Good point!  Come to think of it, it wasn't very good!

 

I see them unwrapping those pastries from the box and cardboard holders they come in sometimes in the morning at the starbucks in my building.  Completely unappetizing.

 

exactly. i dont go in starbucks much, but every time i do i look at that stuff and cant imagine anyone bothering to eat it. it even looks bland & stale. luckily, when it comes to coffee/pastries its usually pretty easy to get to some local place or even grocery bakery that you trust instead.

 

 

I come to your hood to satisfy my sweet tooth.  Bourbon Street Southern Gourmet Pantry is like crack cocaine to me.

Haha, I'm totally a barista at Starbucks and the pastry situation is absolutely ridiculous.  We get auto-shipped a set number of pastries for the week and they come frozen.  So once we open a package of like 4 or 6 we have to keep all of them out or they'll thaw and then we can't re-freeze them.  Then that leaves us short on pastries for the rest of the week.  I hate to say it DanB, but it really is a hassle to get more pastries out of the back...it involves spreadsheets.

 

To David, I think the reason we feel superior to fast food workers is because we don't work for a franchise, so things run a little more smoothly, we don't have to deal with grease at all, and we have a hell of a lot more responsibility than most fast food workers. 

ah ha -- interesting -- thx for in insider insight!

 

Good point!  Come to think of it, it wasn't very good!

 

I see them unwrapping those pastries from the box and cardboard holders they come in sometimes in the morning at the starbucks in my building.  Completely unappetizing.

 

exactly. i dont go in starbucks much, but every time i do i look at that stuff and cant imagine anyone bothering to eat it. it even looks bland & stale. luckily, when it comes to coffee/pastries its usually pretty easy to get to some local place or even grocery bakery that you trust instead.

 

 

I come to your hood to satisfy my sweet tooth.  Bourbon Street Southern Gourmet Pantry is like crack cocaine to me.

 

well i knew you were gay, but not a lesbohag!  :laugh:  (for others - thats a lesbian run place)

 

seriously, yeah they have good stuff.

 

thankfully sweetheart bakery reopened around the corner so we are mostly regulars there (not as good as bssgp, but hey its our little spot).

 

well i knew you were gay, but not a lesbohag!  :laugh:  (for others - thats a lesbian run place)

 

seriously, yeah they have good stuff.

 

thankfully sweetheart bakery reopened around the corner so we are mostly regulars there (not as good as bssgp, but hey its our little spot).

 

Hey, what can I say, I like my baking lesbo's! and if a fight jumps off, we know they will regulate!

 

Oh, dont get me started on the Hot Sauce's they have.  OMG.  To. Die. For!!!

 

Sweet Frosting plus Hot Sauce is heaven to me.

rotflmao! btw sweetheart bakery (next to jeffery on the corner) is run by some gay argentinian guys so you might check that out too. they have some sugarfree diet bakery stuff & decent empanadas.

 

edit: whoops - back to peeves!

 

rotflmao! btw sweetheart bakery (next to jeffery on the corner) is run by some gay argentinian guys so you might check that out too. they have some sugarfree diet bakery stuff & decent empanadas.

 

edit: whoops - back to peeves!

 

 

"sugarfree diet" bakery items?  WTF.  No thank you!  I want the real fattening stuff! 

^ are you one of those skinny MF'ers that eats pastry all day and never gains an ounce? that's one of my biggest pet peeves- People with high metabolism

^ are you one of those skinny MF'ers that eats pastry all day and never gains an ounce? that's one of my biggest pet peeves- People with high metabolism

LMAO!  LMAO  No, but now that I dont drink coffee, I have to spend time on the treadmill.  The 13 lbs i've gained over the last seven months actually worked out.  No pun intended.

 

My mothers brothers are all slim, and I've seemed to have their genes (hairy, big teeth, huge ears, etc.) so I don't think I'll get much heavier.

^wow. hot!

Okay, just a few things:

 

1. "a hassle to get more pastries out of the back...it involves spreadsheets."

 

THAT (or the notion of it), if nothing else, is why I prefer locally owned places to chains.

 

2. "well i knew you were gay, but not a lesbohag!    (for others - thats a lesbian run place)"

 

As I learned from the Zephyr in Kent during my college years - if we're talking baked goods, the lesbians KNOW how to do it right. I don't know why, I don't WANT to know why, but my god do they get it.

