Starbucks (Claremont)
203 N Yale Ave, Claremont, CA 91711
A staple for this college town, this Starbucks gets quite a bit of foot traffic. There are very rare moments when this store has a slow time. Since it is in a college town (a nice college town), they are able to have dine-in glassware that you can ask for if you are planning to stay a while and study. Better for the environment and, if it’s slow, the baristas will ask if you want a refill if you’ve been there for a while. The outdoor patio is okay, sometimes a little messy and you’ll sometimes witness the local weirdo walk past, but overall a nice place to sit, study, and enjoy a cup of coffee.
If you are looking to know more about Starbucks, their history, their beans, and just read about me traveling to one by train for 34 hours, you can look for my post on traveling to the first Starbucks in Seattle 👀, stay tuned!
The Review: 3.17/5
The Oat Milk Latte: The oat milk latte is a classic since oat milk became a thing in coffee shops for its alternative creaminess as opposed to regular milk. Starbucks espresso is known for being burnt and just not great quality overall and you can taste that bitterness through the latte. They use the Oatly brand barista edition which is known to “foam nicely”, according to the Oatly website. I think when you are starting to get into lattes, Starbucks is a decent place to start. Overall, not a bad latte, 7/10.
The Specialty (Chocolate Cream Cold Brew): Ok, yes, I went to the Barnes and Noble in Montclair for this one. I'm already messing up my integrity by not keeping it in the same place. Since Starbucks is a chain, one Starbucks should be just like the rest and I'm not about to review the Starbucks at Barnes and Noble vs the Starbucks right down the hall in the mall. If they're not gonna take my Starbucks points they're not gonna be reviewed as a separate Starbucks!!!! (I'll do an accessibility post about them separately). I tried the chocolate cream cold foam on top first. It was reminding me of the chocolate milks that come in a little carton in our school lunches. I tried my best to get a taste for the cold brew itself. While I'm not the biggest black coffee fan I have been known to enjoy the first sip of a cold brew for whatever reason. Maybe it's the hours of brewing that really deepens the flavor for me and makes it less bitter. If the mocha is an adult hot cocoa, this chocolate cream cold brew is the adult chocolate milk. I'm sure if they had this in a frap it would be an adult milkshake. The longer it takes for the cream to incorporate the deeper the chocolate flavor becomes. I drank this with a straw so I could get the full effect of the cold brew. This allowed for the cream to fully melt in. I feel like this is a drink most people could enjoy unless you’re not a huge chocolate fan. 7/10.
The Recommendation (Iced Horchata Shaken Espresso): I’ll admit I do love the shaken espressos from Starbucks (mostly because they are always made with a non dairy milk), I was excited to try this new one. This one was interesting and kind of hard to describe, but I’ll say it didn’t taste a lot like horchata to me. It just doesn’t have the creamy, cinnamon spiced flavor I would expect out of a horchata drink. The horchata syrup is completely dairy free which I was surprised to learn. Honestly, there are better shaken espressos and I would recommend skipping out on this one. (They currently have the hazelnut shaken espresso which I recommend more). 5/10c
The Price:
The Oat Milk Latte: $5.45 (Grande) ((Medium))
The Specialty: $6.25 (Grande) ((Medium)) I actually got a large for free because I'm a Barnes and Noble member.
The Recommendation: $6.45 (Grande) ((Medium)) I actually got a tall (small), which was $5.45, but we like to keep things consistent here.
The Accessibility: 2.8/5
Parking: There are no accessible parking spaces right outside of the store. For accessible spaces you’ll need to find either the parking lots between buildings, at the chase up the street from the Starbucks, or in the parking structure a ways away.
Starting outside: There are a few tables and chairs under umbrellas for customers to sit and enjoy their food and beverages. Yes, there is a dedicated accessible table (complete with our little blue friend on the corner… we should name them…). This table is larger than the others, able to be moved around the patio area, is pretty light, and usually doesn’t have any chairs around it unless previous people were sitting there. For some reason it is not usually under the umbrella and it is usually on the bank’s side rather than the store’s side.
The Door: The door is not very heavy but it is not the easiest to open and there are no automatic buttons to have it opened for you. This is kind of a ding on Starbuck’s end, however, this store is usually pretty busy so I normally have someone offer to open it for me.
The shop: The shop itself is on the smaller side. There is not too much space for a line to form, and there can be a lot of foot traffic so things can get a little claustrophobic while ordering and getting your drink. Payment is accessible, the counter and card reader is decently low, the card reader also has a tap to pay and the barista can easily scan your app. You can also order in the app for further accessibility.The counter to grab your drinks is also nice and low and usually, if the barista knows your name/ what you ordered, they either offer to bring me my drink to my table when it is ready or they hand it to me personally.
Seating: While small, there is plenty of seating; there’s a large table with 6 chairs (I move the one in the corner into the corner so I can be out of the way, a small 2 person table right by the door, and there is seating along the window of the store where the stools are easy to move (however it is a little higher than most tables so it could be a little uncomfortable).
Record Scratch
SEE people?! This is why we go 3 times!!!! Upon my third and final visit to this Starbucks (technically second but hey who’s counting and let’s face it I’ve been there plenty of times before) they completely changed the seating in the store. Like. Completely. For an able bodied person, this change was made to have a cozier/lounge vibe; but for someone who focuses on being able to pull into a table and not be in the way this change sucks. A couch and low seating chairs have been added where the large table once was. Along the wall there are multiple mismatched tables of varying heights. If you’re looking to comfortably roll up to a table like I was, your options are either the random rectangle table that seats 2 by the door, or one of the 2 tables that seat 4 right next to it. If those are full you’ll have to awkwardly seat yourself along the wall at the very end right next to the pick-up counter at a table for 2 where the table is an ok height. It is a change made for the worse and I encourage Starbucks to do better.
The staff: The staff is nothing but lovely and have offered to help me on multiple occasions with multiple different things. If we were to rate accessibility on staff alone they’d get a perfect score. Even when things are busy they usually try to help in little ways.
The bathroom: There is a code to the bathroom that you can get from the baristas. It is a single room bathroom that is big enough for a large wheelchair and an aid if need be. The door isn’t heavy, there are hand railings by the toilet, and the sink is nice and low. I usually have trouble reaching the soap or the towels in bathrooms but I didn't have that problem in this one. It was also pretty clean, thankfully.
Overall: The store does its best but I would like to see a few improvements. I would like to see an automatic door or at least one that is less of a struggle. I would also like to see a parking spot that is closer to the shop but I know that is more for the city to accomplish. I would also like to see clearer paths when ordering and getting your coffee as a lot of the times it can get crowded. I would give this store a 3.8 out of 5 wheelchairs. They do what they can but it could be improved. (Upon the seating change I am actually going to drop this to a 2.8, I felt way less comfortable with how busy the store is and how tight the seating now is).
The Final Score:
The Sleeve:
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