Starbucks Vs A Good Old Cafeteria.

[Gringoboy]

Which do you choose?
I find there's something rather sterile and unwelcoming about Starbucks.
OK, they've got loads of different coffee choices, but it ain't cheap.
On the other hand,more and more cafeterias here are going up market to the point that they almost resemble a Starbucks, but given the choice, I'd seek out a traditional and older establishment with old furniture, faded photos and a patina of years of coffee drinking where the walls almost talk to you.
In many of these older places you can still get a lovely cafe con leche for about $25, at least in my experience.

 

[Vagrant Violet]

There's a reason why Starbucks are popping up all over the city and are almost always full of customers...

Yes, it's incredibly expensive, but it's a Yanqui business, where understanding of customer service is a barista requirement. I would know- I worked as a Starbucks barista in college, and it is company policy to greet a customer, to be cordial, and at the end, to say, "Thank you." This is not always the case in other local cafés in Buenos Aires.

That, and I wouldn't necessarily call the Starbucks environment "sterile." I mean, you have big, comfy chairs, soft jazz music in the background, free wifi, etc. Maybe they're on to something.

Just my observation.

 

[syngirl]

It depends on if you like a good coffee or no. If you like good coffee you wouldn't go to either frankly. Starbucks beans are ok but their coffees are expensive milk. Most traditional cafeterias burn the crap out of their coffee and it's intomable. If you like a good coffee go to any of the better coffee shops popping up -- Pick up the Fork has a list of them and the options are growing.

Birkin is the best one I've been to of late that stands out in my mind. There's a coffee shop on Libertad just off Sta Fe that has real croissants.

http://pickupthefork.com/2014/04/24/i-got-99-problems-but-a-cafe-aint-one-the-best-coffee-in-buenos-aires/


I'm from Vancouver -- we may actually have even more Starbucks than Seattle does. And yet I never go there -- I go to Artigiano (which is a franchise I'd love to bring here) -- Birkin is the closest I've had to Artigiano coffee in Buenos Aires. Unfortunately it's rather out of the way for me

 

[wineguy999]

Anywhere but Starbucks.

 

[RodalfoWalsh]

I love coffee and to my taste the coffee that Starbucks brews is better than 99% of what's sold in this city.

Also I'm not sure how expesive it really is, a double espresso is about 26 pesos. That's about what you'd pay in most coffee shops. And in Starbucks that actually gets you a double ristretto not just a watered down lungo like you're typical cafe double.

While I love espresso, -I'm drinking some right now- I also love a good drip coffee and 40 pesos for 20oz in my thermos keeps me going when I'm on the run.

I buy whole bean coffee at Starbucks on a weekly basis almost. When I lived closer to an Est Gral de Cafe id rotate with some of their beans but they weren't any cheaper.

I love the traditional porteño cafe but I'll take a Stella and some peanuts please and grab my coffee from a place that knows how to make it.

 

[RodalfoWalsh]

Also not all Starbucks are the same. I love the ones in what used to be old houses like the one on el cano or the one on lacroze or the one on castex

 

[thorsten]

...There's a coffee shop on Libertad just off Sta Fe that has real croissants.

If it's the one which sells the 3 brands Illy, Lindt and Twinnings - I loved it! Lived 2 blocks away and it always had great coffee, very good hot chocolate too and the place itself and the staff where A+.

 

[Girino]

If it's the one which sells the 3 brands Illy, Lindt and Twinnings - I loved it! Lived 2 blocks away and it always had great coffee, very good hot chocolate too and the place itself and the staff where A+.

Can you please define very good hot chocolate? Because here I have only see Nesquik-like very liquid hot chocolate. I want the dense and cream-like stuff, with whipped cream or zabaglione on top!

Something like this:

 

[Girino]

I love the traditional porteño cafe but I'll take a Stella and some peanuts please and grab my coffee from a place that knows how to make it.

I have a Stella. Actually, I have 2. The 2-cups version and the 6-cups version. Also, they went out of business, so you might want to stock it up.

 

[camel]

Because when you ask for a latte helado (iced latte) at most local coffee shops, they have no idea what you mean. I recently ordered one at petit colón and after a lesson on what an iced latte means, the guy brought a cold americano (i.e. no milk). I can always go to a starbucks in any part of the world and order an iced latte, and it always comes out the same.* I'm not a coffee connoisseur (I can't believe I spelled that right on the first try btw), and I can't tell the difference between starbucks and some other place that may be better.

* There is a difference: a Venti in the US is 24oz and comes with 3 shots, here it is 20oz and comes with 2 shots.

One complaint about starbucks though: I live about equidistant between 4 of them and I've tried them all. One of them pretty consistently gives me coffee that is darker, meaning it probably has more coffee in it (I always order it with an extra shot, so it has 3 shots like in the US). The Alto Palermo starbucks once gave me my coffee and it looked like milk with half a shot in it. I brought it back and said something was wrong, this is latte is white. I'm not sure if they're trying save time by only putting 2 shots in it instead of 3, or what.