 

3. ""sugarfree diet" bakery items?  WTF.  No thank you!  I want the real fattening stuff!"

 

Thank you! If you're gonna splurge, SPLURGE. That sugarfree crap is like de-caf - what's the f'in point?!?

 

4. "that's one of my biggest pet peeves- People with high metabolism"

 

Me too, except one of them happens to be my partner! Grrr....

 

 

"if we're talking baked goods, the lesbians KNOW how to do it right. I don't know why, I don't WANT to know why, but my god do they get it".

 

 

unburdened of the need to please a man's judging eye (not just and issue for the girls, this goes for you gay boys too), I think we would all have a terrific, chubby little baker wishing to come out.

Okay, just a few things:

 

1. "a hassle to get more pastries out of the back...it involves spreadsheets."

 

THAT (or the notion of it), if nothing else, is why I prefer locally owned places to chains.

 

Thats just trifflin' and lazy.  It tells me that you really don't want my money.  If I come into your store, I'm coming for a specific reason.  Don't try to persuade me into buying something else, unless I ask for your suggestion.

 

Okay, just a few things:

2. "well i knew you were gay, but not a lesbohag!    (for others - thats a lesbian run place)"

 

As I learned from the Zephyr in Kent during my college years - if we're talking baked goods, the lesbians KNOW how to do it right. I don't know why, I don't WANT to know why, but my god do they get it.

 

Yep, the gurlz know how to bake!  Not like my grandmama, but they do bake well.

 

 

Thank you! If you're gonna splurge, SPLURGE. That sugarfree crap is like de-caf - what's the f'in point?!?

 

There is no point!  Sweets are feel good foods

 

4. "that's one of my biggest pet peeves- People with high metabolism"

 

Me too, except one of them happens to be my partner! Grrr....

 

Show off!  :x

"if we're talking baked goods, the lesbians KNOW how to do it right. I don't know why, I don't WANT to know why, but my god do they get it".

 

 

unburdened of the need to please a man's judging eye (not just and issue for the girls, this goes for you gay boys too), I think we would all have a terrific, chubby little baker wishing to come out.

 

If we have a "chubby little baker wishing to come out" mine is Oprah size!  As much stuff as a beg my grandmama to bake, I should simultaneously be on the dick gregory and weight watchers diets!

 

 

Haha, I'm totally a barista at Starbucks and the pastry situation is absolutely ridiculous.  We get auto-shipped a set number of pastries for the week and they come frozen.  So once we open a package of like 4 or 6 we have to keep all of them out or they'll thaw and then we can't re-freeze them.  Then that leaves us short on pastries for the rest of the week.  I hate to say it DanB, but it really is a hassle to get more pastries out of the back...it involves spreadsheets.

 

To David, I think the reason we feel superior to fast food workers is because we don't work for a franchise, so things run a little more smoothly, we don't have to deal with grease at all, and we have a hell of a lot more responsibility than most fast food workers. 

 

As a Starbucks employee, maybe you can explain this: One of my biggest pet peeves involves a-holes breezing in and "reserving" seats before they've even ordered, while I'm already in line. So, you guessed it, when I'm ready to sit down there's no place to sit! Why doesn't Starbucks do something about this? Seating, at least in the NYC locations is so scarce due to the large volume of customers. Additionally, there really should be a time limit imposed on all the "playwrights," "novelists," and garden variety dilettantes who insist on occupying valuable seating space for hours on end that should be available on a rotating basis throughout the course of a day for average people who don't feel the need to be the next Proust and who just want to take a few minutes out of a busy day to relax and enjoy a cup of coffee in relative comfort!

^Who actually *sits* in a Starbucks? :?

^Who actually *sits* in a Starbucks? :?

 

I guess people who have virtually no life--social or otherwise--like me :cry:

^Who actually *sits* in a Starbucks? :?

 

I guess people who have virtually no life--social or otherwise--like me :cry:

Honey, there are so many great places to catch a 5 minute break in NYC, why would you waste it in a starbucks?

^Who actually *sits* in a Starbucks? :?

 

I guess people who have virtually no life--social or otherwise--like me :cry:

Honey, there are so many great places to catch a 5 minute break in NYC, why would you waste it in a starbucks?

