To wonder what's so great about Starbucks?

[ACatCalledColin]

Every time I go in there, it's always overcrowded and there's nowhere to sit or if it's not crowded the tables are usually still filthy from previous customers and nobody's bothering to clear them up .

The coffee is okay but certainly not anything to write home about. I quite like their hot chocolate (especially with some caramel syrup) and frappes though. Unfortunately I always seem to get dragged in there by friends on shopping trips as they all seem to love it.

Even my 14 year old sister has started going there with friends after school and at weekends and they usually go for the coffee rather than the frappes. And she raves about Starbucks a lot these days too.

Do they hypnotize you into coming back for more of their dirty dishwater coffee? Are they trying to take over the world?

I live in a Devon,pretty normal down here too.

Frappucino! I love it, especially when you drink it so fast with the straw that is frezzes your brain!

You live in a Devon Retro? Which Devon is that then .

I read that the most expensive ingredient in a Starbucks coffee is the milk!

I don't like them. Have been in twice and was disappointed with the coffee both times. Weak and not hot enough.

I want all the Starbucks' albums. And Pottery Barn's, too. They can keep the coffee.

The chains understand the comfy thing. Sofas, tub chairs, lots of wood to create an ambience of cosy brown-ness, and the feel of a safe retreat.

I often feel like grabbing the proprietors of many local independents and frogmarching them into Starbucks and going! "Look! Comfy! Cosy! Pople will come, and will pay 3 quid for a coffee! Your cafe is bright and clattery and has tiny little tables and you have to perch on a spindly little chair and people bash into your back as they squeeze past! I really want to frequent your joint because Starbucks are sucking the life out of the High Street but GIVE ME COSY WITH MY COFFEE!!

Plus, the chains have a hundred cunning ways to cram their drinks and snacks with extra fat and sugar, which is, of course, delicious and addictive.

There's nothing great about them, but in London (and the rest of the UK to be fair) it can be hard to get a consistently good coffee. Now, whilst Starbucks may not be the be all and end all of coffee, if you learn what coffee you like, whether it is a Black Americano with an extra shot, or a strong latte, or whatever, wherever you go in the UK, it will be the same. I even went to America and got the exact same coffee. So there is consistency if nothing else (in my opinion)

I prefer costa but Starbucks is good at Xmas, the toffee nut latte is goood. You are right the service is shit and it's messy but if you want fancy drinks or soya/skimmed choices then there's not loads if choice.

Mcdonalds coffee is half the price and much better or if I want a treat I will go to a local cafe.

Agree with everyone who said Starbucks/Costa etc stopped being 'cool' and a fad at least 20 years ago. They are now ubiquitous, on every high street, you see everyone from teens to parents, businessmen to pensioners in them.

People aren't going in to look cool, or play into a certain lifestyle. They are going because they are thirsty, fancy a drink, somewhere to sit, get out of the rain, or meet a friend.

I don't actually think they are particularly bad value. Honestly, where else can you go to meet a friend or sit for a few hours for less than a fiver? Restaurants would expect you to buy something, libraries are free but you can't always eat/talk loudly/find a good seat, McDonald's or somewhere may be slightly cheaper but not exactly a nice ambience to relax.

I am shocked by people who buy it every day, as that adds up to at least £20 a week, but as an occasional treat, it's really not expensive. I don't really like the plain coffee, but for all the other things (frappes, flavoured hot chocs etc), they are not actually more expensive than the alternative. With Frappe's for examples, you would think Mc Donalds would be the cheapest bog standard end of the market, but their frappes are only about 60p cheaper than costas, and they don't offer any of the alternatives (soya milk, low fat, different flavourings etc). To be honest, even if you made it at home you would have to buy the coffee, syrup flavouring, whipped cream, syrup, a blender....

Although I will moan that I hate Starbucks' ridiculously slow service. I have left the shop so many times because I've been queuing for ages and still not got anywhere. That does irritate me, but it's obviously not a problem for them as they're going strong.

Um, no Minty, soya milk, babychinos etc all available outside London too! My parents live in a little village in South Wales and there are at least 50 or so starbucks/costas within a 20 mile radius.

You Lunderners are not THAT special!
(btw we have electricity too!)

Anotheronebitthedust I'd agree with that. I live in a small hick town in the north east but I can think of about 6 Starbucks and 5 Costas within a 30 minute drive. Actually there's probably more than that but those are the only ones I can think of right now.

Although I will moan that I hate Starbucks' ridiculously slow service.

Yup. They have two tills but there seems to be only ever one person serving. What's up with that?

