Growing up I could get good inexpensive coffee at any gas station across the prairies. Thanks Marketing!!
this post was submitted on 31 Jan 2026
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I'm old enough to remember that when a Starbucks opened up in a part of the city that was known as being "slightly sketchy" then that area was in the process of starting to go through gentrification. now? at least here in Canada Starbucks is just a more expensive version of Tim Hortons who have some how made it possible for their coffee to taste worse than tims. And that gentrification stuff? nah man no longer applies. You'd be an idiot to go to a starbucks and pulling out your laptop to "work" these days as some fent head will just grab it off you after they wake up from their fade hunched over near the starbucks restrooms.
Wait, you're telling me that when the economy basically collapses, people can't afford their regular coffee flavored morning milkshake?
As someone from the PNW, I've ever understood why there were lines at Starbucks here. We have great local coffee stands on basically every block, and they're typically way better and much cheaper.
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People like being part of trends
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People like milkshakes they can deny are milkshakes
Starbucks coffee tastes burned, not worth their price.
Starbucks was an amusing rise and fall.
- Put one on every street-corner, possibly across the street from each other.
- Run all the other coffee shops out of business
- Let your stores fail because they can't sustain themselves
- Competitors notice this, and move in with drive-through-only stores
Of course the competitors are small chains and the original shops were indie, but that's just the free hand of the market fisting some folks without lube
Anti-union strike-breakers are losing business? Say it ain't so.
They didn't revolutionize coffee culture, they just capitalized on it.
Starbucks has moderately tasty food, and disgustingly bad coffee. If they put enough sugar into it, it's fine... But going elsewhere yields better results.
Dude I live in an armpit of a city and even I can find a small mom and pop shop that sells better food than Starbucks, prepackaged microwaved slopass shit. You gotta have been stuck in the woods chewing on bark to think that shit is tasty.
I haven't had a single good Starbucks experience. The biggest thing for me is that they aren't even cheaper than a local shop. I'm sacrificing quality for what, the "convenience" of using an app to order?
Americans are pretty fucking disgusted that the CEO of Starbucks takes a private jet to work in Seattle from his home in California. Eat the rich.
Good. Who wants to drink burnt coffee from a megacorp when I can drink coffee that's actually good from a local business?
Do it like me and make awful coffee right at home 🚀
I don't drink coffee, but I hear you can make it yourself.
People can cook for themselves, too, but sometimes they like to go out for food. Same with coffee. It can be nice to get out of the house and go for a cup of coffee, or grab a cup when you happen to be out. Ever tried making a cup of coffee on a road trip? Not impossible, but not super practical for most people. If you want a latte but you don't own an espresso machine you're kind of out of luck (unless you want to get an Aeropress). Anyway, there's lots of reasons why you'd go to a coffee shop.
Shit, I'm a four star chef, and most of what I eat is Taco Bell. Why? Because cooking for one person is a damn PITA, and I like Taco Bell.
I don't drink the zombie bean though. I will say that Starbucks smells slightly burnt, compared to the local coffee shops.
I’m a four star chef
However, doing your job at home too can be a big annoyance. That a certainly get. I'm a programmer, and damn do I not have any desire to program at home.
Because cooking for one person is a damn PITA
The secret is to cook for 6, then put 5 portions in the fridge for later.
I am not a four star chef. And I would never eat at taco bell.
Yuck.
Of all the fast food, as a chef you know everything they make can be made at home in 10 minutes and with real ingredients.
But he's been cooking all day. I know several cooks and chefs, and the last thing any of them want to do after a day of constant cooking is to go home and cook some more, even if it takes 10 min. Now are there better (healthier) options than Taco Bell? Sure, but maybe they just enjoy Taco Bell, and maybe it's an occasional treat.
And then you have to do the dishes too, of which you would need multiple if you are adding in all the same ingredients as taco bell menu items and getting it done in 10 minutes.
a can o' re-fried beans, shredded cheese in a bag, brown some meat? all goes in the dishwasher....
I just made quesadillas tonight, one pan to wipe out and that was about it.
Taco bell is pretty low effort.
If you want better, sure: cook your own beans, shred your own cheese, make some real salsa. but Taco bell level? just slop on a tortilla.
Edit: I gotta edit this, as in the end, I can't take it that seriously. If you are a chef, its like being a mechanic or a landscaper. My car works, but its a beater, or my yard is full of weeds.
When you work in a field, doing that outside of work is just more steps.
Do what you like, of course.
Starbucks is shit, it has always been shit, it will always forever be shit.
There's a reason it failed in Australia. There's a reason it only exists still in Australia and that's only to cater to tourists who don't like coffee but like coffee-flayoured milk bevetages - you'll never find Australians in there except maybe if working and forced to make shit drinks. Literally everywhere else is better, including fast food places.
I'll give it some credit as a "third place" but literally every other coffee shop is too and they serve actual coffee.
It's not a third place anymore. They changed that policy about a year ago.
It's absolutely always been shit. I've hated it since it gained popularity. There was a time when people would treat you as a coffee snob for hating it, but that seems to have waned as more people realized that it's shit, even by fast food standards. I'd rather drink local, but hell I'll take McDonald's coffee over sbux
Eh, it wasn’t always shit, but it has been for longer than most people have been of coffee-drinking age. Once upon a time, they were a small company, and finding a location was a rare treat, and the coffee was leaps and bounds better than anything else you could find at the time.
