Bean Waiting

This just in: Starbucks' global march reaches the Cliff

Comments (0) By Rose Farley Thursday, May 17 2001

...continued from page 1

"Honestly I thought, 'Wow, ghetto Starbucks.' I don't mind, but Starbucks is supposed to be a ritzy-type thing," Jones says. "I hate to be negative, but I like the other Starbucks better."

While Jones says he enjoys the store's outdoor patio, customer Anna McWilliams says its proximity to Highway 67, not to mention the surrounding cluster of fast-food restaurants on Camp Wisdom Road, detracts from the atmosphere she has come to expect from Starbucks.

Peter Calvin

Relax, sip a latte and discuss world affairs at the Oak Cliff Starbucks. Or grab a burrito at Taco Bell--your pick.

More About

"This isn't a hangout-type Starbucks," says McWilliams, who adds that she still prefers the Starbucks in the Highland Park shopping village. "Here, by the highway, it's just not as relaxing."

Local Starbucks officials declined to provide any information about the store's early sales, but one report suggests that demand for its house coffee has been low--so low that employees are sometimes reluctant to keep a pot of the brew on hand. Oak Cliff resident Larry Lyons, husband of Dallas Observer Editor Julie Lyons, says he recently went to the store after dinner to buy a cup of the house brew, only to discover there was none made.

"Since Starbucks is all about coffee, I figured they'd have coffee," Lyons says. "But they didn't."