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" ?

For me I like knowing that they will have soya milk and their food normally has the nutritional information on it.

I hate Starbucks (the coffee and the company) but do actually enjoy the coffee in Costa and Caffé Nero. The food is blah but it's the coffee I'm after. If there's a Léon, I'd rather go there as the food is amazing too but they're not as common.

I think everyone likes to know what they are getting a lot of the time.
I agree that the cost of a take out coffee if ridiculous and I rarely ever get one, unless it is on expenses and even then I feel guilty.

I had to wander around Waitrose yesterday tripping over a woman slurping coffee through a straw. She was seemingly incapable of both drinking and successfully navigating the store. It was like dealing with a giant toddler.

The sooner they do away wih the free coffee at Waitrose the better. It's not even nice!

I'm a SAHM who likes a take away coffee, not to show how busy I am (who's bloody interested?) but because often my two toddlers aren't in the mood to sit quietly for 20 minutes in a cafe, but I still want a coffee having been woken several times in the night. So I take it away. Nice to know some people are judging that.

Literally a straw? A milkshake maybe, but coffee through a straw??

Thanks Hazey Jane :-)

Pfffsh, don't worry about it cosmicglittergirl, enjoy your take away coffee like the hundreds of thousands of other people who do. There will always be people who enjoy judging, and they will find something to judge. Let them crack on, ignore it and go about your day. (enjoying your coffee!)

I will happily drink coffee through a straw but I don't wander around the store doing it as I think it's a bit gross.

This culture of scoffing fast food in the street and whilst using public transport and food shopping whilst slurping drinks is kind of weird. I know people claim to be time poor but I'm not convinced it's that. I think it's an attitude and it's laziness/slovenliness.

Decent restaurant meal £60 a head...what on earth are you buying in coffee shops to total that?!

Minimum £60 a head for a 'decent' restaurant meal? I'm glad I don't live wherever you do!

Clearly the op wasn't referring to fine dining but £100 is plenty to have a nice enough, two course restaurant meal for the four of us in a huge variety of places here.

I was always insanely jealous of the mum whose walk to school took her past Costas.

Cheers hazey. I am interested in a good reusable cup though. All the ones I've tried have been rubbish

YY to grannycake!

I remember no decent coffee being available and am also happy with a Costa cortado.

We use Costa and Starbucks as we know they have decent milk substitutes for lactose intolerant Dd1. Also dh has social anxiety so he finds it easier to go to chains where he knows what to expect.
They are both enjoying the new Starbucks tea range, last week they had pots of tea with the option of a free refill.

Yadayadayada, I'm not really interested in whether you think it is lazy/toddler like or slovenly - was it actually a straw??!

Pmsl at £60 a head. Most people round here are crammed into Toby Carvery balancing five yorkshires on their plate or eating in the Harvester. I bet £60 would buy you a fair among from the salad bar 🤔

I got to an independent at the weekends - the food is delicious but service is sooo slow. In the week its all about survival - need caffeine & got to get from A to B on time. I could never rely on the independent so invariably its Costa or Starbucks. Sometimes Pret if i'm up in town. I actually like the coffee at all of them so it doesnt matter to me really.

I don't like the taste of Starbucks coffee so have always stuck to Nero or Costa unless there's a good independent
As people above have said if you're in a strange place you don't always know and take a risk, I'm away on holiday at moment and have used a different cafe each day, so far had 4 good coffees, one nespresso and an even more disgusting instant variant
DP and I go out for coffee most weekends it's just a thing to do, watch the world go by, chat, sometimes when he is very depressed it's been a way of getting him out of his bed, even if only briefly
I think the toasties etc are usually overpriced, I'm also gluten free so either have nothing or a small GF cake thing
Is it just me or has the coffee changed? I used to prefer Nero then it started becoming bitter in last 6 months or so.
Now Costa is going same way
I thought it was my tastebuds, until I went on holiday in September (Canary Islands) with DS and every day had delicious coffee in some random bar or restaurant depending on where we were

Pmsl yes, a straw! 😜

Putting Costa and Starbucks in to the same category confuses me. Costa do good coffee and they do real tea as well. There's no comparison.

Why are people talking about £100 restaurant meals - coffee, cake and babycinos for 5 of us usually costs about £15!

BP petrol stations in NZ are the biz for coffee. Friendly baristas, decent coffee and all the pies you could ever want

Well a straw to drink coffee is a very unusual thing, and definitely worth commenting on (unless it was actually an iced coffee/Frappuccino thing, in which case different rules apply)

I simply like the drinks in Costa. I like their cappuccinos and gingerbread spiced latte and the fact that they bring the drinks over when I have the buggy and bring me a highchair too. I never feel rushed out and as I leave a member of staff rushes to get the door for me. At the independent coffee places around here I've either been told I can't feed my baby his home made mush without buying an overpriced meal or I find the coffee is rubbish (have better filtered at home) or in one case don't feel particularly welcome as all the comfy chairs are sectioned off in an 'adults only area'.

I bloody love Starbucks. It's been my spiritual home since before it was Starbucks (anyone remember the Seattle Coffee Company?)

The staff are always, without fail, intelligent and friendly. No eye rolling or blank looks when I ask for decaf, extra hot, or when I produce my own mug.

Quote from woman in museum cafe 'we' re not allowed to make tea in that'.

They are comfy, play reasonable music, and encourage lingering.

I have family members who hate the whole globalisation thing and who sneer at chains. I couldn't care less. The reason why chains do so well is because they give people what they want.

My reusable mug costs three quid in primark. They do all sorts of bright designs, I'm always getting compliments. They're double walled and the lid screws on so they keep the drink hot too. And weightless for carrying.

Love the idea of being imaginative through my cafe choice, who knew it was a requirement :)