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Northstar Coffee Company
918 State St, Santa Barbara
Phone: (805) 965-5593
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Reviews by the General Public
Quality service and quality coffee., 8/21/2010
Reviewer: Bob
from Santa Barbara, CA
I have been a customer of the coffee industry my entire life. I have been treated well and I have been treated rudely. The girls that work at northstar are kind, considerate, and superb coffee makers. I keep coming back, because I know how my business will be received. I only have good things to say about this place.
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ELIZABETH, 7/3/2010
Reviewer: a p c
from Santa Barbara, CA
I FEEL LIKE MAYBE YOU GET BAD SERVICE BECAUSE SERVICE PEOPLE CAN SENSE THAT YOU'RE THE TYPE OF PERSON WHO FEELS A NEED TO USE ALL CAPS ON THE INTERNET
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HIT OR MISS, 7/3/2010
Reviewer: ELIZABETH
from Santa Barbara, CA
LIKE SO MANY PLACES IN TOWN THIS ONE IS TOTALLY HIT OR MISS...ONCE UPON A TIME I HAD ONE OF THE BEST TURKEY CROISSANT SANDWICHES IN MY LIFE HERE...BUT NOT ALL MY EXPERIENCES HERE HAVE HAD SUCH A HAPPY ENDING...THE SERVICE, THE FOOD, THERE IS NO CONSISTENCY AT ALL...THIS PLACE NEEDS TO SET A SERVICE STANDARD AND STICK TO IT...COMPLAIN ABOUT CORPORATE ALL YOU WANT BUT WHEN I AM PAYING $4+ DOLLARS FOR A COFFEE...I WANT TO BE ABLE TO DRINK IT...HOT AND DELICIOUS EVERYTIME.
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RIP, 5/15/2010
Reviewer: Bruce
from Santa Barbara, CA
Well, the service has always been very much like a paris coffee bar: they treated you like you were annoying them by ordering. But, they were pretty much the only place that I went for coffee anymore in SB. Unlike the rest of the pathetic bunch, they put the fealing of quality above politics. The coffee was consistantly very good. The pasteries and food items were always quite good. The Music on the sound system was bland but certainly not overpowering. And in general, the atmosphere had an air of class. I went recently, 2 weeks after the Coffee Cat bought them and found:
Bready, dry croissant, (croissants are supposed to be very buttery, flakey and not at all good for you, otherwise they are just rolls)
over extracted espresso (god help it when they switch to the wildely inconsistant Green Star stuff)
Messy tables, cups and saucers no longer matched.
Very loud Music.
And I'm sure It's only a matter of time until the place starts to get that acrid smell that the ret of the SB coffee houses have.
I love to support local business, and am willing to pay more to do so, but only when the businesses don't require me to accept a lower quality.
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Love the atmosphere, food sucks, service not much better, 12/17/2009
Reviewer: Morgan Senzamici
from Santa Barbara, CA
I go here on occasion because of it's great location and warm amosphere, generally when I am meeting other people downtown. I can't say I'm impressed with whoever's in charge of hiring, as the staff typically seems as though they could care less about their customers. I've noticed on numerous occasions that they will take a few minutes to finish a conversation before starting on a food or beverage order. I have received both cold and burnt bagels, on seperate occasions, and in both circumstances I was left wondering who in their right mind would serve such a clearly unservable item. What swore me off ever ordering food there was a BLT with the most meager single slice of damp bacon that I couldn't even taste it, to which I was told "that's how we do it here" for almost $9! If I could rate the atmosphere, I'd give it 4-5 stars, but if you're looking for more than a place to sit and have just a simple cup of coffee that you pour yourself, look elsewhere.
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I've driven 50 miles to go here again, 11/24/2009
Reviewer: Colleen
from Camarillo, CA
North Star is far and away the best coffee shop I've ever been to. I stopped by on a weekday evening and was immediately greeting by a friendly, professional-looking barista who took my order right away and was happy to answer questions about the coffee shop--even its furnishings. My order took a little longer to prepare than it would at Starbucks, but I didn't mind because when it arrived it was beautifully presented (foam-leaf swirl in the top of my latte, and a drip wiped off the side of the mug). The atmosphere is beautiful and classy, with leather couches, artwork, and the occasional live music (never too loud). This is the first online review I've ever written of any restaurant, but I figure it's long past due since I plan every trip to Santa Barbara around this shop and its hours!
