A Coffee Hater’s Favorite Coffee Shop
Bindu Varghese
I admit it, I hate coffee. However, I love coffee shops. I know it sounds weird, but if you’re not biased by the taste of coffee, you can appreciate all the things great coffee shops have to offer. When I look for quality coffee shops, I look for a few things: friendly customer service, great ambience, and options for people who don’t drink coffee. Around EC, we have a Starbucks, Dunkin Donuts, and Coffee Beanery as options for your daily coffee. Read on if you want to get a coffee hater’s perspective on the best and worst coffee shops around EC New York.
Friendly Customer Service
In this category, Coffee Beanery actually ranks highest in my book. First of all, unlike Starbucks, they don’t go through the process of asking for your name, trying to spell your name, and then trying to pronounce your name. I always find this process tedious and embarrassing (especially since my name isn’t a common American name). Also, while the lines can be busy at times, they have an orderly process that makes it fast and quick. Dunkin Donuts actually makes you wait outside, and while it’s okay in temperate weather, it’s not great in the cold winter or hot summer days. Also, Coffee Beanery has a system where you can give tips with a credit card! For someone who never carries cash, this is a great option. Finally, I really appreciate how attentive the staff at Coffee Beanery is – they’re laid back, cool, and overall trendy hipsters – totally New York!
Great Ambience
When I walk into a coffee shop, I want to have places to relax, cool music to listen to, and the ability to stay in the shop for a long period of time. In this category, Starbucks takes the cake! Dunkin Donuts doesn’t have any of these options as it is an outdoor express coffee shop, so unfortunately, I can’t utilize this shop all that much. Coffee Beanery has limited seating, but it’s more of a ‘grab what you want and go’ type of shop. Starbucks has cool music, free WiFi, lots of seating, and interesting people to chat with. It’s overall a great place to spend a few hours on a rainy New York day.
Non-Coffee Options
Without a doubt, my favorite here is Dunkin Donuts. From drinks to pastries to lunch options, Dunkin Donuts can serve you breakfast, lunch, and dinner! Moreover, all their items are reasonably priced and delicious! Starbucks comes in at a close second. They have lots of options, but their non-breakfast items are a bit lacking. Also, since they specialize in coffee drinks, they only have a couple non-coffee based beverages. Of course, their options are the most expensive as well. Coffee Beanery has a great spread for breakfast, but that’s about it. Also, they have almost no non-coffee beverages, so you can never get a complete meal here.
So who wins?
Since each of these coffee shops has won one category each, I’d give the overall win to EC New York’s student lounge! The coffee in the vending machines offers a great variety at a cheap price. Plus with the vending machines, there are always lots of great snack options. Also, with all the space to relax and study, if you want to Learn English for Business, or any of our other courses, you’ll find many like-minded students chatting it up and drinking coffee in the student lounge. Finally, there are lots of friendly people at EC New York to help you so no problem is too big!
That’s my opinion. What’s your favorite coffee shop around EC New York?