TikToker Shows Drink Overload at Hotel Starbucks, Sparks Debate

Working as a food service employee in a high-volume location can get pretty overwhelming very, very quickly, especially in a popular chain like Starbucks. Between inpatient and irate customers and ensuring that they're receiving every item in their order along with any special modifications/additions, fulfilling everything in a timely manner can be a tall order.

The US labor shortage doesn't seem to help matters, either, meaning that food service workers, even though they're receiving higher wages than they did just a couple of years ago, aren't getting all of the help that they need behind the counter or in the kitchen. Which can lead to overworked employees who are stuck with processing requests and taking care of a litany of duties all at the same time.

A now-viral TikTok demonstrates just how hectic it can get being a barista at Starbucks, at least at this one hotel location in California. In the clip, Baristas are shown quickly working to fulfill a mountain of different orders as a slew of different caffeinated beverages sit on the counter before them.

A text overlay for the clip reads: "Prayers for these Hotel Starbucks workers." And the video's caption reads, "Everyone who ordered here has never had a coffee service job and it shows lmao."

TikToker @laurunelaun says that this furious example of Starbucks overload occurred at the Orange County Hyatt Regency hotel, and many commenters on the platform remarked that this kind of customer influx isn't out of the ordinary.

Many folks took issue with the fact that the customers who ordered their coffees haven't bothered to go to the pick-up window in order to retrieve their beverages. Perhaps they expected the Baristas to walk out and give it to them, or call out their names?

"Everyone who ordered here has never had a coffee service job and it shows lmao," one commenter wrote. Others just thought that it was rude of customers to not pick up their orders even though they were being called out.

"The fact that no one picks up their drinks after they’re called too. They’re getting watched like animals in a zoo," another TikToker quipped.

However, there's a pretty good reason why the hotel Starbucks sees such an influx of completed orders and that's because it's well, at a hotel.

There are probably tons of guests who just call down from their room to prep their coffee order to be ready by the time they get downstairs. But there were some TikTokers who also offered up yet another reason for the buildup, and it has to do with the negative perception of non-corporate Starbucks and the Baristas who work them.

Some argue because these locations aren't as highly trafficked as corporate ones, Baristas haven't developed the workflow/muscle memory to bang out drink orders like more battle-tested coffee makers.

What do you think? Have you noticed that "non-corporate" Starbucks locations get more easily backed up? Or is this just at a store-by-store basis.