For Those Of You Who Like Starbucks...
- Thread starter Illiterati
- Start date
I hate Starbucks now. 
I used to like it a lot, and would go there EVERY DAY. I stopped that three years ago, and I still have $14.00 on my Starbucks app. 
I used to like it a lot, and would go there EVERY DAY. I stopped that three years ago, and I still have $14.00 on my Starbucks app. 
Annoyed
Surly Old Curmudgeon
You're forgetting a big part of the experience. The wait in line. The way these places manage their staffing level, it takes a minimum of 10 minutes to get thru any drive thru in the area.
shavedape
Well Known GateFan
Back in the late 90's Starbucks coffee tasted great. It tastes like burnt crap now. If you must get a coffee on the go your best bet is, as JL said, Dunkin' Donuts or even McDonalds. As it is I despise McDonalds with a passion, but I'm honest enough to admit that they make a decent cup of coffee. Plus it's cheap. 
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Illiterati
Council Member & Author
I don't like the taste of Starbucks' coffee. Too harsh for me.
It seems always burned. It has the taste my home brew gets when I dont clean the filter after brewing a strong bold bean. And it isnt even that I hate, it is the prices and the shrinking cups and ESPECIALLY $2.00 cookies and $6.00 sandwiches that are not even worth a quarter of that amount. The service sucks, the locations are hipster magnets (cause the Mac drones are now mobile with iPhone6 Plus and they dont hang out there as much). It already had it's "moment". Time for something new....
I kinda feel sorry for you all not having Dunkin Donuts out in CA. The establishments are almost the literal reverse of "hipster" but people mob them for coffee, soups, light sandwiches and such (the name says Donuts and they have them but the sandwiches, coffee and soups have for a few years now been their REAL sellers). And their sandwiches aren't bad and again they cost rather less than half what you might see at Starbucks (they have a pretty good croissant you can get with lean ham/turkey/chicken/whatever and a cheese on it for just under $2). They pretty much dominate the Northeast US and the Midwest (especially Chicago), have built up to a lead position in Texas and in 2015 are expected to open locations in California and Florida too. Canada is a little strange for them as they have a sort of alliance/non-compete they entered into with Tim Horton's.
Of course we have Dunkin Donuts.
There are three within 10 miles of here. Over 100 in CA
Jim of WVa
Well Known GateFan
What CA has that the east needs is Jack-in-the-Box.
We have had them some time now. The problem for them in CA is popularity. Before Starbucks, the premiere coffee/bakery was Winchells Donuts. Starbucks put them out of business. McDonalds right now is Starbucks' biggest competitor because of their much better coffee and much lower prices, PLUS they are generally co-located close to each other.
Weird. Per the LA Times there are currently only a few Dunkin Donuts in CA:
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-dunkin-donuts-california-20140610-story.html
This year is when they plan to open a bunch more.
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-dunkin-donuts-california-20140610-story.html
This year is when they plan to open a bunch more.
Jim of WVa
Well Known GateFan
McDonalds coffee does not give me that quiver-in-the-liver feeling that Starbucks coffee does.
Jim of WVa
Well Known GateFan
Starbucks does not burn the coffee; it is just strong.
Jim of WVa
Well Known GateFan
There are small coffee shops that sell milder coffee that taste better than McDonalds corporate brew.
In many of the more heavily visited Starbucks in SoCal, the coffee is actually burned tasting because of heavy usage and the difficulty of cleaning the brewer halfway through the day. But I can get that quiver in the liver feeling from ground whole beans on a strong brew and extra hot water.
Dunkin Donuts was here more than 15 years ago dude.
From the article at your link:The main thing I do not like about Dunkin Donuts is that they do not bake them on premises. They receive them frozen. Sure, I gave up donuts but even I know that the smallest, most humble neighborhood donut shops bake their donuts every day in Los Angeles. We also have Krispy Kreme. You cant have a lighted sign advertising frozen donuts and fresh coffee in CA. It was one of the reasons it did not become popular in 1996. Peets Coffee and Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, and surprisingly, McDonalds are the premier coffee vendors in CA nowadays.