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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To no longer enjoy going to starbucks, costa or cafe nero?

223 replies

slownova · 30/08/2025 10:51

I was in town early this morning as I was at the Gym and then had to pick up on item from a shop that wasn't open until 9.30am. Years ago I used to love popping into starbucks or costa for tea and a bit of cake but I had a look in both and the cakes just looked a bit grim to me. In the end I just wondered round till the shop I wanted opened and then I went up the road to have a nice pot of tea and a homemade scone.

I still enjoy going to a nicer café with home baking and good quality tea but the appeal of places like starbucks, Nero and Costa as totally evaporated for me. I used to love getting some seasonal pumpkin loaf or ginger bread with thick buttercream icing or some kind of gingerbread / black cherry / peppermint hot chocolate but I just don't like it anymore. I also can no longer stomach hot chocolate and a cake and would have tea and cake or a hot chocolate preferably a dark chocolate one on it's own.

I do still sometimes go to costa etc if I'm meeting a friend or with my niece and there isn't anywhere else to go and sit but all the glamour it gone.

Why is that? Am I just getting old? My teenage niece still loves to go to Starbucks. I find it so expensive for what you get and the cakes aren't nice and I can make much nicer at home myself and I have better loose leaf tea which I can break out if I want a treat.

OP posts:
PollyBell · 30/08/2025 10:52

I find all the coffee terrible

CeciliaMars · 30/08/2025 10:53

I agree. The chain coffee shops are often dirty and understaffed and the cakes mass-manufactured. Try to support a local independent coffee shop instead - much nicer!

deblcouen · 30/08/2025 10:54

I don’t eat the cakes but I love an iced drink after a long walk and maybe some egg bites in Starbucks. Also quite a fan of a latte in Costa.

youalright · 30/08/2025 10:54

Their to expensive and not that great id rather save the calories for something else

WaneyEdge · 30/08/2025 10:54

I like Starbucks as they are one of the few that use full sugar syrups/flavouring. I can’t have any artificial sweeteners at all. I don’t really drink coffee but I do like an occasional caramel macchiato and the melon refresher is lovely.

Hankunamatata · 30/08/2025 10:57

I like a Costa Coffee. Won't touch baked goods. Independents are def better for that

EilonwyWithRedGoldHair · 30/08/2025 10:58

Starbuck's cakes are definitely not what they used to be. I spend too much time in Costa because they're everywhere and they're a safe place for DS who's autistic.

Don't think I've ever been to a Nero.

I prefer Coffee#1 out of the chains. Their tuna panini is considerably better than Costa's, and they have nicer cakes.

(Just googled it, Coffee#1 is owned by Caffe Nero now)

WickedElpheba · 30/08/2025 10:58

I agree with you. The cakes often taste stale and it's all so expensive

You easily pay almost £10 for a drink and a piece of cake

CharlotteStreetW1 · 30/08/2025 10:58

I find all those chain cafés incredibly frustrating because the service is so s-l-o-w with the coffee orders. Probably doesn't help that I don't drink coffee!

I think they should have one queue for coffee and a separate queue for tea.

Costa cakes are lovely though.

roses2 · 30/08/2025 10:59

Everything pre prepared tastes heavily processed to me these days. Not sure if I have higher standards as I got older or it really is more processed than eg 10 years ago. I just dont like the taste of most shop bought cakes these days.

Possibly why chains that use processed goods are in decline and people are now willing to pay more but less frequent for local / artisan places that dont use heavily processed ingredients.

aablaster · 30/08/2025 11:00

I feel the same . It used to be a treat with appeal. The venues are now really run down and grubby . Occasionally go to a nicer Starbucks to work for a change of scenery and some are nicer than others . Agree cake is rubbish . I am forever on the hunt for a cafe with good moist homemade cake !! Often disappointed

In genral eating and drinking out the quality is going down and prices going up. I begrudge the prices . I make better coffee at home now .

reversegear · 30/08/2025 11:00

I’ve never been a huge fan but if I ever do into a chain for a snack I aim for Pret. The others are just so awful and dark and grubby.

TonTonMacoute · 30/08/2025 11:01

I never did enjoy going to any of those TBH, I would always go to an independent. Luckily there are lots in our nearest town.

The only time I have used Costa or Starbucks have been when I needed a break on a long motorway journey, I certainly wouldn't seek them out.

