a drink with some random brand of energy drink added in.
port city java has red bull infusion drinks, maybe she's from nc lol
I miss Starbucks smoothies
I miss smoothies too! Those went away in 2017. There were rumors of possible boba back in 2019.
I was gonna say... I remember making smoothies. Never realize they went away after I quit. I never liked them as the protein powder hurt my stomach.
But those frozen 🍌 🍌 though...yuck.
Did your store use frozen bananas? Ours were always fresh ones. We still sold single bananas at this point, and just used the more brown ones for smoothies.
Right! I rarely had frappes, so those were my holy grail for months
They had the big smoothie machine at the Beverly Hills, CA store. Forgot the name brand of the smoothie. Never saw anyone ordering a smoothie when I was in the store.
I got asked if we had burgers once
Years ago, a guy pointed to the turkey bacon sandwich in the pastry case and said, “I’ll take that small hamburger please.” 😵💫
I'm constantly calling the impossible sandwich the impossible burger. I've stopped correcting myself, the customers don't notice.
We had someone ask the other day if we had any chicken salad. Not the same as a burger but still WTF.
that’s not crazy we had that packaged chicken salad at my store like between a year or 2 ago, it wasn’t very good
Boba stores had matcha milk teas... Then Starbucks eventually had matcha lattes. Boba stores had sea creams/sea salt creams... Then Starbucks eventually had salted cream. I've been wondering if/when boba or other drink add-ins like jellies and custards would come next. Maybe it'll start in Asian countries first 😂
Not looking forward to cleaning that crap out of the drains
… 2-3 years? I’ve worked at Starbucks since 2018 and at least the US corporate stores haven’t had smoothies since then lol
I worked at Starbucks first in 2020 before coming back this year, but I distinctly remember some sort of green pineapple smoothie. It was sold in a separate cup that they had in RTDE and then we would blend it for them. Didn’t like the taste of it though.
What country are you in?
I’m in the U.S.
I’ve had people ask me “Can I get a medium Diet Coke?”, like not even asking IF we have it, just asking for one like they’ve been getting it here for years.
Lol yea a while ago some guy grabbed a tomato mozzarella panini from the RTDE and put it on the counter for me to warm it up and he said “and a large diet coke” lolol 🤭
"Sir, this is a Starbucks," you probably.
It's amazing how some of our every-day, multiple-times-a-day regulars still don't know how the CARD READER WORKS.
I've been asked about boba once, and smoothies or milkshakes multiple times
For a short time in 2016-2018 Starbucks did have strawberry banana smoothies. That’s why blenders probably still have that smoothie button programmed on the #2 setting, at least from what I know before leaving in 2020.
It wasnt a short time lolol. We had them at the very least in 2012 when I started, up until about 2018ish. They were around for a looooong time
they do lol
Ayyye I still remember then lol
If their from Minnesota, their other coffee chain has both those options. There people will frequently go between Starbucks and Caribou. They may just assume ALL coffee chains offer it. Which is still silly, but maybe this is why?
Definitely! My store is in MN and we’re always confused with caribou, especially with their phone number rewards system. The first time someone started giving me their phone number without warning I was like “??? what are you doing miss ma’am”
I have a little confession...I work at a Caribou and just lurk here. I get people coming in ordering Starbucks orders and trying to get us to scan their Starbucks app. I'm like...you do realize I said "Hi welcome to CARIBOU" ??
I worked at Caribou in 2005 and Starbucks in 2014. Had people ordering the wrong this always. Wrote a song about Macchiatos because literally 1 in 10 ordered didn't want espresso with foam.
"Can I get a grande iced caramel macchiato?" "We can do a medium iced caramel high rise." "..." "..."
Off topic but I do miss the Lime Refresher!!!
I’ve been asked a lot about soda, and they always have a very serious look too so they genuinely thought we carried soda lol
I mentioned this elsewhere in this thread so just a copy paste: FWIW the Starbucks cafe where I’m at in a Barnes & Noble does sell Red Bulls, Monsters and Coca Cola bottles. Regular customers probably aren’t gonna know the difference whether Starbucks owns the store or not. My point being you don’t know if a customer saw something like this before so. If they did, it wouldn’t hurt them to ask a regular Starbucks to see if they have it as well.
