The 6 a.m. coffee run is desperately important, but you've probably never considered Starbucks for happy hour. The coffee chain is, sigh, is putting the "bar" back into "barista," (sorry, couldn't help ourselves) as just another way for the coffee chain to anticipate your every move.
Starbucks began serving beer and wine back in fall 2010, at just a few locations in the Pacific Northwest. It looks like the boozy experiment worked -- the coffee chain is now rolling out alcoholic options at spots in Atlanta, Chicago and Southern California.
"The specific stores have been 'carefully selected' and are larger and have more seating than regular Starbucks sites," reports BusinessWeek.com.
The current Star-bars sell beer for $5 and glasses of wine for $7-$9, BusinessWeek.com said. Starbucks' online menu doesn't list any alcoholic options.
No D.C.-area locations are due to start serving alcohol any time soon, but Starbucks certainly wouldn't be the first local coffeehouse to do so.
Tryst on 18th Street, of course, has popularly done so for years, and of course there's Chinatown Coffee Co., Firehook, Northside Social, and about eight million Cosi locations.
The thing is, except for those eight million Cosis (Cosies?), those are all at least reasonably hip, independent places. It's hard to imagine sophisticated citydwellers gathering for a venti-size Pinot at the same place they go for a pick-me-up after spin class.
On the other hand, imbibing a Miller Lite or two before waiting 20 minutes for a Metro train could make the evening commute seem less frustrating.
Think it could work here? Post your comments below.
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