People love the idea of the "cute, indie coffee shop." The reality is never the ideal. Starbucks isn't amazing but it's predictable, and the company has put some effort into covering all their bases so you get a standard, baseline experience no matter what. The service is pretty similar everywhere and I can't remember a time I've gone into Starbucks and gotten truly bad service (though that's happened to me MANY times at indie places, it's a total crapshoot). There is usually somewhere to sit and usually a place to plug in. The have bathrooms. The have food items if you need to eat. If you order food you can get water and they won't hassle you. The wi-fi works and is free. And so on.

I get tired of people who are like "just find the local, indie, non-corporate version of everything and it's SO much better." No it's not. Sometimes it's way worse. Sometimes it's not convenient. Sometimes it doesn't even exist. If great local coffee shops were actually plentiful, Starbucks wouldn't be so popular.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't get it. Too noisy to do work, kind of dirty as no one cleans it up. Nothing appealing. I just order online and leave

People like you have ruined Starbucks for people like me that like to sit down and enjoy a cup of coffee.

I enjoy coffee in nice, cozy settings -- ex. my house or a nice hotel. What is cozy about a Starbucks? They have all the charm of a hospital waiting room, they're drafty because the door is constantly opening, the furniture is purposely uncomfortable to make you leave quickly, baristas constantly yelling out names, if not weirdo homeless loitering you have weirdo DoorDash people hovering, on and on.

1.) my kid has an activity nearby
2.) the one I sit at isn’t sketchy
3.) they even have porcelain cups
4.) I see older people socializing, often the same people each week, which is great
5.) I’m middle-aged and ask why people would order takeout or drive thru for coffee so to each their own

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DC has practice nearby and sometimes I will go sit there as opposed to my car if there are no errands to run.

Same. It's that or McDonalds where my kids train. And in my city they're clean and comfortable.

McDonalds in the US? I could never. I've only seen sketchy people sitting down at the tables. No one is ever eating.

The McLean McD doesn’t have sketchy people. Its a mix of families, workmen, and occasionally a solo diner eating in.

Anonymous wrote:I don't get it. Too noisy to do work, kind of dirty as no one cleans it up. Nothing appealing. I just order online and leave

People like you have ruined Starbucks for people like me that like to sit down and enjoy a cup of coffee.

I was waiting for my bank appointment across the street.

Otherwise no, I never go to Starbucks. There's nothing good to eat or drink.

Anonymous wrote:If that's what is nearby when I want a drink or drink and baked good, I go there. What am I supposed to do, stand on the sidewalk or sit on a planter and gnaw my food? Drink while walking? Uh no.

All of their baked items are frozen and full of seed oils. It's garbage.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I travel for work and will go to Starbucks between appointments some times. You never know if an indie shop will have wifi or a comfy place to hang for a little bit. You know Starbucks does.

Most locations are now gross and post Covid they seem to be scraping the bottom of the barrel for staff.

I don’t feel comfortable sitting in proximity to mentally ill homeless people while on a $2000 laptop.

My theory is the veteran baristas cashed in with that generous state and federal Covid unemployment and moved on from the service industry.

This is purely by design. My 21 year old went through three rounds of interviews between two locations (one referred him to the other) and he didn't get either job. He had experience and availability. Starbucks is actually choosey on who they hire.

Their cortado is a perfect — even better if you ask for it to be made with half and half. So darn good.

Anonymous wrote:I travel for work and will go to Starbucks between appointments some times. You never know if an indie shop will have wifi or a comfy place to hang for a little bit. You know Starbucks does.

Most locations are now gross and post Covid they seem to be scraping the bottom of the barrel for staff.

I don’t feel comfortable sitting in proximity to mentally ill homeless people while on a $2000 laptop.

My theory is the veteran baristas cashed in with that generous state and federal Covid unemployment and moved on from the service industry.

Also to be clear I'm not disparaging you - sometimes you need that easy consistency and SBUX provides that.

Anonymous wrote:I travel for work and will go to Starbucks between appointments some times. You never know if an indie shop will have wifi or a comfy place to hang for a little bit. You know Starbucks does.

Literally why every single chain on earth exists

My kid had tutoring there. This was before Covid.

There are two Starbucks near me and one of them is actually one of the cleaner, more pleasant coffee shops in my neighborhood. Like there is also a Blue Bottle, a Maman, and a couple others nearby, and I would choose the Starbucks if I needed somewhere to work or hang out for a bit because the seating is more comfortable, it has better temp control (the Maman is always super hot for some reason), and I feel anonymous/invisible there in a pleasant way -- no one bothers me.

The other one is kind of meh but it's near my kid's school and I will sometimes stop in and sit for 5 minutes if I'm early for pick up and want somewhere to read a book.

I'm a tea drinker and the earl grey at Starbucks is fine, plus usually cheaper than other places. They use Harney & Sons which I also use at home, so it's actually a wash for me in terms of quality.

People who meet friends for coffee.