Fired Starbucks Barista Drops Facebook Rant About the Dirtiest Starbucks of All Time
The most prominent coffee peddler in the world, Starbucks proliferate on basically every street corner where there isn’t a government prohibition on caffeine. And the company’s most vital worker-bees, baristas, are privy to all sorts of insider knowledge about the empire’s secrets, not to mention how facilities are cleaned, or if they even are at all.
And ex-barista Christian Brown wants the world to know just how disgusting and unsanitary it can get behind the scenes at your local Starbucks. Brown was recently fired from his local store in Elk Grove, CA, which was apparently a disgusting, germ-infested rat’s nest of a coffee shop. Brown posted a lengthy rant on Facebook elucidating all of the details, including bathrooms that went uncleaned for days, and milk wands so neglected they sat encrusted in brown gunk.
Chalking the issue up to neglectful management, Brown attached pictures of the alleged Starbucks strewn with garbage on the floor, and reams of fly paper hanging from storage shelves. Perhaps most alarmingly, Brown wrote of one particular occasion that sounds downright grim:
“On 2 separate occasions, a barista used the bathroom toilet brush to clean dishes. Yeah, you read that right,” he noted in his epic screed.
The Starbucks that used to employ Brown passed a health inspection as recently as October 26, notes Minneapolis Fox affiliate KARE. But Brown claims that management simply kicked the cleaning into high-gear when inspections were due, to compensate for the lack of preparation.
As his post picked up steam on Facebook, it eventually caught the attention of Starbucks top brass, and company spokesperson Reggie Borges disagreed with Brown’s fiery diatribe.
“We’ve made several visits and are confident this is not a regular issue,” he said.
Regardless of the veracity of Brown's claims, it’s pretty much universally known that most Starbucks aren’t bastions of filth. On the contrary, it’s the most likely that there’s a monstrosity in your cup, as opposed to one lurking behind the counter.
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A former busboy, Sam Blum sympathizes with the baristas of the world. Follow him @Blumnessmonster.