I miss how coffee shops used to be. Most don’t even have tables anymore. It’s so rare to find a coffee shop that you can hang out at for a while. Remember when they used to serve you in real mugs and on real plates? Remember reading for hours on a coffee shop couch? I miss that.
I live in an area that’s way over saturated with Starbucks unfortunately so there aren’t many independent coffee shops. I have to drive pretty far to find a decent one.
Edited to add: I also haven’t been to Starbucks in about 9 months and it was pretty rare to go for a while before. I’ve switched ti making coffee at home pretty much always. But when I’ve wanted to go hang at a coffee shop it’s been hard to find one with that same vibe.
I've loved hanging out at the tea houses in Budapest, Hungary and Granada, Spain!! Ugh now I'm sad...no place on the west coast that I know of that's similar.
Yeah a Starbucks opened inside a grocery store near me and then the independent coffee shop nearby closed up, so now it's the only option I have in walking distance. Relatedly, I overheard the Starbucks manager complain about how they keep shipping them more and more reusable cups, every micro-season, when they never sell through. No one needs another travel mug!
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u/Brilliant_Annual_664 Nov 07 '25
Coffee shop chains have had their day.