What makes Starbucks the better choice for a coffee shop?

Their marketing team. Even in the Land of Coffee (Seattle) their product was not considered very good, but they were ubiquitous, and the marketing was outstanding.

I think Starbucks coffee is disgusting. They closed a large percentage of their stores here.

It’s not great. They burn their coffee, for one thing. The biggest thing in my area is that there’s no alternative. Well, except Wawa. That’s, if you’ll follow me, a high-end petrol station. It’s not as easy to get the kind of drink you want there if you like special stuff, but a plain latte is quite satisfactory.

Starbucks f’ing sucks but non coffee drinkers who want that sugary, creamy, fat filled drink with a dash of charred coffee for color seem to enjoy it.

The same reason McDonalds is popular. They are everywhere and consistent.

I know exactly what I am getting. I’m not rolling the dice with Starbucks. It might be shit but I have to make no decisions and will likely get something close to what I expect.

Similar to when I spent 30 days in Europe and ate at McDonalds and Burger King over 60 times. With the exception of a McDonalds in Salzburg (next to a strip club BTW) it was all consistent. That particular McDonalds put tomato on their cheapest chicken sandwich and that was unacceptable!.

Nothing. Overpriced, overstrong. I never understood the phenomenon.

Like all franchises, it’s consistency. You can pretty much walk into any Starbucks, or McDonalds, or Burger King anywhere in the world and expect the same product and the same ambiance.

Back when most Americans drank dishwater for coffee and had never set foot in a real coffee house or tasted proper coffee, Starbucks looked pretty damn good. But in the ensuing years, mainly because of outfits like Starbucks, America has re-discovered the coffeehouse tradition formerly found only in ethnic neighborhoods or art colonies in large cities, and now has a plethora of really fine small neighborhood independent houses that take great care in preparing their main product and have become venues of the arts where the operator/owner waxes rhapsodic over their product. I remember the world without Starbucks, and I thank them for making the coffee house popular again.

Marketing (as @canidmajor said)

I’m not a Starbucks fan. I don’t like the taste and I don’t like the price, and I really don’t like the drinks that are hundreds of calories each. The only time I’ve really gone to Starbucks was when it’s in a book store like Barnes and Noble. There’s a Starbucks about ten minutes from my house and I’ve been there maybe three times in 14 years.

I prefer Dunkin Donuts coffee. It’s more mild and a cup is about $2, which is more my speed. What I don’t like about DD is just their atmosphere, which is kind of a step up from McDonalds. Starbucks has more of a lounge atmosphere, which is nice.

I am afraid to go into a Starbucks because I drink coffee, black and I don’t know if they could, or would, fill such a simple order. ok, I am not really that simple, I actually prefer a low acidity, medium to dark roast

@johnpowell has it:
“The same reason McDonalds is popular. They are everywhere and consistent.”

I know people that admit that McDonald’s food isn’t particularly good, but they eat there almost exclusively because they know what they’ll be getting, no matter where they are.

Combined with, as @canidmajor said, fantastic marketing.

It’s amazing that a company can grow so big, so quickly, and not flame out like Krispy Kreme donuts.

I came here to also make the McDonald’s analogy

Krispy Kreme is still huge in the South.

And for good reason.

Let us not forget Budweiser! No matter which of the twelve breweries in the US (or any of the overseas ones) make it, it always tastes the same. IMO not good, but consistent

I aim for a Starbucks when I am road tripping through a mid-sized town. If it’s a tiny town, it won’t have a Starbucks, and if it’s a large town, I will probably stumble over three excellent coffee shops before having to resort to Starbucks. But the mid-sized town rarely has decent coffee shops in plain sight, and Starbucks is a known quantity – they have real espresso (even if it’s not very good), free Wi-Fi, and a points system.

In a small town, it’s McDonald’s or Tim Horton’s for shitty drip coffee and free Wi-Fi. No escape. At home (big city), I never choose a chain. There are far better options on nearly every corner.