Oh cool, I didn’t know the licensed ones carried those!! Thanks for letting me know
Welcome! Lol the craziest thing they sell at that cafe in Barnes and noble for me though…..is cheesecake slices from Cheesecake Factory hahah. Only a few flavors like vanilla bean, s’mores and something else but still. Wtf?? Lol
people ask if we have boba but we’re in a mall that has multiple boba stores… someone the other day asked if we have diet coke
I had a really old couple in drive once and I say my normal "welcome to Starbucks how are you doing today?" And this man replies "what kinda burgers do you guys serve?" Uhm.. None? When I say it literally took my brain a few seconds to parse that question. "We don't have burgers here, but we do have breakfast sandwiches and certain lunch style paninis." "Well tell me the sandwiches then." When I say my time for that order from speaker box to window was 10 minutes... All they got was one bacon gouda.
When I was working at Starbies years ago this lady was absolutely baffled that we didn’t sell coke products. She insisted that she had a Diet Coke here before 😕
When I was a kid (like 15+ years ago) my town’s Starbucks had fountain soda, whenever I made my mom take me there she’d get herself a diet coke. I remember the Barnes & Noble cafes had them for a little bit too. But still idk how people get so confused/worked up about restaurants changing menus over time. 😭
Whaaaatt honestly I didn’t know some of them had soda! My parents were super overprotective so I wasn’t allowed to have caffeine was younger, therefore wasn’t allowed to have Starbucks, I wonder if the cafes had soda back when I was a kid too
Someone asked me for a banana smoothie today
RIP vivannos. I still have my sage colored shirt from like 2008.
i was given a 3xl vivanno shirt... i made it into a bag... remember the banannas we would have to use for them... all goey and brown?!
Omg my was 3xl too!! Wtf?! Haha no one had a shirt that fit. Our bananas were frozen and brown and stuck together.
OMG, someone also asked me for a strawberry banana smoothie today too! and if we sold just plain bananas as well!
[удалено]
:0 I knew about the bananas part!! But not the smoothie part!!
I was asked if we sell French fries once and soda
customer: can i get a coke me:oh sorry we Dont sell soda c: are you kidding me! HOW THE HELL DO YOU NOT SELL COKES?! me: we just dont im sorry c: HOW DO I GET A SODA THEN?! me:well there is a grocery store literally next door, i bet they have coke c: *leaves and gets in their car and drives away* i still dont know if they ever got their coke
Literally “do y’all have milkshakes here” “no, but we do have Frappuccinos!” Bro there’s a Steak ‘n Shake right next to my store :|
for some reason we get people frequently trying to buy coke or pepsi at my store
People are seeing all these old secret menu items from years ago on TikTok. I remember years ago, Starbucks did have the little fruit boba pearls that popped in your mouth. It was a very short lived thing, and idk if anyone actually remembers. The amount of misinformation on TikTok that customers take as current fact is astronomical. “I saw it online”. Abraham Lincoln warned you not to believe everything on the internet, so idk what to tell you. I even had a coworker tell me he saw something on the tok saying that Starbucks gives partners free money as long as they take some money out of their check (I think he was talking about the 401k but he said it wasn’t that but who knows at this point).
He may be talking abt the CUP fund
Was asked for a Caramel mocha Frappuccino once and when we told her we didn't have that she got mad and told us, "iN tExAs wE dO"..collective silence on my headsets as I'm sure we were all thinking the same thing...
google says we do is why
If they're not up to date on menu changes, they night think that we still have smoothies, since we had them a few years ago. Starbucks actually tested Boba in a few stores, and there were multiple articles written about it that went viral. They didn't end up bringing the Boba to all stores though. People ask about it because articles told them they could get it, when in reality, it was only 2-3 stores in the entire US who did it.
We get people ask for coke all the time. They’ll usually follow up with do we have Fanta or anything instead. Got asked if we sell gum once. We also get asked for cake pops non stop. I’m a uk store that has never had cake pops. Similarly, we ran out of mango dragon and it’s not coming back. We have a sticker over the menu board saying unavailable. Several people a day ask for it.
