Ooooh, I do care about a _real_ coffe house experience, like a classic one in Vienna, Austria. Or a decadent one in Berlin, Germany. Or even a cafe to sit and be a bit buergeois in Brighton, UK. Have I mentioned Paris, France? There used to be a 'french' cafe with a lebanese waiter who tried to rip you off every time in this very city, and that had a wonderful athmosphere. It closed two years ago...
What does absoultely nothing for me, and even lacks any kind of athmosphere at all, are the chains around this dingy town. Coffee Republic, Costas, Starbucks. They are all as sad and lacking of athmospehere as each other.
Oh, Berlin! There are fabulous neighborhood coffeehouses there . . . I lived in Berlin for only one month, but I still dream about the cafes and walks in the Tiergarten.
It has a nice atmosphere, but I never go into Starbucks if I can help it at all.
Yuri: I agree with you about the coffee house experience, but I think a lot depends upon present company and general mood at the time as well. I once had coffee at Cafe Florian, with live music, an achingly beautiful setting, but was incredibly unhappy at the circumstances of my being there. Then again, the one in Bruxelles, and in that basement place in Boston, both were great. The one in Boston, particularly, I returned to three times (no decent coffee anywhere else in town), and it just got better each time! And the coffee... yea gods!
I'll only go to Starbucks if the group I am with insists or if I have time to kill in a specific place and there are no independents around. One of our Starbucks has a fireplace, which I like in the cold winters. And a study group for a Welsh class meets there one night a week and that is interesting to listen to while pretending to read the newspaper. Otherwise, I avoid avoid avoid.
I am lucky to have quite a few independent coffee houses in my area, one of which employs a few friends and exhibits/sells their artwork. The one which employs the friends has the second-best coffee, but the atmosphere is always relaxed and upbeat despite being crazy busy sometimes..
The one with the best coffee is too teeny tiny to hang out in except in the summer when they put a few tables on the sidewalk.
The one I go to most is the one closest to my apartment, and it has a separate reading room with books and newspapers and lots of comfy chairs and little tables. Its coffee is unremarkable but not offensive (to my tongue) like Starbucks.
Some of my friends choose the coffeehouse based on which one has lunch items or pastry items they want to eat. If I want lunch I will go to a certain coffeehouse but most times I go based on the coffee or the atmosphere/location.
I like that you are doing surveys based on _real_ coffeehouse experience. When I lived in DC ages and ages ago, a new coffeehouse opened up that always seemed empty or closed and the shelves were almost bare. Then one day a survey showed up in our mailbox. Turns out that coffeehouse was a 'fake' set up by a GWU class or program or something. I whined and complained on the survey about it not being a real coffeehouse - at that time they were few and far between in DC especially in the West End-Foggy Bottom area.
Starbucks just came to Switzerland. My friend goes because it's the only place where they let you hang around and they don't get annoyed if you only buy one coffee and you're there for hours. I find it an affront to real tea-houses. Honestly, if you're in the land of GOOD coffee and pastries, why go to Starbucks, which is overpriced, and nasty?
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Ooooh, I do care about a _real_ coffe house experience, like a classic one in Vienna, Austria. Or a decadent one in Berlin, Germany. Or even a cafe to sit and be a bit buergeois in Brighton, UK. Have I mentioned Paris, France?
There used to be a 'french' cafe with a lebanese waiter who tried to rip you off every time in this very city, and that had a wonderful athmosphere. It closed two years ago...
What does absoultely nothing for me, and even lacks any kind of athmosphere at all, are the chains around this dingy town. Coffee Republic, Costas, Starbucks. They are all as sad and lacking of athmospehere as each other.
Oh, Berlin! There are fabulous neighborhood coffeehouses there . . . I lived in Berlin for only one month, but I still dream about the cafes and walks in the Tiergarten.
It has a nice atmosphere, but I never go into Starbucks if I can help it at all.
Yuri: I agree with you about the coffee house experience, but I think a lot depends upon present company and general mood at the time as well. I once had coffee at Cafe Florian, with live music, an achingly beautiful setting, but was incredibly unhappy at the circumstances of my being there. Then again, the one in Bruxelles, and in that basement place in Boston, both were great. The one in Boston, particularly, I returned to three times (no decent coffee anywhere else in town), and it just got better each time! And the coffee... yea gods!
Here's a long comment re coffeehouse atmosphere:
I'll only go to Starbucks if the group I am with insists or if I have time to kill in a specific place and there are no independents around. One of our Starbucks has a fireplace, which I like in the cold winters. And a study group for a Welsh class meets there one night a week and that is interesting to listen to while pretending to read the newspaper. Otherwise, I avoid avoid avoid.
I am lucky to have quite a few independent coffee houses in my area, one of which employs a few friends and exhibits/sells their artwork. The one which employs the friends has the second-best coffee, but the atmosphere is always relaxed and upbeat despite being crazy busy sometimes..
The one with the best coffee is too teeny tiny to hang out in except in the summer when they put a few tables on the sidewalk.
The one I go to most is the one closest to my apartment, and it has a separate reading room with books and newspapers and lots of comfy chairs and little tables. Its coffee is unremarkable but not offensive (to my tongue) like Starbucks.
Some of my friends choose the coffeehouse based on which one has lunch items or pastry items they want to eat. If I want lunch I will go to a certain coffeehouse but most times I go based on the coffee or the atmosphere/location.
Oops, sorry, I didn't leave out the specifics.
I like that you are doing surveys based on _real_ coffeehouse experience. When I lived in DC ages and ages ago, a new coffeehouse opened up that always seemed empty or closed and the shelves were almost bare. Then one day a survey showed up in our mailbox. Turns out that coffeehouse was a 'fake' set up by a GWU class or program or something. I whined and complained on the survey about it not being a real coffeehouse - at that time they were few and far between in DC especially in the West End-Foggy Bottom area.
There are no Starbucks in Sweden.
There are no Starbucks in The Netherlands either.
Starbucks just came to Switzerland. My friend goes because it's the only place where they let you hang around and they don't get annoyed if you only buy one coffee and you're there for hours. I find it an affront to real tea-houses. Honestly, if you're in the land of GOOD coffee and pastries, why go to Starbucks, which is overpriced, and nasty?