Wow, I went into this place last saturday (4/11) and I was amazed at how rude the barista was. I spend a lot of time in coffee shops so I know that surly is the norm for baristas (although I have never understood what they have to be so cocky about; I mean making coffee at 30 isn't amazing anyone). However, this guy was just a dushbag through and through.
I asked for an espresso macchiato and he served me a cappuchino (it was in a cappuccino cup and it was roughly 1/3 milk, 1/3 foam, 1/3 espresso). I politely asked him if they maked their espresso differently at Saint Mark's and he just walked away from me. I waited for him to come back because my girlfriend still needed to pay and I asked him what the difference was between my drink and a cappuccino and he responded without looking me in the eyes, ""more foam"". He clearly hadn't made me a latte macchiato so I said that's odd because the portions seem to be roughly what is called for in a cappuccino and this is a cappuccino cup. And he finally stared at me and yoller, ""this ain't a starbucks, man!"" Yeah, well, no sh!t dushbag, but that is why you should know what an espresso macchiato is. My actual response was ""My understanding of a traditional macchiato is that it is an espresso with a dollop of foam or if you want it seattle-style they will pour a bit of foam into it; either way, it should be a tiny bit of foam."" He just smirked and said, ""on what planet man?""
I later asked for his name and he said ""ned"" but when I called to talk to the manager, another barista said his name was michael (tall, skinny douche with a pony tail). So the douchbag was too much of a b to even give me his name.
Bottom line: the guy didn't know his espresso and was a rude douche. Plus, even if I was some naive coffee shop customer, you think a barista could take a few seconds to explain their understanding of the difference and make sure the customer is getting what they ask for. I don't need to be yelled at by some loser barista who doesn't know the difference between a cappuccino and a macchiato. To make it all worse, the espresso pull wasn't any good.
Cons: terrible service, starbucks understanding of coffee
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