Coffee City

Melissa Allison tracks Seattle's — and the world's — caffeine addiction.

March 17, 2009 3:28 PM

Starbucks opens rustic-looking coffeehouse near Pike Place Market, doesn't post prices for most drinks

MELISSA ALLISON/THE SEATTLE TIMES

Starbucks at Pike Street and First Avenue.

If you like Starbucks' flagship store in Pike Place Market, check out the rustic Starbucks coffeehouse that opened last week across First Avenue from the entrance to the market.

Dark wood. Cracked concrete floor. Coffee bean bags as wall coverings. It is cool, like a real community gathering place -- caffeinating hole? -- and not some yuppie's living room.

It's a lot like the Pike Place store, but with abundant seating -- small round tables, long skinny tables, outdoor seating for when it warms up -- and a menu that shows prices only for drinks made using Starbucks' high-end Clover machine.

All the prices are available on printed menus, and the regulars know how much their drinks cost anyway.

Maybe the no-price thing is a coffeehouse throwback that I don't know about.

Are there other coffeehouses that don't list prices on their overhead menus?

Update 3/18/09 at 6:12 p.m.: Starbucks spokeswoman Deb Trevino says the lack of prices is not an effort to avoid posting calorie counts, as one commenter suggested. "We're in full compliance on that front," she said, "with nutritional information at the counter."

Digg | Newsvine

Comments (10)

How refreshing that Starbucks is paying attention to the retail experience after building way too many generic stores. Here's a company that... Posted on March 18, 2009 at 2:16 PM by globalist. Jump to comment

i say it's about time Starbucks read the tea leaves. this country needs to get back to basics. remember the squeaky floors at REI back in the... Posted on March 17, 2009 at 5:08 PM by paisano. Jump to comment

I thought the whole point of menu labeling was to post the calorie content in such a manner that all customers could easily see it--such as on the... Posted on June 25, 2009 at 11:58 AM by harridan. Jump to comment

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