My Favorite After-work Rejuvenation & Free-WiFi Chill-Time
SITREP
I LOVE this place and I make no bones about it. Now to be clear, I refer to this SPECIFIC Starbucks (@ 16th & P Streets, Midtown Sacramento) and am not making a blanket statement about all Starbucks. In fact, there are some Starbucks I despise because of rude and unprofessional staff ("Hello, Folsom!").
BEST BARISTAS
I can't tell you how much I love all the staff here, including Colton, Levi and Marshal who make the most OUTSTANDING Frappaccinos, and Stephanie and Kelsey who make a beautiful array of specialty teas.
CHANGE OF VENUES
In the more recent past, I was an exclusive fan of local independent coffee houses like Naked Lounge and Temple Coffee. But there are a couple of major factors precipitating this change: (1) Free Wifi; and, (2) Registered Coffee Benefits.
FREE WIFI
The free WiFi is a HUGE draw. And if it wasn't for the irritating inconsistency with the WiFi coverages that I've experienced at both the Naked Lounge and Temple establishments, I might have never have "strayed" to Starbucks in the first place. My coffee addiction has been kicked back into high gear after almost a decade hiatus because now Starbucks offers free Wifi. I now walk from work (9th & Q) the seven (7) blocks just about every day.
Ever since all of the greedy TeleComs (mine is AT&T because of my dam iPhone) implemented their 5GB "hard-limit" on their wireless cellular cards effective July 1, 2010, I've been searching out free WiFi hot spots for my Dell Mini wireless laptop. [I have no internet hard-line at home and am totally dependent on my AT&T Wireless Cellular Card for both my PC at home and my Dell laptop when WiFi is not available.] So now I am a BIG FAN of free wifi hot spots, and get all of my Windows Updates, iTunes OS downloads, MP3 & MPEG & AVI uploads/downloads, Virus Software updates, Facebook Albums uploads, etc. etc., ANYTHING with a large memory-data component, COMPLETELY DONE while at a free WiFi hotspots, and now that means Starbucks to a large degree.
STARBUCKS REWARDS
With a registered Starbucks cards, I now get all my refills for free, no matter where I bought my first coffee that day. So to be able to hit up two, three or even five different Starbucks throughout the day depending on my itinerary, totally saves me money when the refills (which are usually 50 cents in my Starbucks venti travel mug) are free with my registered Starbucks rewards card. I love it.
THE LOWDOWN
Starbucks is definitely an enjoyable "after-work" stop for me and more. read more