why must every moderately successful store in the UK be immediately turned into a chain?

the u.s. has no 2nd- and 3rd-tier coffee chains that even come close to the saturation of these two

well in the UK it doesn't take much to jump from "regional" to "national," right?

in the upper midwest we have caribou and dunn brothers coffee places, as well as shitloads of indie places (lol twin cities)... go somewhere else and it's what, au bon pain? there are lots of starbucks competitors but none have their reach, no

xp!

Caffe Nero is actually pretty good though. Costa = meh. Starbucks = rubbish coffee. But yes, nowhere outside Zone One is anywhere near 'saturated' with them. I think Costa is only all over the place because it picked up most of the Coffee Republic places when they went bust.

There are still *a lot* of independent cafes and coffee shops in Central London, mostly catering to office workers.

yes DC that's very true abt central london

apparently there are two tea chains set to expand in the UK:

Betty's Café Tea Rooms

and

Tea

"Once we are in a position to start expanding," Spence says, "we hope to raise more finance to open 10 to 15 units in three years. We'll probably initially look at London locations such as Canary Wharf, the West End, Covent Garden, Notting Hill, St John's Wood and Richmond."

Looking further ahead, Spence says that he envisages one of three possibilities - an outright sale of all units, the setting up of a franchise business, or a brand rollout across the country financed by a launch on the Alternative Investment Market.

the u.s. has no 2nd- and 3rd-tier coffee chains that even come close to the saturation of these two

dunkin donuts!

ken, there's a place called sakura in central london that's supposed to have decent ramen. wagamama is horrible.

a wagamama was just opened in boston, by the way. i hope it bombs.

dunkin donuts is a donut shop

There are still *a lot* of independent cafes and coffee shops in Central London, mostly catering to office workers.

-- Matt DC, Tuesday, November 6, 2007 3:55 PM (1 minute ago) Bookmark Link

i was going to raise this earlier. working in w1, in the end, i tried different places, but cafe nero was basically better than the indies. sorry indies.

DD claims to be the "world's largest coffee and baked goods chain," serving 2.7 million customers per day at over 7,000 stores globally which includes approximately 5,300 Dunkin' Donuts locations in 34 states throughout the USA.[citation needed] This figure compares with the 10,800 stores of coffee chain Starbucks,

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunkin'_Donuts

tracer you're blowing my mind a little bit

their coffee is horrible come on

dunkin donuts is a donut shop

as someone who grew up in the greater boston metropolitan area i can unequivocally attest to the complete falsity of this statement.

There's a Wagamama in Boston AND a Wagamama in Cambridge. Both are awesome.

Also DD coffee tastes like cat ass.

their coffee is horrible come on

this is true.

people do luuuuuuuuuv it tho

my job here is done

xpost argh

maybe it's specially formulated to have a donut put in it

people love DD coffee, it's true. also, it is true that it tastes like cat ass

i'd rather drink the coffee at cumberland farms

oh wait, let's call that a "coffee shop"

cumberland farms: 1000 outlets

i like how the debate has unceremoniously changed from number in starbucks in new york vs. london to number of coffee chains in new york vs. london to number of quality, dedicated coffee chains in new york vs. london

you people are CRAZY-MAKING

hey they serve coffee at ikea too

point is dunkin dontus sells mostly coffee. might as well call starbucks a dry crumbly blueberry muffin shop.

maybe it's specially formulated to have a donut put in it

they do stock a donut known as the "dunkin donut" that has a little handle right on it for dunking

but that's a meatball shop

xpost

i like how the debate has unceremoniously changed from number in starbucks in new york vs. london to number of coffee chains in new york vs. london to number of quality, dedicated coffee chains in new york vs. london

Wait. . .do you want to have a ceremony every time the thread changes topics? Because we can do that.

i'm gonna give sakura a try i think lauren! seems to get some good reviews. a bit far for a lunchhour visit but perhaps a weeekend yummm.

Dunkin' Donuts is a doughnut shop that serves horrible, horrible coffee and awesome fake McMuffins.

http://atrp.gatech.edu/pt17-1/fptb_ribbon_cut.jpg

hope you enjoy it, ken. it was way too far from my office to be feasible.

let's have a ceremony every time mr. que is funny, that way we won't ever have to worry about it

ROFFLE ROFFLE ROFFLE

GUYS I DONT HAVE ANY STATS RIGHT HERE BUT ID BE WILLING TO BET THAT 75% OF DUNKIN DONUTS PURCHASES ARE COFFEE SO ITS A COFFEE SHOP OK - THEIR BEST ITEM IS HOWEVER MUNCHKINS BECAUSE THEY ARE CUTE AND FUN TO EAT

the simpsons donut was really good!

the french cruller is pretty great too

Krispy Kreme has the #1 Koffee

you couldn't hurl a rock in my office without hitting someone who swears by DD coffee. unless you hit me, but my probably starts at the coffee part, so I don't count.

Wagamama is gooood, fck th htrz, etc. the one in Faneuil Hall isn't quite on a level yet with the ones in London that've been doing it a while longer, and is a wee bit small, but I can't speak for the Harvard Sq one. for th London people, Taro on Old Compton St is a good alternative if the bad taste in your mouth is more to do with the chain than the food.

i was going to raise this earlier. working in w1, in the end, i tried different places, but cafe nero was basically better than the indies. sorry indies.

-- That one guy that hit it and quit it, Tuesday, November 6, 2007 3:59 PM (14 minutes ago) Bookmark Link

oh shit villandry on gt portland st, only that encapsulates the whole thing; you virtually have to wear white tie just to get served there.

probably = problem xp

Someone tell those guys they can't all cut the ribbon. One will almost certainly have the ribbon slip away from his scissors.

Coffee in Britain is shit, let's just cut to the chase.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v134/tracerhand/ohsnap.gif

Why is it that Dunkin' Donuts is a big Berlin thing? It was perhaps the most depressing time I had in Berlin, all because stupid German friends kept on ranting about how good it is. It isn't. I know of one DD in Ireland, which has two donuts. Hurrah!

why is santa claus naked

... daddy?

I think that Naked Santa Vampire pretty much settles this debate.

Coffee in Britain is shit, let's just cut to the chase.

-- Matt DC, Tuesday, November 6, 2007 4:16 PM (2 minutes ago) Bookmark Link

whaddayagonnado. i think it's fine.

views on PAUL, i wonder, which i think is good + overpriced.

the bad taste in my mouth from wagamama has more to do with crappy, dumbed-down food that was generally over- or undercooked as opposed to any corporate affiliation. it was one of the only restaurant meals aside from macd's that my friend's toddlers would stand for so i'm more well acquainted with the chain that i'd like to be.

maybe they fucked your food up on purpose. did you do something to make them mad?

Coffee in Britain is shit, let's just cut to the chase.

otm! and while we're on the subject, what exactly is it that keeps starbucks in europe from offering regular brewed coffee just like it does in north america? i don't know many real-life americanos who jump at the thought of espressos diluted in hot water.

fuck knows -- but everybody knows starbucks is rubbish.

though tbh it's just fucking coffee.