Another chain eatery has put itself in the middle of the debate over gun rights after Chipotle announced yesterday that it would rather its customers didn’t bring firearms into their stores. Not surprisingly, the response to this decision has resulted in praise and condemnation, with little in between. [More]
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Starbucks: Our Ads With Men Named Duncan Came Before Taco Bell’s Ronald McDonald Spots
By 4.16.14
Perhaps you had a good chuckle over those Taco Bell ads starring men named Ronald McDonald where the gag is — can you believe this? — they actually prefer the Bell’s new breakfast over McDonald’s. It’s funny because of their names. And while some are calling Starbucks a copycat for its Seattle’s Best Coffee spots with testimonials from men named Duncan pledging their love (because Dunkin’ Donuts!), the company is stressing that its ads came first. [More]
Starbucks Customer Claims Barista Gave Her Satanic Latte Art
By 4.1.14
Usually, it adds extra cheer to your day when the person who made your coffee beverage adds a decorative flourish to the cup, whether it’s traditional latte foam art or a pretty caramel drizzle. One Starbucks customer in Louisiana says that a barista served up two beverages adorned with a pentagram and the number 666 in caramel syrup. [More]
Starbucks Listens To Customers, Brings Back Some Less-Fancy Baked Goods
By 4.1.14
Have the pastry offerings at your local Starbucks gotten too fancy-pantsy for you in recent years? Do you miss having a slice of lemon cake with your coffee? Apparently you’re not alone, as the coffee colossus has heeded the call of complaining customers and decided to bring back foods that had been deemed not sexy enough by the chain. [More]
Starbucks Vanilla Lemon Latte Exists (In Japan), Looks Delicious
By 3.20.14
In case you aren’t already huffy that you most likely can’t buy booze at your local Starbucks yet, here’s another thing to be sad you can’t have: white chocolate lemon lattes. A “Creamy Vanilla Latte with Lemony Swirl,” to be exact. Alas, now we’ll never know how well sweetened lemon topping and coffee go together. [Brand Eating] [More]
Booze Coming To Thousands Of Starbucks Locations, Eventually
By 3.20.14
After a few years of testing and slowly expanding the number of Starbucks shops that serve alcohol, the coffee colossus says it will be going wide with that evening menu of adult snacks and drinks. But don’t expect it to happen overnight. [More]
Miss Oprah? Get Your Fill With Teavana Oprah Chai Tea At Starbucks Next Month
By 3.19.14
Has there been a void in your life since Oprah Winfrey ended her talk show three years ago? Well, Starbucks aims to fill that hole with a new product – Teavana Oprah Chai Tea. Yes, that’s right, Oprah is once again sharing one of her favorite things with the entire country…in tea form. [More]
Starbucks Offers Vegetable Muffin Or Mini-Quiche In Hong Kong
By 3.17.14
We consider it our duty to keep you updated about the finest and most exciting international fast food available, like Marmite pizza and apple burgers. We’re not so sure that this new pastry offering from Starbucks in Hong Kong will have Americans longing to buy plane tickets, though. It features…vegetables? [More]
Starbucks Will No Longer Be Keurig’s Exclusive Super-Premium Coffee Brand
By 3.14.14
For the last five years, Starbucks has paraded itself around as the one and only super-premium coffee brand offered as a single-serving Keurig cup. But now the coffee chain and Green Mountain have decided not to go steady any more, in favor of opening up the field to other coffee brands. [More]
Would Pre-Ordering Your Starbucks Be Convenient Or Just Make People Hate You?
By 3.13.14
We’re a society largely based on convenience, and quick service is alway welcomed, right? And many of us make a daily trip to Starbucks, without which we’d be unable to function. Starbucks customers tired of waiting in line for their caffeine fix would understandably be excited to hear about Starbucks’ plan to introduce mobile pre-ordering, but is it a holy grail or a Pandora’s box? [More]
Starbucks Mobile Payment App Will Allow 2-Hour Tipping Window
By 3.12.14
Starbucks says that 1-in-10 customers now uses the company’s mobile payment app when buying their lattes and whatnot at the coffee colossus, but these customers must currently dig into their pockets if they want to show their appreciation with a tip for the barista. But starting next week, iPhone users will have the option of leaving digital tops at the ‘bucks. [More]
How Many Gummy Bears Are In Your Starbucks Drink?
By 2.24.14
Yes. Everyone who loves espresso-based coffee concoctions knows, objectively, that they contain a lot of calories. Sometimes it’s hard to visualize what this means, though, without imagining the coffee beverage in terms of something more familiar. Like candy. [More]
‘Dumb Starbucks’ Shut Down, But Not Because Of Its Name
By 2.11.14
The saga of the “Dumb Starbucks” coffee shop in L.A. continued last night, first with the not-at-all-shocking revelation that the creator is a publicity-hungry comedian and writer and then with the news that the store/parody/stunt/art installation had been shut down by the county for reasons that have nothing directly to do with its use of the Starbucks name. [More]
Starbucks Says ‘Dumb Starbucks’ Can Not Use Starbucks Name
By 2.10.14
A quick update to the earlier story about the “Dumb Starbucks” store that opened up in L.A. over the weekend with operators claiming they don’t need permission to use the coffee chain’s name because the addition of “dumb” makes it a parody and therefore covered by the doctrine of fair use. Starbucks disagrees. [More]
Which Other Restaurants Have Dough Conditioner Azodicarbonamide On The Menu?
By 2.10.14
Last week Subway announced that it would stop using azodicarbonamide, an ingredient known as a dough conditioner that’s also a chemical found in yoga mats, shoe rubber and other synthetic leather. It’s recognized as a safe ingredient in the U.S., but is banned in Europe and Australia as a food additive. But of course, Subway isn’t the only fast food restaurant to use it. So where else can you find azodicarbonamide? [More]
‘Dumb Starbucks’ Opens In L.A., But For How Long?
By 2.10.14
UPDATE: Starbucks has issued an official statement saying that Dumb Starbucks can not use the coffee chain’s name. [More]
Starbucks Might Introduce Pre-Orders Via App, But Will It Cut Your Wait In Line?
By 1.30.14
For all the times you’ve stomped into a Starbucks with a caffeine-craving dragon inside you that that needs to be slain before you can be expected to be a human being and found yourself instead thwarted by an impossibly long and frustrating line of customers in front of you, well, salvation might be on its way. Or maybe not. Dragons! [More]
Bodum Recalls Starbucks French Presses: Shattered Glass And Boiling Water Are A Bad Combination
By 1.29.14
Do you know what really doesn’t go together? A quart or so of boiling water, a plummeting glass container, and a lot of brown-colored, stain-tastic liquid. That’s been the terrifying result for some people who paid $40 for a pretty rose gold colored French press at Starbucks. [More]
