Highland Park's Depressing Starbucks Finally Getting Overhauled

Just about everyone jumped at the chance to make fun of Highland Park’s lackluster Starbucks when it first opened last year. Architects, locals, everyone. Hopefully that’s all about to change, thanks to a planned rehab coming all the way from corporate.

As the Eastsider reports, the semi-viral "Most Depressing Starbucks in America" — known primarily for its really, really crappy layout and desolate prison feel — caught the eye of Starbucks brass last year, when they promised to overhaul the entire place. Now it’s happening, complete with additional storefront windows (no more solitary walk-up pane of glass), some hip roll up metal doors and the addition of a trellis and some lighting to the outside patio area, among other aesthetic swaps. Sounds nice, if a bit standard-issue, but as the location has shown already, everyone's a critic.

Of note though: Highland Park’s eyesore Starbucks still won’t have any indoor seating; it’s more of a grab and go operation at this point. But ‘Bucks spokesperson Haley Drage knows the place has been an eyesore since day one, telling Eastsider that they "did not create the right experience for that neighborhood." To say the least.