 

I know, but I just haven't been the same since Woolworth's went out of business. They had the best fried chicken.

^^I think that's what I was getting at, plus the closest Starbucks to me are a drive-through in Steelyard Commons, and the lobbies of Key Tower and 200 Public Square so my perspective is skewed.

Honey, there are so many great places to catch a 5 minute break in NYC, why would you waste it in a starbucks?

 

I know, but I just haven't been the same since Woolworth's went out of business. They had the best fried chicken.

 

 

Honey, there are so many great places to catch a 5 minute break in NYC, why would you waste it in a starbucks?

 

I know, but I just haven't been the same since Woolworth's went out of business. They had the best fried chicken.

 

 

 

 

 

and the mac 'n cheese was good too. So there!  :shoot:

 

Haha, I'm totally a barista at Starbucks and the pastry situation is absolutely ridiculous. We get auto-shipped a set number of pastries for the week and they come frozen. So once we open a package of like 4 or 6 we have to keep all of them out or they'll thaw and then we can't re-freeze them. Then that leaves us short on pastries for the rest of the week. I hate to say it DanB, but it really is a hassle to get more pastries out of the back...it involves spreadsheets.

 

To David, I think the reason we feel superior to fast food workers is because we don't work for a franchise, so things run a little more smoothly, we don't have to deal with grease at all, and we have a hell of a lot more responsibility than most fast food workers.

 

As a Starbucks employee, maybe you can explain this: One of my biggest pet peeves involves a-holes breezing in and "reserving" seats before they've even ordered, while I'm already in line. So, you guessed it, when I'm ready to sit down there's no place to sit! Why doesn't Starbucks do something about this? Seating, at least in the NYC locations is so scarce due to the large volume of customers. Additionally, there really should be a time limit imposed on all the "playwrights," "novelists," and garden variety dilettantes who insist on occupying valuable seating space for hours on end that should be available on a rotating basis throughout the course of a day for average people who don't feel the need to be the next Proust and who just want to take a few minutes out of a busy day to relax and enjoy a cup of coffee in relative comfort!

 

This is all about the "third place" environment (which I think is total BS) but essentially what Starbucks' wants is for their stores to be treated as community living rooms.  So they will NEVER impose a time limit on people sitting in the lobby.  They also can't kick out homeless people sleeping, stop people from bringing in outside food or drinks, or prevent little Jimmy from playing in the garbage cans.  Essentialy the only rule in place in the lobby is about physical violence.  I really think you could argue that racial slurs and explicative are perfectly allowable in a Starbucks lobby because people have a right to free expression in the "third place."  They also expect all disputes to be settled by the customers.  So if you want your seat, go up and ask for it...or just take it.

 

It can get really absurd at points and it's all up to the baristas to control the situation  if it gets out of hand.

 

On the topic of relaxation..I've NEVER had a moment in my store that I'd consider "relaxing".  We constantly have someone pushing some agenda or having some political argument.  If you want relaxation, take your coffee to go and sit in a park.

3. ""sugarfree diet" bakery items?  WTF.  No thank you!  I want the real fattening stuff!"

 

Thank you! If you're gonna splurge, SPLURGE. That sugarfree crap is like de-caf - what's the f'in point?!?

 

Aaaaa-MEN, brother!

 

Same goes for fat-free baked goods. Why should I buy fat-free cookies, when I can get the same experience for free by chewing on a discarded piece of carboard?

We suffer from a lack of good bakeries or even decent breakfast places downtown Cleve, lesbian-owned or otherwise, unless someone knows something I don't.  Even chains are sparse - Panera left and Dunkin replaced them, but other than that and if you can manage to find Octane open for a breakfast wrap, there are no good places to grab something for breakfast downtown that I know about.  Do any of you know of some places?

We suffer from a lack of good bakeries or even decent breakfast places downtown Cleve, lesbian-owned or otherwise, unless someone knows something I don't. Even chains are sparse - Panera left and Dunkin replaced them, but other than that and if you can manage to find Octane open for a breakfast wrap, there are no good places to grab something for breakfast downtown that I know about. Do any of you know of some places?

 

The lack of good bakeries in the downtown proper area was frustrating for me as well when I was down there. Best I can recommend (depending on your location and how mobile you are )is that there is a great puerto rican bakery on W 25th (i can never remember the name), about a block away from Nate's. I would go out of my way to stop there (it was a bout a 5 minute drive from my offices on 6th st.)

