Starbucks

Starbucks is the best there is. Atmosphere is excellent and perfect for relaxing. I love to sit in the overstuffed chairs. Just the aroma upon entering is worth the price. Some people balk at paying $3.00 for a cup of coffee. They need to learn how to pamper themselves. Anyone from France or Italy would refuse to drink the swill that we call drip coffee. The Frappuccino is excellent and sooo refreshing on Houston's hot summer days. The creme Frappuccinos, like Vanilla Creme or Tazoberry Creme are delightful and different. For you newbies: for hot, order Grande cafe mocha, the basic drink. You can expand from there. For cold, order a mocha Frapuccino, you can't go wrong with that. When ordering hot espresso beverages, order a ""Grande,"" which includes two shots of espresso, never a ""Tall,"" which includes only one, thus too weak. Alternately, order the off the menu ""short,"" which includes the single shot but less milk. Unfortunately Starbucks is not as good as it used to be. It's still good, and still features a unique, recognizable flavor, but the new automatic machines do not give the same quality that the old manual ones did, albeit you will get a bad one much less often. I think the McDonald's McCafe cappuccinos are really good and also feature a unique, recognizable flavor. People will scoff at me, but I think they're as good as Starbucks. They're not much cheaper though. Pros: Excellent quality, Giant menu, Great place to relax Cons: Price, Overwhelming menu, not 24 hour more

What are we thinking letting Starbucks be the number one coffee in Houston?? Come on now people, are you serious? The coffee always seems to be bitter, over processed and uncreative! My dog could make a better pot of joe! Their staff is nice and all, but do they really care what kind of coffee their making for you. (By the way, is Starbucks still making coffee - all I hear about now is fancy tea and frappachinos) Starbucks is too busy becoming a mega company to sit back and make good coffee. All they do is throw a lot of $$$ toward marketing and make people feel ""cool"" by going there. I say, ""get out more often"" drive further than the corner of your street and try another coffee cafe. Dedricks makes great coffee, Cafe Brazil makes great coffe; and they both have better atmospheres than Starbucks. more

I love coffee, always loved coffee. I think Starbucks coffee is bitter and overpriced. Why cant I find a decent cup of coffee for a 'buck' in this town!! more

Starbucks are on every street corner so it's very hard to ignore them. I will admit that I go in every once in a while for a cuppa but they are most definately NOT the best cup of coffee in any city. They deliberately burn their beans when roasting and it shows. However, what keeps people coming back is not the taste but the amazingly high caffeine content. So, I guess I might have to re-evaluate my position - if someone just wants a caffeine buzz, Starbucks might be the best cup of coffee. However, if you're wanting to have a cup of coffee that tastes good without having to have it mixed like a dessert, I would suggest other vendors. Pros: EASY to find, Easy to find, easy to find Cons: burned taste, over crowded, expensive. more

I would like this coffee if it were not so hot. I like coffee black and do not add cream to cool it off so I have to wait 15 to 30 minutes to get a sip. more

way too strong, even the decaff nasty coffee, very poor service,, way too expensive for what you get which is terrible coffee, now the hot chocolate is great but way too over priced more

Starbucks is only number 1 because there are so many. If they had an equally location-crazy competitor I don't think they would come out on top. Their coffee is decent but #1??? I would love to have some other options. Pros: Everywhere Cons: Expensive more

Nasty Bitter tasting sludge thats too expensive! Ever wonder where the ""Bucks"" came from Cons: Bitter, Stinky, Just Plain Nasty more

WELL, GRANTED, THEY HAVE VARIETY, BUT AS A COFFEE LOVER, THE ""BUCKS"" IN THE NAME IS JUST WHAT U THROW AWAY ON THEIR DRINKS...THE ONLY THING THAT I EVEN CONSIDER GOOD WOULD BE THE ICED/FROZEN DRINKS...BUT I HAVE HAD MUCH, MUCH BETTER COFFEE AND SUCH FOR LE$$ BY FAR. I LAUGH EVERYTIME I SEE HOW SMALL THE ""GRANDE"" IS.... EVEN THE WAFFLE HOUSE HAS BETTER COFFEE!!! more

It's all hype!!! There are so many little places that surpass the Starbucks flavor and quality by far. more

If the person takes the time to make it good. I've had great coffee at Starbucks but I've also had my share of ""ehh, nothing special"" more

Iwould get a caffe vente latte every single day, non fat if they offered some sort of incentive coupon discount. I love it. more

I was a loyal Starbucks customer until the auditor for the West Houston stores started requiring firings of over 15 employees at the West Oaks store. One by one, I watched them get fired off from November 2001 through August 2002. ""Causes"" ranged from spending too much time talking to a particular customer to refusal to fire other employees. Finally, my coworkers and I had enough. We took thousands of dollars in business per year away from Starbucks. I LOVE my Rancillio espresso machine, and I'm saving tons of money now. :) I tried to get the situation straightened out. I wrote letters, filled out comment cards, etc. But nothing ever changed. As for alternatives, La Madeline has several locations, and their French roast is good. Elix and Diedritch's are best bets for espresso drinks if you'd like to see the same person who served you still there next month. more

the iced drinks have a very smooth flavor and I do like the way that they blend them very well, I have not had any of the pastries that they sell so I can not comment on that, the price does seem a little steep though Pros: good parking, fast, convenient Cons: expensive more

great coffee! and great people watching at the Montrose/Hawthorne location! more

It's a chain, the coffee tastes like the beans were burnt, their espresso drinks should be illegal and who's ever heard of a coffee bar shutting down before 9pm? more

Its fast,delicious & indulging...its a bit highly priced but well worth it for the energy and taste.. Pros: Great Taste, Great Variety, Great Atmoshpere Cons: Expensive more

Starbucks has done us a service by beginning a new revolution in the coffee industry, but after drinking ""good"" coffee for several months I find Starbucks product to have a rather strong burnt flavor. It is time to move on to bigger and better. Pros: Accessible Cons: Flavor, Expensive more

Consistently expensive and mediocre. Starbucks is the McDonald's of coffee stores. The coffee has little body and little interest. However the cold sweet drinks are great. Pros: variety, cold sweet drinks, pastries Cons: expensive, low flavour more

It's name says it all!! But they could be just a bit less expensive! I mean come on 6 bucks for a cup of coffee!! Pros: Great Coffee Cons: Expensive more