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GREAT IMPROVEMENT FAST SERVICE!
Reviewer: Ben K
from Santa Barbara, CA
YOUR STAFF IS POLIETE,SERVICE WAS FAST, MY ICED VANILLA LATTE WAS EXCELLENT THE VIBE IS SO GREAT THAT IT ACTUALLY LOOKS LIKE SOMEONE BOUGHT IT BUT MAYBE YOU DIDN'T SELL IT AND PLUS THE BATHROOM AND THE FLOOR, ARE ALWAYS CLEAN I AM GOING TO COME BACK AGAIN I AM SORRY FOR CAPITALIZING ALL THE INFORMATION BUT I WANT THE PUBLIC TO KNOW THAT EVERYTHING IS GREAT INCLUDING THE ICE CREAM AND PASTRIES!
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What happened?
Reviewer: Cait
from Santa Barbara, CA
There was a time when Northstar was a decent place to grab a cafe-type beverage and even some tasty light fare. The past few times I have visited I have been greatly disappointed. Yesterday, 2.9.09, I ordered a chai latte and a hot chocolate. Fifteen minutes later, I received a cold chai latte and a cold mocha: not what I ordered. Plus which, the customers who had ordered after me received their beverages first. Service is lazy, product is poor, and the whole cafe looks as if it hasn't been cleaned in months. Someone get the health department in there.
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Cold Coffee, sour milk, unsanitary food
Reviewer: Nicole
from Santa Barbara, CA
I had a short business meeting here on 10-22-08 around 7pm. Coffee and snacks were paid for by our business so I decided to get a basic cup of coffee and perhaps a snack. The first thing I noticed were several flies in the display case which immediately killed my appetite which is saying something since it was getting close to 7:30 and I hadn't had dinner yet. I decided to get just a cup of coffee. They handed me a mug (which on the plus side, looked pretty clean) and I was told the coffee was self serve. Also a plus! However...the coffee was cold! I wanted to put milk or cream in it but all of the milk and cream canisters smelled terrible, like no one had changed the milk all day. I had a few sips of my cold coffee before dumping the whole thing out and waiting until the meeting was over so I could run over to Coffee Bean.
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"We can't scoop it"
Reviewer: baker8
from Santa Barbara, CA
They also serve Gelato (Italian ice cream) here. My friend ordered a scoop at 11:30am on a hot, sunny summer Sunday morning, and the girl working behind the counter, who couldn't have been more than 15, said "she can't scoop the ice cream". the ice cream is in plain view and gelato is supposed to be soft, so I couldn't understand what the problem was. She clarified, saying the ice cream was too hard to scoop at that time, miraculouly, 15 minutes later, someone else walked out with an ice cream. Not sure how the ice cream can soften up, if it's in a freezer case. This employee was either too lazy to scoop it, or couldn't think outside the box to figure out how to scoop it. Kind of ridiculous when you're paying as much as you do for ice cream at that place
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Never got in
Reviewer: Dale and Ann
from Blacksburg, VA
Noticed people inside at 6:30 AM...my wife and I were out for a morning walk and thought this would be a nice place to sit down to a morning coffee and pastry...as we walked in, the manager (I guess) immediately informed us that "this is a private gathering" and suggested that we go to one of the Starbucks on State St...Starbucks sucks! Just trying to support local business'...happy to be back to our local Blacksburg, VA coffee shop (Mill Mountain Coffee) that opens at 6AM!
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home sweet home
Reviewer: Jessi
from Santa Barbara, CA
Northstar is my favorite coffee spot because its a fairly quiet place to study or chat.
I like the turkey sandwich and always order it because its simple and satisfies me.
I only had one unpleasant experience where the staff forgot my orange mocha, but I don't blame the staff since they were very busy then, after all people make mistakes.
Overall, the atmosphere of the coffee shop gives me the warm feeling of home.
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