That's Leolai, they are great but not really on my way unless I get off the train, walk over there, walk back to the train and get back on into Tower City.  That would add a considerable amount of time to my commute and would be Not Fun in the winter months.  I think they have the best Cuban sandwich in the city, as an aside.

We suffer from a lack of good bakeries or even decent breakfast places downtown Cleve, lesbian-owned or otherwise, unless someone knows something I don't.  Even chains are sparse - Panera left and Dunkin replaced them, but other than that and if you can manage to find Octane open for a breakfast wrap, there are no good places to grab something for breakfast downtown that I know about.  Do any of you know of some places?

 

It's too far on the periphery of downtown to be a convenient walk for most, but I've heard rave reviews about Juniper Grille (East 14th and Carnegie). Aside from that, it's mostly the "greasy spoon" places like Addy's in the Standard Building (St. Clair @ Ontario) and PJs in the Colonial Marketplace, but they're decidely un-foodie.

I've recommended Juniper's breakfast to others as well, I've heard it's good from people who have had it.  I do get up there for lunch when the weather is good, it's QUITE a stretch of the legs. 

 

I just can't understand why we don't have a few small shops like this downtown that have decent bakery at least.

Now that I think about it, Stone Oven in the Galleria is alright (not fantastic, but not bad) for bakery.

When I worked across the street from the galleria I tried them a couple of times but never really enjoyed anything.  Poop.

I've recommended Juniper's breakfast to others as well, I've heard it's good from people who have had it. I do get up there for lunch when the weather is good, it's QUITE a stretch of the legs.

 

I just can't understand why we don't have a few small shops like this downtown that have decent bakery at least.

 

Juniper was a favorite of mine for breakfast meetings. They do a great breakfast. At the time it was a popular spot for Jane Campbell and her gang to have meetings as well. I don't know how it's fared with the Frank Jackson administration.

 

Bringing us back on topic....Pet peeve number..oh I've lost track

 

runny eggs. Blech!! I can never get a place to cook a fried egg enough. I've even gotten to the point where I tell the waitress "over hard, break the yoke. Cook it until you think it's done, then cook it for another 60 seconds.."

 

I've given up and just gone with scrambled.

pet peeve:  Smokers who litter.  (I guess I could just say "Smokers.", since they all litter apparently.)

I have so many I couldn't possibly name them all at once, but the one that comes to my mind is spitters, or (per the above message), I should just say "men," since all the spitters I've ever seen are men.  I really don't like walking in your snot, nor seeing it, nor hearing and watching you expel it out of your mouth.  Bring tissues or a handkerchief or grow some balls and swallow it like women do.

Bring tissues or a handkerchief or grow some balls and swallow it like women do.

 

:-o  :evil:  :wink:

I've recommended Juniper's breakfast to others as well, I've heard it's good from people who have had it.  I do get up there for lunch when the weather is good, it's QUITE a stretch of the legs. 

 

I just can't understand why we don't have a few small shops like this downtown that have decent bakery at least.

 

If only

 

 

Had managed run their business properly.  I miss those sugar cookies.

...grow some balls and swallow it like women do.

 

 

QUOTE OF THE DAY!!!!!

LOL.  Taken out of context, that sounds quite nasty.

pet peeve: Smokers who litter. (I guess I could just say "Smokers.", since they all litter apparently.)

 

Amen, brother. As an add on to that...smokers that flick their butts out of their car windows onto the street. Hey, I'm behind you, you shmuck, I don't want your lit butt flying against my car!

^^Whenever people do that in front of me, I flick my highbeams at them and sometimes I'm tempted to flick them something else.:evil:  I can't stand that, it's so rude. Not to mention it's horrible littering.

^^Whenever people do that in front of me, I flick my highbeams at them and sometimes I'm tempted to flick them something else.:evil: I can't stand that, it's so rude. Not to mention it's horrible littering.

 

I've not only had someone's cigarette fly into my car that they threw out, I've been hit in the arm with, guess what? Their SNOT SPIT.  See my rant above.

LOL 12 pages so far about why certain people suck.

^^Whenever people do that in front of me, I flick my highbeams at them and sometimes I'm tempted to flick them something else.:evil:  I can't stand that, it's so rude. Not to mention it's horrible littering.