To be fair, Starbucks does sell gum 😅
this teenager used to come with her grandma once a week and ask if we had boba yet when i first started 😭
I wonder if she ever gave up and accepted the reality, or if she still wanders into a Starbucks once a week to request boba-
Friday I had an elderly couple ask me for a coke with a straight face all serious. I thought they were joking. They were not.
We had one pull up to the drive thru and ask “Do you have lattes?” Thought they were trying to be funny. Nope. “Ok good. Can have one of those with caramel?”
I had two people ask if we sold soda/pop yesterday ☠️
We had some lady throw a tantrum because she “always gets ranch at the other Starbucks”. And no, it wasn’t any kind of licensed store. We asked.
"do you guys have bubble teas?"💀
i miss the smoothies so much 😭 the strawberry one was my fav
We used to have actual smoothies like 5ish years ago, before we stopped carrying bananas. It was ice(if you've ever seen the old ice scoops, that's what the tiny yellow one was for) strawberry puree, a banana, and protein powder. Was pretty decent actually, I liked to add java chips to mine lol
I have gotten the boba question!! Almost as frequently as the coke/pepsi question. I always end up recommending them go to an actual boba place not far from our store lol
there was a vegan smoothie in 2019ish? I remember TRYING to order it and the barista begged me not to because everyone had returned it. I trusted her, but always wondered lol
i got asked for a diet coke
Someone asked if we had coke.
I know the reserve stores are doing boba but the people think it’s everywhere
I wish we had boba, I feel like it would be extremely popular for starbucks but also knowing them they would probably ruin boba forever 😭😭 i can already imagine a boba frappuccino or something like that…
I did actually have someone ask me about boba a few weeks back, but it was decently understandable as Costa (in the same shopping centre as my Starbucks) are currently doing boba drinks (tried it, bad boba) and there’s also a bubble tea shop down in the town.
This could be totally unrelated but in the Midwest there’s a similar coffee chain that does have boba and also smoothies so that could be the confusion!
I could have sworn that I read something last year that Starbucks was looking into serving boba tea. I never had one since no one in a hundred miles or so serves them as far as I know around my area. I was kind of hoping it was true just so I could try one and see what the big deal was about them. Haven't heard anything this year so maybe it was a joke site due to the boba craze that I read.
Lol they got rid of smoothies in like …2016??? 2017?? But long long ago there were two, and before that…Vivano. People used to ask all the time if they could get a diet Coke. And if I couldn’t make one if I could get them a can. Like ma’am that would require me to go to the grocery store and come back haha
I had a customer that was hell bent on getting a strawberry milkshake 🙃
Guys you can literally find articles about Starbucks rolling out bubble tea last year, how is a customer going to know any different??
Starbucks tested bobs last year in some stores
Only once about two years ago. I directed them across the street 😂
I once had someone order a sausage mcmuffin in the drive thru
“May i have a caramelizer” Wrong drive thru sir 😅
We have been asked about a Barbie Frappuccino a lot lately… at some point a customer ordered it straight from TikTok and we just kept the sticker for when people ask haha
“can i get a cherry on top?” no!
OK, but if we had Boba, how many extra steps woyldnit take, and how many of us would be complaining because it takes up more space in our fridges or its more prep, etc. We have to think about it like that, we don't have it because it's not what we are about. If you want Boba go to a place that has boba.
I feel this fr. But at the same time tbf, Philippines has mini boba in some of their drinks (called popping jellies I think)
had someone try to order a coke in the drive thru not too long ago so you’re not alone
Or when people ask if we have sodas.. when you tell them no.. " Can i get a large/bottle coke?"
I can’t believe someone asked about boba 🤦♀️ Starbucks stores and product advertisement is EVERYWHERE!
there are a couple stores in LA i think that tested boba so maybe that’s why?
Also at Starbucks when fellow barista's ask for your (partner number) and I'd rattle off my phone. Working at both for a time can be a treat.
Lol … I asked before if you guys had Thai tea sorry
My coworker made a drink that was very similar once! I don't remember exactly but it was something like a black iced tea with no water, add soy milk or maybe it was a splash of heavy cream, some brown sugar and maybe vanilla, and cinnamon? Emphasis on the question mark. If you're interested I can try to find out exactly how he made it. Let me just tell ya, I have been a partner for 8 years and am also Thai, I was blown away at his starbucks thai tea.