I’ve never been to one, never had the urge to go to one.

The last time I went to Starbucks I had to queue for fifteen minutes and then, when I got my coffee, there were no seats left. That was five years ago.

I experiment with chemicals at work and don’t want anyone experimenting with my coffee. Starbucks coffee is definitely a flavorful robust cup of Joe but it becomes very bitter and almost undrinkable after it cools down. Why anyone who pays over $4.00 for a cup, waits over 10 minutes in line for a cup of coffee that is way too hot to drink then it’s way too bitter after it cools down baffles me to no end.

French press coffee is all I like to drink. But I prefer tea as it is always spot on consistent.

@Cruiser Haha that made me laugh. You don’t want them experimenting with your coffee? Well thats fair enough.

I have to say I really love french press coffee myself. But there is a lot to be said about the independent coffee shops. I was in one this evening, a little place in Dublin called The Aroma Café; where the food is made fresh (not refrigerated) and the coffee is of very high standard.

Each week, roughly 90 million people pass through a Starbucks somewhere on Earth, but not in Italy. Read on: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/29/world/europe/with-humility-starbucks-to-enter-italian-market.html

There was a wonderful coffee shop in my area called The Beanery.

It opened when I was 18 and needed somewhere to hang out away from my parents. Big couches, open mic nights, the whole shebang. It also happened to be on my commute route.

I was enough of a regular that they’d have “my drink” (medium skim white chocolate latte, half as much chocolate as usual, no whip) ready when I walked in every morning, and if they were very busy, they’d just hand me the drink over the counter and wave me away. Those days, I’d make sure to show up for lunch for their awesome chicken salad sandwiches.

Sadly, the owners had a very serious family tragedy, and The Beanery closed as a result. I still miss that place.

@NerdyKeith There is a coffee house in my town that roasts their own coffee beans locally and they make the best espresso I have ever had. Something to be said for the independent cafes.

Starbucks has raised the bar for coffee everywhere. Before Starbucks, you’d get a coffee for a buck at Dunkin’ Donuts or your local restaurant and it was terrible. Now specialty coffee shops are everywhere. They also treat their employees very well.

Starbucks falls short after pledging better labor practices:

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/24/business/starbucks-falls-short-after-pledging-better-labor-practices.html?_r=0

@jca my comment is based upon personal experience

“Starbucks has raised the bar for coffee everywhere. Before Starbucks, you’d get a coffee for a buck at Dunkin’ Donuts or your local restaurant and it was terrible.”

Now they all charge $2+ regardless.

I can get good black coffee from my kitchen or local gas station. I’m not going to pay for overpriced sugary burnt coffee.

@ibstubro And the coffee has improved. Have you ever gotten coffee at, say, Denny’s? It’s terrible. And that’s how coffee ALWAYS used to taste. I’m old enough to remember HATING coffee because it tasted like liquid dirt. Starbucks changed everything.

Now, I have 3 local coffee shops in my small town (and 2 Starbucks). I never go to Starbucks now, but even my friend who is a specialty coffee roaster acknowledges his debt to Starbucks.

We have a couple of local coffee shops, both located close to campus. Nice places to sit and ruminate; if you have time. I never seem to have time to just sit. I grab my coffee at fast food establishment drive thru’s and keep on rolling.

I suppose I should say I never “take” the time to just sit. I could if i wanted.

I don’t believe it is a better choice. I don’t go to coffee shops often but I never go to Starbucks. There is a bookstore/coffee shop nearby that I stop into sometimes.

Of course you need to give choices in a question like this.

@MollyMcGuire, I would have given more examples of alternative coffee shops in my original post. But most of the other coffee shops in Ireland are not exactly international.

These are the other choices we have:

Costa Coffee (Which is probably the only other international coffee franchise we have. I’ve always found Costa too overpriced and their coffee tastes like tar.)
Insomnia
Bewleys
The Bagal Bar
O Brians
Cafe Aroma

There are a load of other independent coffee shops we have.