We have several local coffee shops who do better/cheaper coffee than the chains, but none of them do a flat white (wail). If I'm having coffee I want it to taste of coffee. I end up having a double shot latte or an americano with hot milk. But the flat white is spreading slowly and I'm sure will reach hicktown hometown eventually.

we don't use the chains - overpriced and pressuring small local and better businesses. Went into Cafe Nero once, mainly to get out of the rain, and the coffee was dreadful

Their coffee is rubbish and overpriced. Seating is very comfy though.

I go in if I am desperate and there is no independent equivalent around. Sadly there often isn't an independent because of Starbucks. When I was at uni years ago my friends and I used to go to this fantastic little coffee / bookshop. It was never going to make a million but it was lovely and always quite busy. Till Starbucks moved in a few doors down. From then on Starbucks was always packed and our little cafe dwindled until it went out of business. Sometimes I really hate people

I suspect this happens quite a bit.

I go to Starbucks because I usually drink filter coffee because most cafés in England seem to only serve espresso drinks. I find Starbucks syrups too sweet and if I have their hot chocolate I ask for half as much syrup.

Coffee? What's coffee?

shoot me down but I love starbucks. caramel macchiatos and frapps in the summer. YUM

if you want it hotter, just ask for it extra hot.

my dad is a coffee expert, in an academic sense and HATES starbucks. I love to wind him up by telling him how great it is, he goes mental! :-)

Its been about 20 years since Starbucks was "trendy" or a "fad".
At least.
I live in the Home of the Coffee Gods (the Pacific Northwest) and going to Starbucks is the sort of thing you're embarrassed to admit to, and usually apologize for. It's the Walmart of coffee shops.

It's convenient - there's one in my local supermarket, for instance - and you know what you're going to get, but it's not a destination. I literally can't remember the last time I went into a Starbucks and stayed longer than it took to get my order. Anybody purposely going 'out for coffee' or a meal isn't going to choose Starbucks. To begin with, their coffee is absolute shite.
I've never found a coffee place that didn't know what a wet cappuccino was though.

I like going to Starbucks occasionally in the same way I like going to Pizza Express or All Bar One - it brings me right back to a different stage in my life.

I remember we drank a lot of Starbucks in Canada on a trip pre DS, when Starbucks was (still just about) stylish.

I agree that their coffee is fairly weak, but I now know what to order - Americano with 1/3 hot skinny milk, although I might be tempted by a flat white after this thread. I like the dependability of it and their sofas are comfy.

Yep, totally agree, their 'coffee' is crap (weak, lukewarm, as others have said), and to me has a weird, unpleasant undertaste.

In America a couple of years ago there was almost literally a Starbucks on every corner and if possible their coffee was even worse than it is here - both weaker and colder. But it was sometimes the only place open early/late if we were going on trips, so in the end I worked out that I had to ask for skinny, extra shot, extra extra hot cappuccinos. They obviously thought I was mad but it did produce something that vaguely - very vaguely - approximated to what I would consider coffee.

Can't recall the last time I went into a Starbucks here, though.

Nothing. I don't frequent it anymore. I prefer my coffee shops to be of the Corporation Tax paying variety to be honest.

I'm actually amazed that people in london of all places actually still use the chains. Sure there is a costa/ Starbucks on every corner, but there is also hundreds of lovely independent coffee shops down every sidestreet
I can go for a walk and go in a diff one daily

I love my local Starbucks. Fast, efficient service, they know my order, will happily make any adjustments I want, are great with the kids, lots of tables, outdoor space fronting on to the town square to watch the world go by. And most of all I love the free refill on filter coffee and the extra 25p off if you take your own cup, even when drinking in. Oh, and the fruit toast - food of the gods. The actual coffee isn't the best on the market becuase of the tendency to over roast but it's okay; strong, and consistent. I love coffee and have a regular monthly subscription to a premium bean service and whilst Bucks will never be able to compete with that sort of quality, it's not the worst on the high street and people don't go just for the coffee, as has been explained very well indeed by others upthread.

Not all are overcrowded. I hate crowds and have become an expert in finding where the quiet branches are in London, and in some other cities in the U.K. I like Starbucks because I can sit with my book or arse around online for a while drinking in spacious surroundings, or just staring out the window in a change of scenery from home to relax and recharge. The reliability and comfort is reassuring and I can happily put up with mediocre coffee for all the other things the company provides. I've recently noticed more and more business meetings in branches. Free refill on the filter coffee also a good idea (which I don't think they advertise) and the fruit bread is delicious.

I agree, though, with a comment earlier that the tea is crap. And when I want great coffee I have Union at home, or Nero/indie when out and about.