I can tell you exactly why people aren't going to Starbucks anymore: the quality has declined from lack of training, it's now overpriced coffee for what it is, and their shops aren't even good "3rd places" anymore - their furniture isn't comfortable and the space design implies "give us money, then gtfo". Starbucks as just turned into an overpriced fast-food coffee company
I used to frequently go to a Starbucks in the town I went to uni in; To the point where the baristas knew me by name. I went a lot because it was that 3rd place I could go and study / get work done, with readily available snacks and beverages. However, they ended up closing that shop, even though it was one of the highest rated shops in either the town/province because: they couldn't put a drive-through in at that location 🤦
It's ironic how at that old location, they used to write / draw stuff on the cups for their loyal customers because there was an actual friendship between the employees and the regular customers. Now they write generic stuff on the cups as "corporate mandated fun"
The local shops in my area are making a huge comeback. Starbucks killed most of the local little independents around 15 years ago. They did it by providing consistent quality and reasonable pay to their employees.
Recently local chains/independents have made a resurgence. Their secret, heavily recruiting the experienced trained Starbucks employees full-time at better pay and benefits.
Starbucks traffic is plummetting while local companies are expanding rapidly.
This morning I went to the bank and gas station right next to a Starbucks that has been there for 20 years and a 4 month old local chain. Starbucks had one person in the drive-through and maybe half a dozen people in the store. The local chain had a 10 car line and a full parking lot.
The coffee has always been bad.
The coffee is burnt, the milk is thin and overcooked, and this has just been a constant part of the experience forever.
What's really changed is there's other places to compare with, and it's now obvious what coffee can taste like and where to go if you want one that's half way decent.
There are two mom and pop food trucks with pretty good coffee (bean grinding, not Folgers) within reasonable walking distance of my house. There are a bunch of both food trucks and sit down joints with coffee, breakfast pastries/sandwiches, and good branding within reasonable driving distance. Even my shitty hometown has a coffee shop now and that place is garbage.
Starbucks showed that there was an appetite for coffee that isn't just white label drip diner coffee that will strip the paint off the walls. It normalized it so that it wasn't as pretentious looking. They normalized coffee shops. But you're absolutely right, it's just terrible until they add 1000 calories of dessert to it.
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Starbucks feels like the Blockbuster of the quick-stimulation market. Once there were no alternatives, now there are loads, often cheaper and better. Without constant customer flow, it’s suddenly just vast amounts of premium real estate that need paying for. And unlike smaller competitors, it doesn’t have much room to pivot. Watching how that unwinds will be interesting.
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Who wants to wait in line to pay that much? Starbucks is a luxury in my eyes now. I get organic instant coffee in bulk because it's cheap and convenient. I get over 10 cups of good organic coffee for the price of what 1 cup would be at a coffee shop.
I haven't even stepped foot in a Starbucks - ever - but then again, I'm not American either.
In my experience, coffee you make at home is practically always better than what you get from a coffee shop. Even if you're just using a basic drip machine and decent pre-ground beans.
I've only twice ever gotten actually good coffee from a shop. One was a pour-over from beans I watched the barista grind fresh, and the other they made with an Aeropress.
That being said. Even the worst coffee is better than no coffee.
Why do people even go to starbucks? I've been there once. The coffee is sugarry slop, the atmosphere is the same fastfood atmosphere as anywhere.
If I want to go out and have a coffee on my day off, I 'd much rather go to some local coffeshop somewhere and experience their unique atmosphere, sight, sounds, smells, tastes and everything they have to offer. It's probably cheaper as well, except that I'm usually inclined to buy a bite as well and mayne some more.
It's what's available within walking distance of my office. That's the only reason I ever go there--to pick up a sandwich and a coffee over lunch.
Consistency, same reason people eat at McDonalds. Starbucks has the same signature burnt flavor at all their stores and you know exactly what you're getting when you order one of their drinks. I agree with you though, local coffee shops are way more interesting.
Also some people have a crazy amount of Starbucks credit to burn through. My girlfriend's employer is constantly throwing Starbucks credit her way and she accumulates it faster than she can use it, so might as well go there when she gets coffee out.
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I'm not paying $5 for black coffee
What's wrong with you? The CEO needs that money to fly on the company's private jet! /s
Of course the company claims it's for security reasons. I think the $90 million per year compensation must also be for security concerns following that logic.
Not to be the Debby downer. My city hundreds of local coffee shops, and they all charge $4 for black coffee. The price isn't the issue.
It's what they do with it. Like as the other comments say... Private jets and union busting.
Guess I'm the lone wolf here who likes Starbucks coffee. Of course, I like a lot of other coffee better. I make a mean cup of coffee myself. It's not fancy and many people who stick their nose up at "corporate" coffee would probably say a lot of mean things about my coffee, too, but it's good to me and I like it. You'll never please anybody.
One thing about Starbucks: you're generally going to get the same thing wherever you go. If you find something you like, it's consistent. Also, some of their coffee is good to make at home.
That said, my favourite coffee shop is a local cafe. It's not a chain, there's only one of them, and it's the same nice lady making the coffee every day. I think she and her wife own the place? It's a bit expensive, but I don't mind because it's good, and it's espresso. I've talked to the barista about it, like I can make good coffee at home, but I come for the espresso, the unique drinks, and the atmosphere. It's a nice place to break out a laptop and chill, and they play nice music.
I actually very rarely go to Starbucks. But when I do, I know exactly what I want, and what I'm going to get. I don't think they're better than anyone, and I'll always prefer independent cafes. But I don't hate Starbucks, either. And I am glad to hear Starbucks being taken down a peg. We don't need them on every corner.
I favor independent coffee shops too, and I agree with everything you said. Starbucks is useful for when you’re on-the-go or traveling, for when you need a reliable 3rd space with seating, bathroom, and wifi.
Another thing I give Starbucks points for is high customization. I can do an online order as detailed as I want and know exactly what’s in it. Oh and the drive-thrus and early/late opening hours are convenient. Very helpful for shift workers.
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