 

I've not only had someone's cigarette fly into my car that they threw out, I've been hit in the arm with, guess what? Their SNOT SPIT.  See my rant above.

 

OMG...  That's so nasty.  I don't know what I would do if that happened to me.  I just wish a cop would be behind them when they did something like that.

 

I've recommended Juniper's breakfast to others as well, I've heard it's good from people who have had it.  I do get up there for lunch when the weather is good, it's QUITE a stretch of the legs. 

 

I just can't understand why we don't have a few small shops like this downtown that have decent bakery at least.

 

If only

 

 

Had managed run their business properly.  I miss those sugar cookies.

 

I loved Hough Bakeries! http://ech.cwru.edu/ech-cgi/article.pl?id=HBI

Haha, I'm totally a barista at Starbucks and the pastry situation is absolutely ridiculous.  We get auto-shipped a set number of pastries for the week and they come frozen.  So once we open a package of like 4 or 6 we have to keep all of them out or they'll thaw and then we can't re-freeze them.  Then that leaves us short on pastries for the rest of the week.  I hate to say it DanB, but it really is a hassle to get more pastries out of the back...it involves spreadsheets.

 

To David, I think the reason we feel superior to fast food workers is because we don't work for a franchise, so things run a little more smoothly, we don't have to deal with grease at all, and we have a hell of a lot more responsibility than most fast food workers. 

 

As a Starbucks employee, maybe you can explain this: One of my biggest pet peeves involves a-holes breezing in and "reserving" seats before they've even ordered, while I'm already in line. So, you guessed it, when I'm ready to sit down there's no place to sit! Why doesn't Starbucks do something about this? Seating, at least in the NYC locations is so scarce due to the large volume of customers. Additionally, there really should be a time limit imposed on all the "playwrights," "novelists," and garden variety dilettantes who insist on occupying valuable seating space for hours on end that should be available on a rotating basis throughout the course of a day for average people who don't feel the need to be the next Proust and who just want to take a few minutes out of a busy day to relax and enjoy a cup of coffee in relative comfort!

 

This is all about the "third place" environment (which I think is total BS) but essentially what Starbucks' wants is for their stores to be treated as community living rooms.  So they will NEVER impose a time limit on people sitting in the lobby.  They also can't kick out homeless people sleeping, stop people from bringing in outside food or drinks, or prevent little Jimmy from playing in the garbage cans.  Essentialy the only rule in place in the lobby is about physical violence.  I really think you could argue that racial slurs and explicative are perfectly allowable in a Starbucks lobby because people have a right to free expression in the "third place."  They also expect all disputes to be settled by the customers.  So if you want your seat, go up and ask for it...or just take it.

 

It can get really absurd at points and it's all up to the baristas to control the situation  if it gets out of hand.

 

On the topic of relaxation..I've NEVER had a moment in my store that I'd consider "relaxing".  We constantly have someone pushing some agenda or having some political argument.  If you want relaxation, take your coffee to go and sit in a park.

Thanks, that explains a lot. As a side note: There was a manager at a Starbucks on the Upper East Side in NY I would frequent who would throw homeless people out, even if they weren’t bothering anybody. However, I noticed she wouldn’t bother yuppie-ish looking people who also appeared to be non-customers. I think there was just a wee bit of racism in her selection process.

Haha, I'm totally a barista at Starbucks and the pastry situation is absolutely ridiculous.  We get auto-shipped a set number of pastries for the week and they come frozen.  So once we open a package of like 4 or 6 we have to keep all of them out or they'll thaw and then we can't re-freeze them.  Then that leaves us short on pastries for the rest of the week.  I hate to say it DanB, but it really is a hassle to get more pastries out of the back...it involves spreadsheets.

 

To David, I think the reason we feel superior to fast food workers is because we don't work for a franchise, so things run a little more smoothly, we don't have to deal with grease at all, and we have a hell of a lot more responsibility than most fast food workers. 

 

As a Starbucks employee, maybe you can explain this: One of my biggest pet peeves involves a-holes breezing in and "reserving" seats before they've even ordered, while I'm already in line. So, you guessed it, when I'm ready to sit down there's no place to sit! Why doesn't Starbucks do something about this? Seating, at least in the NYC locations is so scarce due to the large volume of customers. Additionally, there really should be a time limit imposed on all the "playwrights," "novelists," and garden variety dilettantes who insist on occupying valuable seating space for hours on end that should be available on a rotating basis throughout the course of a day for average people who don't feel the need to be the next Proust and who just want to take a few minutes out of a busy day to relax and enjoy a cup of coffee in relative comfort!

