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

[slownova]

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.

I stopped going chain cafes years ago because they’re very poor value for money.

Luckily, there a no chain cafes where I live, just a few nice independent ones so you have a choice of where to go. One is a small intimate artsy venue that’s plays great music and has good coffee but usually only a choice of two homemade style cakes. You can pick up a guitar from the wall and start playing it if you want to.

The coffee is worse in the supermarket cafes so I tend to avoid those too unless I’m looking for a more substantial meal.

It's an interesting point about the decor.

Chain coffee shops all have to be decorated to match the corporate branding, and if they were going to change that it would be a major operation to renovate and redecorate all the branches at once. That's a huge job, so understandably they get revamped far less often than independent shops which have more freedom to decide that their Farrow and Ball Hague Blue walls and flamingo print cushions are now dated and change their colour scheme.

Grubby
Overpriced
Heavily processed food
Full of chavs (at least they are in our neck of the woods) and all that tattooed flab makes me heave

Yes, we are lucky. This is the town where the Macdonalds closed down because not enough people went there.

Probably the lack of competition from good quality independent neighbours near you is why the chains don't bother.

They are back to Alpro now xx

I've never liked Starbucks or Pret. Costa is fine, but I prefer Cafe Nero - there's one branch I'm particularly fond of.

and all that tattooed flab makes me heave

🤣🤣🤣

Costa used to be a Friday treat for me but I realised I actually didn’t like the coffee, I just liked the time to myself and the feel of a treat. I now have coffee with cream at home which does still feel like a treat, but I actually enjoy the drink. Feels ridiculous to say that but such is the power of consumerism and social media.

I spend a decent amount of time in Costa not because I love it but I work out and about and can expense a drink and a toastie, plug in my laptop for an hour and no one cares. The tables are often a bit sticky, the cakes are massively overpriced and too sweet. I do think that you are really paying to rent a space for a bit. I’m always amazed the drive thru is busy. The Costa loyalty scheme is good though I use a 2go cup so I get a free one every 5 and the dc quite like going for a frappe.

I much prefer an independent and an excellent scone but it’s often tricky to get a properly itemised receipt for expenses, they might not let me plug in or want you out agin in 20 minutes. So a costs is a safe option.

Not read all the replies - but - did my supermarket shop this morn and DP went to the nearby Costa (I prefer shopping on my own)...I met him afterwards and we were saying the same. Met up with a friend last week and the nearest place we could go to when we needed a rest was a Starbucks - urgh, I don't like their coffee so have tea. Sadly, the independent (well, attached to a museum) we had intended to go had shut since the last time we went!

I really have to disagree that small independents are de facto better, though. Maybe in little chi chi towns, but otherwise... not necessarily any better or cleaner, it depends. In fact the nearest coffee shop to our house is a Costa - and that one is really well run, kept very clean, the staff are lovely and it has more of a community-feel. Now I think some Costas are franchises and some aren't, so don't know if that plays into it.

Also, I'm not a coffee connoisseur - I actually dislike superior roasts - I'm not fond of the fruity notes they tend to have with less roasting (I think that's what it is - as said - not a connoisseur).

But the lunch/ cake offerings in most of the chains aren't anything to write home about... and I have a bit of a 'beef' with the horrible cheap, heavy pot cups they have. There was more choice of sandwiches in Costa when they stocked M&S products for a while but I don't think they do that any more, wonder what happened there?

I only go to these types of places out of necessity, now, (once in a blue moon) I don't see it as a treat etc.

The problem is that when these chains first appeared, they flooded the high streets and put all the independents out of business. Now they're often all that is available. Have a look for independents. I live within half an hour's bus journey of three small towns and a city and have favourite cafes in each one. You might pay a bit more, but that's because you're not drinking cheap and nasty coffee.

Cafe Nero is nice.

I prefer my coffee non-bloodsoaked tho, and i tend to choke on the genocide at Starbucks and costa.

i like cafe nero, they do lovely cakes/citron tarts, but the last time i went the man said do you want the usual beans or something less bitter
a sales ploy
i said i would stick with the usual as i didnt want to spend more!

I absolutely love Starbucks coffee, would buy one every day if i could justify it! In fact, I just went to my local Sainsburys which has one inside and I resisted, currently sat on the sofa with a coffee made at home. Not as nice but I really need to cut down on buying coffee out, but at the same time I also just really enjoy going out for coffee! Admittedly not a fan of their cakes. Nero is ok, and to be honest i dont like Costa at all - only ever go there if there is no other choice!

Agree with a PP though about Coffee #1 (owned by Nero). Spent many a happy time in there whilst on maternity leave and now with my 6 year old, & also meet my friends there regularly.

We’ve moved house recently and have discovered a couple of wonderful independents in the new area, with amazing homemade cakes!

I don't think I have ever been in a Starbucks or Cafe Nero so can't comment.

My only experience of Costa is when I was in a town I don't know and the toilets were closed. Someone suggested Costa so I went there. The cheery member of staff said I was welcome to use them and did not have to buy a drink.

My own town has several good independent coffee and tea shops so no need to use the chains.

Mediocre coffee, often quite worn/slightly shabby surrounds, gross unisex toilets that are generally dirty. I’d much rather go to the fantastic independents near me.

Coffee from costa is just a mouthful of hot milk. Starbucks and Nero not a whole lot better.

We've got some REALLY good independents around us and honestly the quality difference in their coffee is amazing. I never visit chain coffee shop these days, would rather go without and make a decent coffee at home.

Don't blame you. I love an independent cafe.

I'm happy to pay more we just don't have a cafe like that in the local town. The local abbey has a nicer cafe but it's only open a couple of afternoons a week when I'm working.

Only ever use them if there's no alternative. I always go for independent ideally, or smaller chains if necessary. They're usually cheaper, the drinks and food are almost always far better, and less processed, and I feel a smug little glow that I'm helping society! If I have to use one of the big chains, I go for Costa as I prefer the coffee. Awful interiors though. I find Nero coffee completely undrinkable.

I arrived really early at a local concert venue recently and the doors weren't open yet,so I settled myself down in a Cafe Nero round the corner.I'm not one for the chain coffee houses either,but it seemed a better option than wandering the streets for 20 minutes.

I ordered an Americano.Now,does anyone of a certain age out there remember a TV advert for either Nescafe or Maxwell House where a woman is visiting and the coffee served is so awful she tips it into a conveniently placed pot plant while the host has their back turned? Well,that was me in Cafe Nero!Sadly, in this case there was no plantpot nearby but that advert sprang to mind and after a few sips I just had to leave it and walk away.Shan't be visiting there again.

I once sat in a Costa while waiting for a train after one had been cancelled.Again,totally underwhelmed.I didn't order any food as nothing looked in the least bit appealing to me.

Our local independent bookshop has a wonderful coffee shop with gorgeous cakes and toastie snacks and a huge range of hot drinks but unfortunately it's only open when the shop is.

Coca Cola owns Costa and are now trying to sell it (at a loss from the £3.9bn they paid for it in 2018 - could go for as low as £2bn). Guess it isn’t as popular as it used to be. As a PP said Coffee#1 is owned by Nero. If you think your cup of coffee is too expensive the price of green beans has increased by 80% in the past year - as with cocoa.
Honestly use an independent if you can, especially ones that use Specialty Coffee beans and not the lower grade robusta type.

Have a coffee at home, it's a total rip off.

Not that I use any of those very often, but I never fancy any of their cakes. I have often wished for a lovely fresh jam doughnut, instead!

I feel like a lot of the chains have got rid of their professional cleaners to save money but they end up being a bit grubby and it puts me off going in there.