More Menu Secrets: Drive-Thru Mischief At Starbucks

Those of you who've been reading my posts for a while (since I wrote that Co-Op evergreen, Starbucks Secret Menu - 98 comments and counting!)  know that I have a small obsession with the coffee mega-chain.  And now there's more news to ponder.  It seems that Bucky's has altered its drive-thru menu to eliminate the "tall" coffee.  Apparently, when you're in a car, a grande is the new small.  There are three possible reasons for this change. 

The first, and the truth according to Starbucks, is that customers wanted streamlined choices and this was one of the compromises that reduced the drive-thru menu from 70 to 25 items. 

The second is that the nation is getting very tired and is at risk of falling asleep behind the wheel.   We just need more coffee.  (That would be my metaphor for voting out the Dems 22 months after they took over a Great Recession...but that's only me!) 

And the third.  Well, could it be...that Starbucks is looking to up-sell a nation of drive-thru coffee junkies??

Don't worry, though.  You can still get a tall if you ask for it.  Heck.  You can even get a short - even though it's not on any menu at all!

Comments

[Jeff Lipshaw]

I too am a Starbucks junkie. Notwithstanding that my children believe Starbucks is another example of the imperialist hegemonic mass commercialization of what was once good and holy, I have the Starbuck app on my iPhone and can almost instantaneously find the closest store. It saved me in Binghamton, NY on the drive home from Michigan a couple weeks ago.

I, however, never do drive-through because I am too obsessive-compulsive about how the half & half and sugar are put into the coffee.

[Jeff Yates]

I know that reducing the choices of size from 3 to 2 really helps me out -- my brain seizes up with that extra choice ;-)

Jeff, which SB did you visit in Binghamton? I also use the app - very helpful. You can use the more generic apps (yelp) to find independent coffee shops, but frankly, the quality varies tremendously.

[Jeff Lipshaw]

904 Upper Front Street.