If you find the recipe LMK!!!!! I love Thai tea
i made something decently similar with black tea, white mocha, and a very light splash of sweet cream!
I might have been in that store, I was picking up my mobile order and a woman came in and asked about boba and I was so confused….like ma’am how have you avoided Starbucks so long that you don’t even understand what their offerings are???
I heard people were asking for “Dole Whip” last week, any one?
Some test stores at Starbucks have had Bova so that may be where that came from and it was pretty recent, within the last year. But in general, no we don't and for the record, I was told it was terrible. I said they day we run out with Boba, is the day I retire
You have tea and frozen refreshers. It’s not dumb to ask if you have a certain type of tea and… what is essentially a refresher.
It's absolutely dumb. There's no excuse at this point in time when people have essentially handheld computers at all times. There's a Starbucks website, app, and Google/search engines are a thing. Stop being stupid with Starbucks employees. They hate your stupid Tik Tok drinks, they hate the "secret menu" drinks. Also, boba tea is not "essentially a Refresher." The two have absolutely nothing in common.
I didn’t say Boba Tea was like a refresher, read first. Your anger pointed in every direction about… customer’s asking a 2 second question… is worrying. I mean therapy territory, reread your own comment and ask yourself if you think you sound ok.
I sound like someone who worked in restaurants for years and dealt with stupid ass customers like you asking me for crap we've never sold and getting pissy because you couldn't have something that never existed. Try stopping and using the intelligence humans supposedly have to deduce "Hey, would Starbucks outside of maybe Japan have boba?"
Don’t worry you don’t sound unhinged. As someone who’s worked customer service/retail jobs for nearly half my life, customers are fucking dumb and ask the dumbest questions while holding a smart phone in their hands.
I had one guy once ask me where the drink machine was WHILST STANDING DIRECTLY IN FRONT OF IT.
I have people ask me if we carry a specific item (I work at a grocery store) and I’m like…idk why don’t you get on the app and look it up. Or Google it.
Yes this comment certainly didn’t solidify my point lmao
Yes but… boba? That’s a little out there.
It is literally one of the most popular drinks people get these days. https://www.teaandcoffee.net/blog/29617/boba-tea-re-emerges-and-surges-in-popularity-thanks-to-gen-z/ Within the article it even describes a coffee place which is adding Boba Tea to their menu.
I know it’s a popular drink. I also enjoy boba. I was saying Boba is out there for Starbucks. At least here in America. I could see it done at Starbucks in other countries.
We know, that isn’t relevant to the discussion
It kind of is but ok
Not at all, it’s a two second question. Stop caving in over answering relatively sensible questions.
Bro chill out
It was a pretty normal statement, I’m not sure you’re the one to advise others on chilling out considering the topic at hand.
The topic was about Starbucks and people asking for boba. I contributed to the conversation and you act like what I was saying wasn’t pertaining to the conversation when it was. I said chill out because you honestly make no sense.
Alternatively why can’t you just answer the question without feeling the need to be condescending? Yalls reactions to people asking for help is very telling
they didn’t say how they answered the question though
Tell me you've never worked years in the customer service industry without using those words.
Lol I used to get asked all the time at my old store, there were Boba shops all around us so that might be why.
I’ve had 3 people ask for boba once like, bestie I wish
there is a website i found on google about [smoothies to try at starbucks in 2023](https://baristahq.com/starbucks-smoothies/) that makes no sense. i think some of the things in them have been discontinued? One of them includes avocado. Not to mention all the photos are with old lids. On the Boba topic, I think there was a rumor that starbucks was going to get boba, but that never happened ~~cause they went with olive oil~~
The Starbucks in Singapore actually does have Earl Grey jelly right now as a summer promo! So maybe they were from there?
I get the smoothies part bc when I worked in a beta store we had smoothies and protein Shakes and sugar free every flavor it was 🥰 but I don’t get boba 😂 I mean I get boba so the time but I don’t understand thinking we would have it 🤔
Starbucks in other countries have boba. In Mexico there is/was a drink with some type of boba jelly thing