 

This is all about the "third place" environment (which I think is total BS) but essentially what Starbucks' wants is for their stores to be treated as community living rooms.  So they will NEVER impose a time limit on people sitting in the lobby.  They also can't kick out homeless people sleeping, stop people from bringing in outside food or drinks, or prevent little Jimmy from playing in the garbage cans.  Essentialy the only rule in place in the lobby is about physical violence.  I really think you could argue that racial slurs and explicative are perfectly allowable in a Starbucks lobby because people have a right to free expression in the "third place."  They also expect all disputes to be settled by the customers.  So if you want your seat, go up and ask for it...or just take it.

 

It can get really absurd at points and it's all up to the baristas to control the situation  if it gets out of hand.

 

On the topic of relaxation..I've NEVER had a moment in my store that I'd consider "relaxing".  We constantly have someone pushing some agenda or having some political argument.  If you want relaxation, take your coffee to go and sit in a park.

Thanks, that explains a lot. As a side note: There was a manager at a Starbucks on the Upper East Side in NY I would frequent who would throw homeless people out, even if they weren’t bothering anybody. However, I noticed she wouldn’t bother yuppie-ish looking people who also appeared to be non-customers. I think there was just a wee bit of racism in her selection process.

 

Haha, because I know all the stupid rules I like to test them at other stores.  One of my favorites was last week, I was up in Wausau, WI which is a little city up north.  I stopped into a starbucks at 5:05, right after they opened and ordered a:

 

Grande Two-Pump Cinnamon Dolce One-Pump Gingerbread Non-Fat No Water Easy Foam With Cinnamon Dolce Sprinkles 130 Degree Five-Pump Tazo Chai Tea Latte.

 

HAHAHA, you should've seen the look of disgust on her face. 

I've recommended Juniper's breakfast to others as well, I've heard it's good from people who have had it.  I do get up there for lunch when the weather is good, it's QUITE a stretch of the legs. 

 

I just can't understand why we don't have a few small shops like this downtown that have decent bakery at least.

 

If only

 

 

Had managed run their business properly.  I miss those sugar cookies.

 

I loved Hough Bakeries! http://ech.cwru.edu/ech-cgi/article.pl?id=HBI

 

Who didn't?  My brother and I would behave all day just so that we could ride to shaker square or severance for a sugar cookie.  You could buy 7 for $1. 

I have a word (or three) for people who place orders like that, and I don't even work at Starbucks. But since I like you, you're exempt.

If I were the barista, I would have thrown hot milk in your face with that order. :)

If I were the barista, I would have thrown hot milk in your face with that order. :)

I would think you would substitute "snot" for hot milk.  ;)

If I were the barista, I would have thrown hot milk in your face with that order. :)

I would think you would substitute "snot" for hot milk. ;)

 

LOL. What I'd probably do is write DICK on the cup and yell out "DICK! YOUR ORDER IS READY! DRINK FOR DICK!" when the drink was done.

 

Grande Two-Pump Cinnamon Dolce One-Pump Gingerbread Non-Fat No Water Easy Foam With Cinnamon Dolce Sprinkles 130 Degree Five-Pump Tazo Chai Tea Latte.

 

Oh my God. The only thing worse is probably the snobby @sshole restaurant patron that actually smells the wine bottle cork properly placed in front of him before serving to determine the quality in case he needs to send it back.

 

Edit: Btw, I don't blame someone for having wine sent back, there is like a 400% markup on wine anyway, but come on - smelling the #$%^ing cork!?

 

That brings me to another point. I've never met anyone more cocky than an executive chef at a nice restaurant. Ours thought he was so great because he ran the #3 restaurant in Cinci. I usually got along with him well but when you're under a lot of pressure, being an @sshole on the job is a prerequisite for a chef. When we first opened, I told him people were complimenting the bolognese sauce, saying it's a lot better than Palomino's across the street. In front of the customers at the bar off of the kitchen, he goes "of course it's better, Palomino's is a #$%@ing chain!".