tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post5852698748159221310..comments2024-03-28T09:46:42.923-05:00Comments on Every goddamn day: 03/28/24: Super mega grande StarbucksNeil Steinberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11468057838260476480noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post-13911526324804638802019-12-13T06:59:11.364-06:002019-12-13T06:59:11.364-06:00I'm sorry to hear you have an upcoming medical...I'm sorry to hear you have an upcoming medical adventure.<br /><br />Thanks for reporting on what goes on in there. I'd been curious, but not enough to stand in line. The spiral escalator and complicated little sandwiches sound appealing.<br /><br />The line about the columbarium gave me a laugh.Joyce Meggetthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03960858859262567707noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post-46084974111348692912019-12-12T23:25:50.214-06:002019-12-12T23:25:50.214-06:00I work at Rush and Erie, mere yards away. I find t...I work at Rush and Erie, mere yards away. I find that there are still lines on occasion, largely subject to weather. Have I been in there yet? Nah. It's gonna be there a while, I think. I don't go to many other food & drink places either. I live and work in the 'hood. Ennui has set in.<br />MJ in Chihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16498831914975788864noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post-14967297910831727612019-12-12T21:23:36.096-06:002019-12-12T21:23:36.096-06:00I have neither the time nor the patience for prete...I have neither the time nor the patience for pretentious bullshit (especially BS on steroids...FOUR floors? A ROOFTOP? 35,000 SQUARE FEET?)...and that is why I have only been inside a Starbucks a few times in my life. And even then, my wife goes up to the counter. I don't want them looking at me like I'm a brain-damaged doofus when I ask for "a cup of coffee." I have no tolerance for yupster posturing about something I'll willingly guzzle after merely pouring it from a pot.<br /><br />Besides which, I've mostly been a totally tea guy.<br /><br />My last visit to a Starbucks was because it was cold and I needed to kill some time until the Cleveland Museum of Art opened. Also because our bank had an ATM inside the place. Otherwise,I refuse to have anything to do with elitist establishments that require both a dozen words to order "coffee" and a fistful of dollars to pay for it.<br /><br />Here's what I think of "experiential shrines to coffee passion"--if someone handed me a Starbucks gift card, I'd give it to a homeless street person. The more noisome (stinky), the better. Then they could walk into the joint and become a stink bomb with feet.<br /><br />SPIRAL escalators? Seriously? Our equivalent of the CTA couldn't even manage to keep the STRAIGHT ones functioning. The ones at the stop at the end of my street remained broken right up until the station was closed and demolished. Its replacement has stairs--and elevators. Only the stairs are usually in working order. In Cleveland, a working escalator of any kind is often a dream and a luxury. All the escalator mechanics have probably left town for the Sun Belt.Grizz 65https://www.blogger.com/profile/02892702223228764894noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post-25437100162991926562019-12-12T17:13:00.957-06:002019-12-12T17:13:00.957-06:00I went on a driving vacation thru the Pacific Nort...I went on a driving vacation thru the Pacific Northwest in like 1991. There were signs everywhere yelling "We have espresso!!". There was even one on a McDonalds. We came across a little roadside stand (like a kid's lemonade stand) with the "we have espresso" signage. We thought it was funny and espresso was such a big deal out there. Little did we know......Shari P.https://www.blogger.com/profile/02844720465680592417noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post-16962635510686684272019-12-12T15:19:09.125-06:002019-12-12T15:19:09.125-06:00Neil's dubious evocation of such a thing as to...Neil's dubious evocation of such a thing as too strong coffee brought to mind a meal in a little restaurant in Buonconvento, a pretty Tuscan town on the Via Francogana, the pilgrims route from Canterbury to Rome, where, in 1313 the German Emperor Henry VII died, probably from malaria but, as local legend has it, poisoned by priests. At the end of the fine meal we were offered a choice of "coffee" or "American coffee." I ordered the latter, and when the bill appeared told the manager that he made good "American coffee." It's quite easy he said: "We just make coffee and ad water."<br /><br />Tom Tomhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09641357239788323783noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post-22111557613855074912019-12-12T09:04:43.010-06:002019-12-12T09:04:43.010-06:00The "stupidly twiddly" article link rein...The "stupidly twiddly" article link reinforced my notion that the spiral escalator is bound to be much more trouble than it's worth, but the description of the Levytator seemed a good deal more practical and ingenious. Even the name is delightful, though I would change the "y" to "i" to get more bang from the pun.<br /><br />johntatehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06215684866966011198noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post-67056700951973204002019-12-12T08:47:05.397-06:002019-12-12T08:47:05.397-06:00I used to edit a trade magazine for owners of inde...I used to edit a trade magazine for owners of independent coffeehouses. Those people had a love-hate relationship (mostly the latter) with Starbucks. On one hand, Starbucks deserved credit for popularizing the concept of specialty coffee; but it flooded that market with dark roasted coffee (the "too strong" taste that Neil dislikes), distorting consumers' tastes. This is why many of our readers sneered about "Charbucks" or "Starburnt."<br /><br />I'm just grateful that Howard Schultz is back to doing things like the Reserve Roasteries, and not cluttering up presidential politics with another billionaire's vanity campaign.Bitter Scribehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04645909858616987997noreply@blogger.com