My experience exactly. I’ve never end ordered using anything but SML, and every time I’ve been treated nicely without hesitation.
Don’t forget that if you tip, they have to sing a song for you. I waited until one employee went in the back and the other one had her back turned, and quickly slipped a dollar into the tip jar.
Back when Starbucks was “new” as a national thing, I used to get a snippy “Oh, you meant Grande” when I’d order using normal size indicators. I haven’t gone back much just because I’m happier with cheaper, less ‘premium’ coffee so maybe they’ve mellowed on that but it did help form an initial impression.
I don’t want to turn this into a tipping thread, but I’m not tipping at a place that pays employees regular wages and charges $8.00 for a scoop of ice cream. You can, literally, buy a gallon of Edy’s for that.
Yeah, I slipped them a buck because they were dealing masterfully with a group of obnoxious kids and snotty moms. Plus I think mine was less than that. I must’ve ordered the “this should really be a sample size” small.
(There’s a little place down the street from me that I’d call mom-n-pop except I think there’s only a ‘mom’ (grandma?), and she has a dozen flavors, plus smoothies, and sells a “single” scoop that’s got to at least be a half pint for just under $2. Love it.)
I’ve been drinking Starbucks since the mid-late '90s and never encountered that. That’s too bad you had a snippy employee- sounds obnoxious. Frankly I never can remember what name equals what size, so I gave up even trying to learn the names long ago. 
I really want to believe pregnant women are keeping the place in business. “Sid, the lady at Table Six needs a salmon burger with peanut butter and jalapeños, pronto.”
Went to a Sonic once. Just wanted a milkshake. It was a nice day and I was going to drink it outside.
So I parked off to the side. Didn’t want to take up a regular slot with the order board thing. Walked inside. Immediately got the “WTF are you doing here?” look.
Umm, I’d like a chocolate milkshake, please.
“Please go back to your car and order there.”
I’m not moving my car. Oh well.
I go back outside and stand at one of their boards. Take one look at it. Am I supposed to stand there to get my order??? Go back inside. I tell them again I just want a chocolate shake. They say fine, but I have to wait outside. I sit at an outside table. (So they they are okay with people sitting outside, they just have to be in their car first to order and get their food. Then they can get out?) Get my shake eventually, etc.
Good grief. What sort of fast food place doesn’t have a counter you can order at? And not everybody drives everywhere, etc.
Like I said, I went to a Sonic … once.
:smack: That’s what I meant. “Tall” is a standard size.
I’d’ve been confused by that, too. Is that really true or just a quirk of that Starbucks or worker? I’ve never even heard of iced green tea (and it really is odd that “iced” would be a default) but I don’t order tea at Starbucks.
There’s a dim sum restaurant in Manhattan’s Chinatown where you sit down, get a pencil and a card with all the menu items listed on it, and you make an x next to each item you want. Later, the marked up card doubles as your bill.
I’ve done the Katz’s Deli thing. Another aspect to it is the convention where you “pre-tip” the counter-person by slipping money into a cup to ensure that you get a pleasing cut of meat.
I don’t know why I find Panda Express so baffling, but I do. I simply cannot get over their calling chow mein (which isn’t, it’s lo mein, but whatever), brown rice or white rice a “Side”. Rice isn’t a side, motherfuckers. Egg rolls and wontons are sides. Rice is part of the main dish.
We’ve got at least one authentic Chinese or Thai place I order from at home that doesn’t include rice in the entree order; you’ve got to order it specifically. Problem is, I can never remember which one it is. It’s like a buck, so I don’t care about paying a buck for rice, but I’ve forgotten more than once that I need to do that, and when it’s delivery, it kinda sucks not to have remembered to order the rice.
They used to be snooty about it in the dark ages of Starbucks expansion into new markets, because it was a Thing that Set Them Apart as Gourmet Coffee. Then they got made fun of a lot by stand up comics and SNL, and they stopped being snooty.
Right?! I just readjusted Portillo’s to the category of “Stand Alone Food Court” in my head, and now I can deal. But it was super confusing the first time I went in. Why the fuck can’t they use a single ordering system that they can sort sales by owner at the end of the day? My grandmother can do that with colored price tags at a garage sale with her neighbors, for Christ’s sake.
It was intimidating the first time I tried eating at a Piada (“Italian street food” in the style of Chipotle). What goes into those bowls? What sides am I entitled to? Where do the drinks come from?
You can tell these sorts of places by the new customers who stand in front of the counter, jaws agape, trying to figure out the ordering system.
See, that’s the thing. I remember the early years of Starbucks in Chicago, and I remember the comedic skits, but even in those early years I don’t ever remember a Starbucks worker correcting me on my “medium” order. They might use “tall,” “grande,” and “venti” to other workers when repeating my order to them, but never the snooty "oh, you mean “grande” bit. The whole trope, or whatever it is, I’ve just never experienced and just chalked up as a comedic exaggeration. Maybe the Starbucks here are just more down to earth or something.
Yeah, I don’t remember it all. In the mid-late 90s was living in So California, then CT, plus a lot of traveling, and never encountered this affectation.
Yup, it’s worth it. Or you can just get table service and avoid the hassle but that’s tough during the big rush.
That sounds like the Dick Salomon method.
Could be. I was working in Frankfort when I stopped going to Starbucks because of one too many eye-rolls and, “You mean Venti…” sighs. It’s entirely possible that it was an asshole employee or a jerk of a manager who made them do it, but it really did happen with irritating regularity at that store.
You mean like how you can walk in there and simply order a large coffee, same as you would anywhere else? :rolleyes:
I like Cheeburger! When I order burgers at most other places, I need to make substitutions because they decided that the pineapple-topped burger should come with pepper-jack and onion straws, or some such nonsense. I prefer being able to pick exactly what I want on my burger and not have a waiter sigh at me and say they’ll check with the kitchen.
Besides, their onion rings are fantastic.
I’ve been to a few places like that. It’s not much different from a cafeteria setup where you fill your tray with stuff, except that the cashier doesn’t need to examine every item on the tray to decide what to charge you. Having the ticket (or plastic card, these days) makes the payment part easier. I agree it’s more of a pain than sitting your butt down and ordering off a menu, but I guess it’s just a different way.