Starbucks have two locations after security at Manchester Airport Terminal 1, the Airside location is my favourite of the two. It's located closest to the gates, so you can even see planes out of the window.
I stopped here for coffee before my recent flight to Amsterdam, as you'd expect from an Airport location, the service was quick but the staff were also very friendly. I had an issue using my earned beverage reward on my Starbucks card to pay, the barista was apologetic and explained as they're a franchise location they are unable to accept rewards but you can still use the balance on a Starbucks card to pay.
Prices were a little higher than a normal Starbucks, again a bit annoying but it's an Airport and that's the general thing that Airports love to do.
There was a small selection of merch too including coffee to take home and mugs etc.
I managed to order an Iced Pumpkin Spice Latte despite it being December, with this being my favourite Starbucks drink I was surprised and delighted that they still had stock left! My drink was nice, I would have liked a little more of the pumpkin flavour and I did have to stir it, but still, I enjoyed my drink.
The seating area can get very busy, it's reasonably comfortable and clean but again you can tell it's mainly aimed at a grab-and-go environment to get a coffee to take on your flight.
Friendly and fast service at an Airport alone is worth a lot, combined with good quality drinks, this is a good Starbucks location. For improvements, it'd be great to add more comfortable seating for those who want to relax before a flight and accept Starbucks rewards for earned beverages rather than payment only. 4* read more