How to hack Starbucks at Rutgers
Don’t feel ashamed of your love for caramel frappes
We all enjoy our triple venti two pumps no foam soy white mochas, hold the whip! But what do you do when you’re given the option to go to three Starbucks and a truck? If you’re a true basic bitch, you know each one is different and will never be the same.
We’re blessed, though, truly blessed but you can’t nail being basic if you don’t understand the differences at each location.
Rutgers owns the Starbucks on The Yard, Livingston, and the truck. The only corporate-owned Starbucks is the one on George St.
Transportation
You’ve already paid for the buses in your tuition, so you have no excuse not to make a travel to get your skinny caramel macchiato with extra, extra caramel.
The truck also travels to different campuses each day. You can find where it currently is through their twitter account @rustartruck.
Your order
Our broke selves can barely afford a meal plan so here’s a fun fact: each Rutgers owned Starbucks is more expensive than George St.
Each store offers their freshly brewed coffee of the day, Pike Place. Dark roast and blonde roast are mostly available in the mornings. They all also offer the basic espresso drinks including lattes, cappuccinos, macchiatos, etc.
Coffee is the cheapest option because you put in however much milk you want free of charge even if it’s a milk replacement.
Any special, new drinks for the upcoming season are always available at each Starbucks and are the most expensive.
Milk replacements make Starbucks great. They offer soy, coconut, and almond milk. The truck does not offer these at all.
The truck doesn’t offer any teas with lemonade; possibly one of the more refreshing and popular items for lovers of tea and sugar. Also, you can’t order a pink drink cause it calls for coconut milk.
Starbucks on George St.
George St. won’t listen when you say, “light ice” because they never write it on the cups, so you have to urge them to put five ice cubes in your latte or peach green tea lemonade.
You can get any drink in a larger cup free of charge, but I promise they will question why you want extra room. If you want a grande hot chocolate in a venti cup, you can ask for extra whip.
The same goes for iced drinks. You can get your venti strawberry acai in a trenta cup for extra ice. You can also order any iced drink without ice.
If you feel your drink doesn’t taste right, you can ask the baristas to remake your drink. You will be a pain in the ass because everyone else now has to wait for your drink to be remade, but you don’t want to be paying for something you didn’t want.
Discounts work differently at each location
All reward drinks will work at each location, but any special offerings through the Starbucks app are exclusively available at the Starbucks on George St. Each location offers their own discounts regarding certain events associated with Rutgers like the start of the semester or the start of finals.
Mobile order is only available for the Starbucks on George St.
If you work at a Starbucks, your partner discount or markdown will only work on George St.
A space to study
The Yard, being the newest Starbucks on campus will always be crowded because it’s located near one of the busier bus stops on campus. It does hold a bigger cafe so you can try to wait around for a spot but good luck dealing with all the noise by all students hanging out drinking their venti white mochas.
The Livingston Starbucks also has a pretty big cafe area to chill or study but after classes, there will always be a line to the door. You will most likely have to wait around with a crowd of students.
Many older adults and folk living in New Brunswick occupy George St. It opens early at 5:30 a.m., and closes at 9 p.m. It’s busiest during peak around 8 a.m., and around noon. There will always be a seat since most people there are working alone. It’s also seems to be the quietest location because everyone is incredibly concentrated in their own work.
Starbucks at The Yard
The best Starbucks is…
Whichever one nails your vibes. If you’re trying to save money but can’t give up mochas, go to George St. If you enjoy being so close to Scott because you have class there, feel free to hang out at The Yard. Whether you order a soy vanilla latte or a coffee, nail the upcoming semester and be the basic bitch.