Not to understand the appeal of Starbucks, Costa, etc.?

[Nataleejah]

What is the thing with them?
Drinks are nothing special, food is not the freshest, yet you pay for a coffee and a sandwich just as much as for a decent restaurant meal.
Or it its an adult version of a "happy meal" ?

I hate them. Shit coffee.
Always go to an independent.

Well if you want a takeaway coffee you can't just wander into a restaurant for one

I can't understand it either. They seem to be for people with no imagination (or no choice).

Costas large versions of cakes are nice though. The large Fondant fancy , Jaffa cake and Tea cake cannot be beaten!

Predictability.

If we are in a town we dint know for a day out, we know that Costa/Nero/#1 etc will have ok coffee, the kids can have a babycinno, and cake we know they like. It makes the whole thing easier.

I don't understand the appeal of Greggs but I don't go slagging off people who queue up there. YABU

Every food outlet has got its place. I visit most of them depending on who I'm with. Mum=Costa Son=McDs Husband=Pub etc.....

My starucks is fabulous. Next door to an independent. I Started at the independent. Slow moving queues and small take away cups. Starbucks starts my drink when they see me enter. I'm in and out in no time and I get my preferred size of coffee with the number of shots I like in it. We smile and know each other by name. I'm not often looking to eat in cafés so can't comment on food.

I find it hilarious when people travel across the world to different cities and order the same fucking drink in Starbucks as they do at the train station each morning.

You don't need to understand the appeal, if you don't like them, don't go. I've never had a happy meal so I'd have to take your word on what they're like.

I don't tend to buy tea or coffee when I'm out but lots of people seem to enjoy it so that's up to them.

It's a matter of taste. I like the taste of a Starbuck's latte, especially the Christmas limited edition flavours. You don't - so don't buy it. I may well dislike the restaurant you call "decent".

Bottom line: people like different things. Get used to it.

I second predictability, it's the same with say a chain hotel, sometimes you want to know that where you are going to spend your money will suit your needs and provide a certain level of service. That can be reassuring for some occasions, some people.

I do love independent coffee places but only Starbucks does a pumpkin spice latte so I have to go there for that until it catches on elsewhere!

DoYouRememberJustinBobby I always go to McDs when I'm traveling, because they always have toilet roll and soap and toilet seats! Sometimes after weeks eating food that you then vomit up and visiting a toilet that you'd wish you didn't have to use, McDs is a beacon of light!

I love the idea of you doubled over laughing in hysterics when you see tourists entering chains Justin.

Because it's consistant and they have drive through which is handy when I'm out with the baby.
They are particularly useless at our local Starbucks though, which is annoying.

I love the idea of you doubled over laughing in hysterics when you see tourists entering chains Justin.

There are also different reasons why people travel. It's not always to taste the food. Besides, they might have had a big lunch somewhere exotic but just fancied a straight coffee for a change. Unless you've been stalking them you won't know. Now that's what I'd consider sad - looking around to judge other tourists when you could be enjoying the place for what it is. Or, actually, no, if it makes you happy to laugh at other people's beverage choices, you carry on. Try not to let them know what you're laughing about, though, as that would be rude.

You know what you're getting.

In my home town we have a couple of independents which frankly are rubbish. Coffee is rubbish, cakes are, as are the opening hours (open at 930am. Sounds silly but if I want a coffee on my one day off after the school run, I'm not hanging about for 20 mins). So I reluctantly use a chain coffee shop.

I don't really get the wandering about holding a takeaway coffee thing.

I prefer sitting down with a proper cup.

But loads of people are quite obsessed with hot beverages.

I don't understand the appeal either, but they're everywhere, it's not like there is an alternative takeaway coffee. Within 10 mins of my home there is a Costa, a Nero and a Starbucks, but the only independent cafes are nice sit down places, and they are more about the food than the coffee.

Where I live there are tonnes of Costas and at first, no independents I could fit a double pushchair in or were open on a Monday. So I went to Costa. The kids like the babycino, I could bear the cappuccino. However, recently some great independents have opened and the coffee is great so I'm going there. Sometimes the options aren't obvious and people see something they recognise. One good thing about Costa is their calorie info on the cakes. It's stopped me buying them. I personally think Neros tastes like an ashtray, but that's another thread.

They're shit but convenient. You know there'l be bad coffee, rubbish over priced food and no atmosphere but at least there'll be wifi, a clean enough table and some toilets.

yet you pay for a coffee and a sandwich just as much as for a decent restaurant meal

You're finding some pretty cheap 'decent restaurant meals'!

I tend to visit Starbucks/Costa/etc because the stomach issues I have require me to have a milky coffee, but I can't drink normal milk and quite often the independent chains and even fast food outlets don't offer alternative milks. Plus black tea often doesn't hit the spot.