(Panoz'd)
While it seems a Starbucks sprang up on every corner and in every mall at the rate of one new location per second, it’s taking a little bit longer for their extended menu, including alcohol, to reach the nation. After testing it at Seattle locations and in Portland, Ore., the chain is finally ready to branch out to a few more locations.
Offering wine and beer (what, no double tequila shots?) and hot items like flatbreads and other savory snacks, a few cafes in Atlanta and Southern California will see the extended menus by the end of this year, says Reuters.
Currently the menu is only available at five locations in the Seattle area and the aforementioned one in Portland, but Starbucks has said it was aiming to add the menu to five to seven stores in Chicago by the end of 2012 as well.
Perhaps an afternoon pick-me up during happy hour will make it a touch more tolerable to deal with the laptop hobos camped out for hours, hogging all the electrical outlets and nursing coffees until the end of time. Perhaps.
Previously: VIDEO: Inside The Boozy Future Of Starbucks
Starbucks to sell alcohol in some U.S. cafes [Reuters]
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What, no whiskey for my coffee?
If they offered Bailey’s and Kahlua for coffee, they might be on to something.
Yeah, like active support of incognito drinking and driving.
You say that like there’s something wrong with it.
I’m all for it. I’m the best type of drunk driver, a responsible one.
Cat + Monkey make for super brain !
I’ll take a Venti Irish Coffee, hold the coffee.
Put liquor in my hot cocoa dammit!
Putting the HOT back in hot toddy’s.
+1 Chickenbutt * if they make a killer Irish coffee
Perhaps they might be encouraged to adopt this excellent winter beverage with a little flair, say some pure corn whiskey?
I’m partial to ‘Ol Smokey moonshine (100 proof)
guaranteed to be less than 72 hours old if you grab a jar on a weekday….
Ohhhh my… isn’t that the stuff they use to power the space shuttle voyages ?
This might work for a few locations, but I would imagine this won’t see the light at every corner Starbucks.
Also, if they are going to try and lure us with more savory fare, I hope the sandwiches and such are fresher than what they now offer.. their breakfast sandwiches are just ok, pre-packaged stuff you can get fresher versions of at McDonald’s…
Defintely not. I’m sure this requires the Starbucks location to purchase a local liquor license, and in my town, those sell for $1,000,000 plus each. I doubt our local Starbucks will really think it’s worth it.
A million dollars for the license? That sounds perfectly reasonable.
Actually I just looked it up, and the range is more like $650,000 to $1,000,000. So not as unreasonable, but yes, still pretty outrageous.
Where do you live? I am looking all over the place and I am having a hard time finding a state that sells them for more than $5k.
Not the person you replied to, but PA has expensive liquor licenses, although it varies by county. I had a family friend open a restaurant in the Philly suburbs and she got it for a ‘steal’ at 175k.
The difference between PA and other states though is that this is a one-time purchase, and really an asset, as you can sell it to another restauranteur.
Bergen County, New Jersey.
And that is just a flat fee. correct? And salable?
I bet there are a few StarBucks that Corp would do that for. Certainly not many.
Well first look at what they charge for coffee, and now think about what they will change for booze and you’ll find they could likely make the million dollar licensing fee back before they ever need to restock their initial supply of liquor.
Seriously though you are correct that it wouldn’t work at a lot of locations, especially those with drive throughs. Personally I’m not sure I could support a place which is predominantly a take out joint serving alchol, just seems like a bad combination to me.
I personally go to Starbucks more often than I should and I visit a few that have beer and wine… I see people drinking beer or wine and it always seems odd to me.
Also, the three near me that serve alcohol are absolutely surrounded by many many bars that serve better, cheaper beer, wine and food. So I’m not sure why you’d pick Starbucks for that beverage.
But hey, it seems to be working.
There’s the whole laptop hobo factor. As long as they’re going to sit there taking up a table and using the wifi for longer than another place would tolerate it might as well be with a beer.
No rum in the coffee? Starbucks needs that a lot more than it needs beer.
I’m not sure I could support allowing a place like Starbucks, which is predominantly a take out joint, to serve booze.
It just seems like a bad combination to me.
Don’t go to Louisiana, the home of drive-thru daiquiri stand. Remember, as long as you don’t put the straw through the pop-off plastic top, it’s still technically a closed container. Nevermind that you can simply take the top off, take a sip, then replace the top.
No shit? lol!
“(b) “Open alcoholic beverage container” shall not mean any bottle, can, or other receptacle that contains a frozen alcoholic beverage unless the lid is removed, a straw protrudes therefrom, or the contents of the receptacle have been partially removed.”
No shit. http://www.legis.state.la.us/lss/lss.asp?doc=410591
I like that state! I am not surprised to see my current home, Portland, to be one of the test booze locations. Drinking is a major pasttime here.
the dream of the 90′s is alive in portland
Oregon liquor licenses are super cheap – which is why we have such fun & eclectic restaurants, instead of a bunch of Red Lobsters & Chilis….
“(b) “Open alcoholic beverage container” shall not mean any bottle, can, or other receptacle that contains a frozen alcoholic beverage unless the lid is removed, a straw protrudes therefrom, or the contents of the receptacle have been partially removed.”
No shit. http://www.legis.state.la.us/lss/lss.asp?doc=410591
Will there be a drive thru too!! Yeppie!!!
How about hot sake? It’s technically wine.
When I think of Starbucks I think of hot drinks.
That’s going to take FOREVER to come to Boston.
Send them some pleas to come to Boston before the springtime….
Honest officer! (hic.) I juzz left STARBUCKZS! What makes you think I’m (hic.) drunk?
I thought people went to Starbucks because they didn’t want to go to a bar.
Wide awake drunks, just what the world needs. I thought we learned our lesson about mixing alcohol and caffeine from good old four loco, guess I was mistaken.
Yes I know that starbucks will never be shotgunned like four loco was, but I still question the judgment behind the decision.
In Atlanta (one of the places Starbucks is trying this), the three non-Starbucks coffee shops in my neighborhood already serve beer and wine and have done so for years. And the ‘wide-awake drunks’ problem you are worried about doesn’t exist. Based on my experience, your concern sounds very Chicken-Little-ish.
A legit coffee stout made with Starbucks’ house blend would probably be a decent beer.
There were two reasons I left Starbucks oh so long ago. #1 was the shitty, entitled, abusive customers. Can’t imagine how much fun working there is going to be when you add booze into the equation.
Real bars will cut off and throw out customers who act like jerks. Starbucks has a well-established reputation for not confronting customers no matter how ill-behaved, abusive, or violent they may get.
Enjoy the monster you’re creating, Howard. Your employees won’t.