Visit to the Prague Starbucks...

This morning Kathy and I dropped Noah off at Sunday school at 9:45 and then headed over to the first Starbucks in Prague just across the way which opened on Tuesday. We usually either go for a walk or stop somewhere for coffee so today we thought we would have our coffee at the new Starbucks.

Lots of other Sunday school parents had the same idea and there ended up being about 10 of us there.

The experience was OK, but then I don't really understand all the fuss over Starbucks. There were only a couple of people ahead of us in line and within a minute or two we were able to place our order - a tall (i.e. small) caramel machiatto for Kathy and a grande (i.e. medium) white mocha cafe for me. The total was 200 Crowns, or about $12. That seems a bit pricey, but before the recent fall of the dollar that same 200 Crowns would only have been about $9 (better, but still pricey).

The service at the counter was good and the coffee was prepared quickly. We retired to the main room, which was appointed similar to all the others. Soft jazz was playing on the sound system. The wall color was a warm peachy-yellow-orange.

As for the coffee itself, I thought it was just OK. It didn't seem noticeably different from what we get at Coffee Heaven, a local high end coffee chain in Prague (where the two coffees we ordered would probably cost 20% less).

The view is probably better than most Starbucks. The location is in a corner of the building, so there are windows on two sides.

The clientele seemed to be mostly tourists and expats with a few local Czechs thrown in. I expect that is what they are shooting for, but of course the more Czechs the better.

All in all I was underwhelmed, but on the other hand it is nice to have a place better than McDonalds to get a taste of home.