First middle of town Starbucks - opinions?

Crash

Just opened this morning on dame st. - just past my bus stop so decided i needed a bit of a pick me up.

Inside, a very nice coffee shop layout - ordered a hot chocolate with hazelnut syrup - quick off the mark and was only 5 minutes late for my lecture.

I know a lot of people hate starbucks on principle but i like this one :P

garthv

Never been to a Starbucks before so Im kind of interested in seeing what they have to offer.
I give it 6 months before they are everywhere though

xzanti

Is it not just another Insomnia/Cafe Sol/O'Briens/Beweleys/Barney's ????? Whats the big deal?

simu

xzanti wrote:

Is it not just another Insomnia/Cafe

Pretty much. I've been to ones in Germany and they're not very amazing at all.

xzanti

simu wrote:

xzanti wrote:

Is it not just another Insomnia/Cafe

Pretty much. I've been to ones in Germany and they're not very amazing at all.

A cup of coffee is a cup of coffee at the end of the day... I doubt they're hand picking their coffee beans themselves out in Columbia and bake they're pastries in store :rolleyes: Its another rip off coffee shop..

MiCr0

to quote dennis leary -
"coffee doesn't need a menu, it needs a cup and maybe a saucer under the cup"

BuffyBot

I don't drink coffee as such, but I do miss ready access to the odd Strawberry Frapp during the summer.

eoge

xzanti wrote:

Is it not just another Insomnia/Cafe Sol/O'Briens/Beweleys/Barney's ????? Whats the big deal?

No. That's what the excitement's all about. Pop into the Dame St. cafe and if you're expecting another Insomnia/Café Sol/etc. you'll be pleasantly surprised.

The surroundings are comfortable and very welcoming (with nice couches, armchairs, a bar with bar stools, window seats, outdoor seats and more) and they have a bookshelf complete with loads of great classic and contemporary Dublin books that you can pick up and read at your leisure. Their product range is excellent; many coffee options and nice sweet and savoury foods. I’ve been to a couple of the top Starbucks cafés in the US and I must say the Dublin outlet is by far the best I’ve seen.

This is good for competition -- the Insomnias/Café Sols/etc. will have to get their act together.

Blisterman

Starbucks have really nice coffee.
Quite expensive though, here in London, what are their prices like in Dublin?

eoge

Blisterman wrote:

Starbucks have really nice coffee.
Quite expensive though, here in London, what are their prices like in Dublin?

€2.85 for a tall cappuccino I think. That is expensive alright.

Blisterman

According to the tall latte index
http://www.finfacts.com/Private/bestprice/latteindex.htm
Britain pays $3.28US for a tall latte. It doesn't say Ireland, but the EU average is $3.72.
Not sure what that is in euros exactly.

Sarsfield

Tall latte is around €2.70 to €2.80 here I think. Taking €2.75 that makes $3.23 at todays exchange rate.

I'll get to the College Green store eventually. I passed by on the bus today and in fairness it did look nice inside but my experience of Starbucks elswhere has always been very disappointing - unpleasant stores with bad coffee.

Ag marbh

Disgusting company. I wouldn't give them the steam of my piss

Gordon

GaRtH_V wrote:

Never been to a Starbucks before so Im kind of interested in seeing what they have to offer.
I give it 6 months before they are everywhere though

I was just watching the news with the CEO of Starbucks. Apparently they have made over 1,600 new shops worldwide this year alone. Next year their target is 1,800. And they're just breaking into China now.

Sangre

They're everywhere in America.
Its actually taking the piss, you can usually see a Starbucks from another Starbucks in areas of high infiltration.

BuffyBot

They're everywhere in America.
Its actually taking the piss, you can usually see a Starbucks from another Starbucks in areas of high infiltration.

Just as bad over here. Two Starbucks within spitting distance in Hammersmith, London.

Guy:Incognito

eoge wrote:

No. That's what the excitement's all about. Pop into the Dame St. cafe and if you're expecting another Insomnia/Café Sol/etc. you'll be pleasantly surprised.

The surroundings are comfortable and very welcoming (with nice couches, armchairs, a bar with bar stools, window seats, outdoor seats and more) and they have a bookshelf complete with loads of great classic and contemporary Dublin books that you can pick up and read at your leisure. Their product range is excellent; many coffee options and nice sweet and savoury foods. I’ve been to a couple of the top Starbucks cafés in the US and I must say the Dublin outlet is by far the best I’ve seen.

This is good for competition -- the Insomnias/Café Sols/etc. will have to get their act together.

I've got an expensive leather suite of furniture, a large widescreen tv with dvd and surround sound and a cabinet full of books, all located in a convenient location, next door to my kitchen. My cup of tea costs whatever a tea bag, drop of milk and a spoon of suga costs.

Ag marbh wrote:

Disgusting company. I wouldn't give them the steam of my piss

I douby yjey'd have much use for it anyway.:)

Shabadu

Ag marbh wrote:

Disgusting company. I wouldn't give them the steam of my piss

Reasons? Examples? I am a little sick of your constant trolling on Boards.ie, particularly on After Hours. Consider yourself warned.

