For many, waiting in the long Starbucks line is part of their daily routine–waking up, placing an online order or sitting in the line of 10 cars just waiting to get their hands on a coffee. Don’t get me wrong, it’s hard to come by a drink that is as refreshing as the drinks on the Starbucks menu, but does that really mean it’s the best?
Every Wednesday, getting Starbucks is a given for me since it’s a late start at school. Sipping a venti strawberry açaí just makes the day better. In the moment, you aren’t thinking about the outrageous prices Starbucks charges for their drinks, but $7 for a drink adds up over time.
One frustrating aspect of Starbucks is their drink sizes and the ungodly amount of ice that fills up each cup. If you aren’t ordering “Light Ice” with your drink, you are basically only getting 1/4 of the drink you ordered. Starbucks fills their cups to the top with ice and the rest with your desired drink, meaning you are getting less than what you paid for. Even when I order light ice they still aren’t even filling the cup up all the way, leaving a few inches of empty unfilled space.
My order consists of the popular and beloved by many, “Strawberry Acai Refresher with Lemonade” and a bacon gouda breakfast sandwich. The sandwich costs $5.95 and a venti-sized drink costs around $4.15. Ultimately, this doesn’t seem like much, but if you’re getting breakfast at this price more than once a week, it will do some damage to your wallet.
However, one part that I do love about Starbucks other than the taste, is the rewards program. Like many other restaurants, the more money you spend, the more points you receive. At Starbucks, you can use your points to redeem a variety of items with different amounts of points, which is useful when you don’t want to pay full price. Now lots of places do this which makes it easier to find a cheaper alternative to Starbucks.
Living near both a Starbucks and Dunkin’ leaves me with a tough decision on which one to go to. While Starbucks has delicious, mouthwatering refreshers, Dunkin’s coffee is just better. I am able to get a large coffee for a low price at Dunkin that simply tastes better. Even though their refreshers might not live up to Starbucks’ refreshers, they are still a good choice. Not only are Dunkin’s drinks cheaper and tastier, they also have a wide range of food options. You can get a breakfast sandwich and a doughnut for the price of one drink at Starbucks. While yes, Dunkin does have its cons, I am often persuaded to go there instead of turning right into the madness of the Starbucks parking lot.
Understandably many people will argue on how Starbucks is the best coffee and drink place, but I will always argue the opposite because there are so many alternatives with cheaper prices and better drinks.