Original poster
slownova · 30/08/2025 11:01

youalright · 30/08/2025 10:54

Their to expensive and not that great id rather save the calories for something else

Absolutely that is totally how I see it now as well. I'll still eat something delicious but I won't waste calories on something that might be sweet but subpar.

OP posts:
mrsjg · 30/08/2025 11:04

I’m in Starbucks right now, browsing the internet with a cup of tea and some fruit toast. After a busy week it's some time to myself. I enjoy it.

InOverMyHead84 · 30/08/2025 11:04

Costa is still popular for us. I'm a tea drinker so the quality of the coffee doesn't matter! Free baby chinos for the kids, a couple of pots of tea and the odd cake for the little ones to share. We all have a treat for around 13 pounds a time.

LoveItaly · 30/08/2025 11:05

I agree about Starbucks and Costa, but I do still like Cafe Nero, and especially like their toasted panini. Costa Coffee changed their non dairy milk brand a few years ago (used to be Alpro), and I find the replacement revolting, so I stopped going there.

Original poster
slownova · 30/08/2025 11:05

@TonTonMacoute I think that in my local area in the town centre there is just a dearth of good independent cafes always and if independent places open up they don't seem to last. If I want a nice café I have to go up to the city to the bougie part of the city at that. My friend who lives in another city has endless cafe's with nice bakes all over the place but there just isn't a culture of it here.

OP posts:
HÆLTHEPAIN · 30/08/2025 11:06

We go to a Costa nearly every weekend, sometimes twice as we go for a drive and stop there. I love their mochas. And their toasted teacakes are always full of fruit. I’m always disappinted if I ever have some cake or something though (which we would usually only get if on offer or through a reward).

Original poster
slownova · 30/08/2025 11:06

@InOverMyHead84 I don't like coffee either I think I've just got more fussy as I got older.

OP posts:
SunnyD4ys · 30/08/2025 11:07

Are we all meant to be going to chain coffee shops? I didn't get that memo, I meet friends for coffee most weeks but never in a chain shop. Why would you even think it might be unreasonable not to go to them? Genuinely don't see why this is even a question, is it a London thing?

Original poster
slownova · 30/08/2025 11:07

@aablaster Thats it exactly the interiors really are quite dingy now. I'm sure they used to be a bit nicer.

OP posts:
ThisUsernameIsNowTaken · 30/08/2025 11:07

slownova · 30/08/2025 10:51

I was in town early this morning as I was at the Gym and then had to pick up on item from a shop that wasn't open until 9.30am. Years ago I used to love popping into starbucks or costa for tea and a bit of cake but I had a look in both and the cakes just looked a bit grim to me. In the end I just wondered round till the shop I wanted opened and then I went up the road to have a nice pot of tea and a homemade scone.

I still enjoy going to a nicer café with home baking and good quality tea but the appeal of places like starbucks, Nero and Costa as totally evaporated for me. I used to love getting some seasonal pumpkin loaf or ginger bread with thick buttercream icing or some kind of gingerbread / black cherry / peppermint hot chocolate but I just don't like it anymore. I also can no longer stomach hot chocolate and a cake and would have tea and cake or a hot chocolate preferably a dark chocolate one on it's own.

I do still sometimes go to costa etc if I'm meeting a friend or with my niece and there isn't anywhere else to go and sit but all the glamour it gone.

Why is that? Am I just getting old? My teenage niece still loves to go to Starbucks. I find it so expensive for what you get and the cakes aren't nice and I can make much nicer at home myself and I have better loose leaf tea which I can break out if I want a treat.

They are awful - bland corporate flavours, sugar overload and zero individuality. They kill all the independents and the tea is completely undrinkable. I cannot fathom why some of my mates prefer them and force me to go there.

SpottyDottie98 · 30/08/2025 11:08

Their coffee is awful. And really expensive. We spend a lot of time in our local children's hospital with our daughter, and if you want a coffee it is from Costa and it's never nice coffee and never particularly hot. The lemon or blueberry muffins are quite nice, but they're over £3 each, so DH and I usually share one if we have anything to eat. We don't bother the toasties etc, because again, they're really expensive and not even nice. We only buy from there when DD is admitted because there is a lack of other available options.

Purplecatshopaholic · 30/08/2025 11:08

Yeah, agree. I don’t go to any of the chains, they are all rubbish ime. My local independent coffee shop in comparison is excellent, great coffee, great cakes, so I go there.