Sarsfield

BuffyBot wrote:

Just as bad over here. Two Starbucks within spitting distance in Hammersmith, London.

And they're both awful! Especially the one at the station entrance. But there's an O'Briens across the road

AARRRGH

Gordon wrote:

I was just watching the news with the CEO of Starbucks. Apparently they have made over 1,600 new shops worldwide this year alone. Next year their target is 1,800. And they're just breaking into China now.

Wow. That's incredible. I have to admire their aggressive approach.

BuffyBot

And they're both awful! Especially the one at the station entrance. But there's an O'Briens across the road

The one beside Sony Ericsson isn't too bad..I detest O'Briens though

eoge

Stekelly wrote:

I've got an expensive leather suite of furniture, a large widescreen tv with dvd and surround sound and a cabinet full of books, all located in a convenient location, next door to my kitchen. My cup of tea costs whatever a tea bag, drop of milk and a spoon of suga costs.

OK, that's grand. So where in town is that located? Are you gonna let me in?

FX Meister

It is expensive but if people want to pay it then why would they charge less. I'm sure a lot of their business comes from people who want to drink is Starbucks just because it's trendy. Does anyone know if they are selling thier syrups at this store? As for people who say coffee is coffee, do you eat nothing but spuds? After all, food is food.

Sarsfield

I passed by the store 3 times today and it looked pretty busy. I guess the novelty plus it being a Saturday and approaching Christmas helps. I had a lovely Americano in Insomnia instead.

Starbucks were giving out free tasters outside their shop in espresso sized cups. The street was littered with them by 5pm. We're a filthy nation

Crash

actually, i think i'll have to ask about the syrup thing next time i'm in. I developed a love for steamed milk and hazelnut syrup over the years, and very few coffee shops serve it, so if they sell it i'll be there.

(also, for some reason the town place doesnt have it on the menu, despite the DCU one having it - weird)

Freelancer

Shabadu wrote:

Reasons? Examples? I am a little sick of your constant trolling on Boards.ie, particularly on After Hours. Consider yourself warned.

Dude's got a point. Starbucks are so massive they're a force to be reckoned with internationaly and make a huge impact on bean prices.

The fact that in the states anyway they offer you the choice of either fair trade or non fair beans just highlights their hypocrisy;

"Would you like your half fat mochachinco vanilla latte with the blood of exploited workers or without"?

Essentially they're admitting that their aware that some of their coffee is produced by exploiting growers, and they don't mind this, but are aware you might do, and that ethical dollar is a growing marketplace and they want it.

In or out starbucks, either all your coffee is fair trade or none of it is. Can't have your frappicino and drink it.

That and despite it's birthplace, no self respecting Seattlite (no not satellite, Seattlite as in one who co habits in the city with Niles and Daphine, Fraiser having left the building) drinks the stuff. It's inferior coffee, they tend to over roast their beans.

BuffyBot

Can't have your frappicino and drink it.

Well it appears they can.

Duffman

Sangre wrote:

They're everywhere in America.
Its actually taking the piss, you can usually see a Starbucks from another Starbucks in areas of high infiltration.

Yep, there's a starbucks in my college building here in Chicago facing another building across the street with a sign that says "Starbucks Coming Soon!"

It's the same in London. It's how starbucks do business. They enter a market and continue to open stores until they reach the point where their own stores are competing with each other. The effect is to drive any competing small businesses out of the market. Only when they've reach this total saturation do they stop expanding. Walmart operates along the same lines.

It's a pity really. Haven't been to the one on Dame Street yet but here the coffee is overpriced and generally sh*t. I'll actually walk a few blocks to find coffee that isn't starbucks.

I hope this isn't the end for pretty much every small coffee shop in Dublin :P

Freelancer

BuffyBot wrote:

Well it appears they can.

They can but they shouldnt, and this glaring bit of hyporcrisy should be exposed. Nescafé is introducing its own "fairtrade" range, but not even bothering to have this coffee adhere to fairtrade standards, it created it's own definition of fair trade, to exploit the ethical pound. As in the case of starbucks, they're admitting that the majority of their coffee is produced in an unethical manner, but rather than improve the lot of the majority of their growers they find a way to exploit another niche market.

Stark

Duffman wrote:

I hope this isn't the end for pretty much every small coffee shop in Dublin :P

I hope not. I actually like Starbucks and went in their the other night. But I also like they way Dublin (and also Galway) has lots of smaller coffee shops. In Cork, there's hardly anywhere of note.

Sarsfield

OK, so I tried Starbucks this morning at 07:30.

Comfortable store (it was almost empty which helped). Pleasant staff but not terribly switched on (maybe because its all new, maybe because it was 07:30!). The coffee was average at best (I had a mocha as I needed the extra calories to cope with the cold morning). The price was absolutely ridiculous!

€3.30 for a mocha. :eek: That's outrageous.

If their prices resembled the prices of other outlets I'd probably visit occasionally but not often. But there's no way I'll pay a 20% premium for very average coffee.

I'm sticking to Insomnia.