Great Cofee Deserves Great Food

Can you believe I'm actually celebrating this? I was riding home on empty yesterday. I figured I'd go get a green tea late at Starbucks and fill up at the Kroger. For those who are not familiar with Kroger, if you spend $100 you earn a discount on your gas of 10 cents a gallon. I scanned my card and up it came $1.96. if it hadn't been so cold this morning I'd have been dancing out there in the dark.

Then I discovered that at 8:00 that morning the Starbucks across the street from the Kroger was going to giveaway some of their new hot breakfast sandwiches. I went home and told Darryl. Free breakfast I thought as I drove home.

Darryl is right about one thing. When Starbucks has anything free they act as though they have it coming out of their pocket. The place is probably not going to be around in five years and it over charges for everything. I figured that they would have samples of all their sandwiches and i would try a sample of all of them. Honestly I didn't expect them to make a big sandwich and give me the whole thing, just samples. Maybe a quarter of each sandwich which would eventually equal out a whole sandwich and I would be just fine. OK I'm cheap. Not so cheap that I don't go to Starbucks on the weekends but cheap all the same. If you say "Sample our Delicious New Hot Morning Sandwiches" I expect to be able to do just that, sample them, all of them.

The first was an Eggs Florentine Piadini with Baby Spinach, feta cheese and mushroom. The guy behind the counter fixed one for us and gave Darryl and I each a half. While they were making it I was wondering which other one I wanted to try. I figured we would try the pepper bacon, egg, and cheese sandwich. They asked me, no told me, let me know if you want to try anything else. They handed Darryl and I each a half of the Piandini. I took a bite. OK but not great.

I turned to the counter to see a new person ask if I'd like to try anything else. They were rushing around. Sure I said and told the counter person what I'd like to try.

I asked Darryl, what did you think? He said he would never order it again. I agreed. Certainly not at the price they were going to charge.

A few minutes later another person asked us if we needed help. Darryl said, "You better make sure they know you just want a sample. I looked at the cashier and said, "Well I told them I just wanted to try it just a sample. Darryl do you want a cinnamon bun my treat?" Darryl looked bothered. He didn't say anything. As a matter of fact the cashier didn't say anything really, not at first. Then I felt all the counter clerks eyes glare at me. I could almost hear them saying "She's getting another sample? What is that about."

I sputtered and almost walked out. Darryl wanted to walk out. I was staring at the sign which clearly stated: "Come sample our breakfast sandwiches." One might actually think that the "s" signaled that you could try more than one sandwich. Darryl groused "No I don't want to get a cinnamon bun. Just get the sample and lets go."

The clerk yelled "Cut that thing up into sample sizes this is just a sample. She's not buying one." I wanted to ask them "Could you speak up I don't think the people in the back row heard that."

I was finally handed a quarter of a sandwich and that was fine. All I wanted was a taste anyway. Really if I had tried them all and liked any of them I might be willing to buy some from time to time but after the way I was treated I certainly doubted it.

I left with my sample in hand and Darryl handed me his. Come on now Darryl at least try the thing. He was ticked. "I just hate the way they treat you in there. They act like you're stealing from them. They act like your sample is going to bankrupt the business. If they don't want you to sample stuff then don't offer samples. Plain and simple Cathy, obviously your sample is going to be the sample that is going to throw them into bankruptcy and you should feel guilty when you eat it."

I put my sample in my mouth. UGH it tasted like powdered eggs. Maybe they weren't powdered but God that's what they tasted like. I've had breakfast sandwiches like that before at a convenience store gas station. YUCK!!!!!

"Please Darryl. Try it I want to know what you think." Finally he agreed, begrudgingly to eat the sample. He told me it was awful and told me never to bring him to another Starbucks. He hates the place. He hates coffee and so do I. He doesn't like the attitudes from many of the people behind the counter.

I found someone else wrote a review about the sandwiches and their opinion was less than stellar also. The sandwiches are basically pre-made and they warm them up in the microwave, then they wrap them in paper with a sticker that says Great coffee deserves great food. How about some great service? Gee Wiz!!!!!