Same Star, More Bucks

Starbucks is expensive to begin with, and now their prices are going up for not-so-great coffee. Grumble grumble...

I was studying at Starbucks today when I overheard the manager's speech to the troops. At that particular branch, and probably at all others, the price was going up by a nickel. They took the signs down, cleaned the plastic, and swapped in new price lists. Apparently the management expected that some customers would be disgruntled. As such, a bucket of nickels will be available to make up for that increase if those said customers raise a big stink about it...not sure how it works exactly.

To protect you from "additional ingredients" that might be blended in with your Java, I suggest that you don't become one of those prissy, difficult customers. If you're really mad, take your business elsewhere. I think Coffee Bean and Peet's are better anyway. I only went to Starbucks today because it was the closest coffee house to where I was.

One coffee house that I've started to frequent is It's A Grind. Their coffee is pretty good and is a bit cheaper than the other big chains. I've been quite satisfied except for the time they charged me 50 cents for water; I learned from my roommate that they only do that for people who come off the street requesting water (I've seen 2 people do that on my last trip), and if I'm already buying coffee there, I should challenge the charge next time. Even that doesn't deter me from going back. I like the music selection, the friendly service (they often bring your food/coffee right to your table), comfortable seating, lots of electric plugs, and free wireless Internet--all in all a great environment for studying. A majority of patrons I've encountered were also students. Even the clientele is friendly--I've struck up a few friendly conversations with strangers, which was nice given the fact that I usually spend 4-6 hours there at a time.

Unfortunately, the chain is a franchise and there aren't very many locations. If there's one near you, maybe it's worth a try.