Starbucks takes the gold

By: Gabriella Nowicki

“I’ll take a venti shaken passion fruit tazo tea without the lemonade and sweetened please.” Ah, one of my favorite things to leave my mouth. Nothing beats walking into the dimmed café building as a whiff of freshly brewed Columbian coffee fills the nasal cavity, surrounded by hipsters, white girls, and old folks alike.

Starbucks is a revolutionary café that takes the basic idea of ordering coffee and up-scaling it. The worldwide store opened up its doors in 1971 in Seattle and since then blew up on the coffee shop scene.

At first glance, Starbucks is a luxurious coffee shop, however, it really is meant for the average person. Many complain about the prices, but there are ways around it; Starbucks has an awesome rewards program that gives you discounts and free drinks. Plus, the quality of coffee from Starbucks is top notch and not brewed multiple times a day unlike other competitors. If you’re looking for a cheap drink, you can get a venti tazo tea for just $2.50, which is the equivalent to a medium iced coffee from Dunkin Donuts. Starbucks is also one of the few stores to hand out free iced water that’s not out of the sink.

As for the food, Starbucks sells cute little Danishes, sandwiches like Panini’s, and my favorite; cake pops. Now that they’ve got the drink part down, they are working on creating more food for customers such as appetizers and breakfast meals. The food is more expensive than the drinks but, once again, it’s worth it. The food fills me up and does not run a high calorie count—unless you get those pesky sweets.

When ordering, most people complain about the proper way to order. It’s simpler than most think. Tall is a small, grande is a medium, and venti is a large or 20 oz. Honestly, the barista won’t care if you say small instead of tall—they know what you mean. I like how it has different names because it makes you feel like you are actually in a café outside the U.S. It’s unique and I am proud to say that I know the different sizes.

As for the rest of the order, if you really struggle, the barista will help you out and can ask you questions to figure out what you want. Honestly, I struggled too. I used to only get frappuccinos, and when I started to expand my horizons, I did not know how to order or what I liked. After years of practice, I am well versed in the Starbucks language.

There’s literally something for everyone at Starbucks: tea, smoothies, coffee (how ever you take it), food, milkshakes, water, and soon alcohol! The atmosphere is so cool and innovative. It’s a great hangout spot for catching up with friends or maybe even a first date.

Not gonna lie though, I do enjoy Dunkin because I like their iced coffee better, but if I had to choose between the two, I will always choose Starbucks.

VS. 

Why I run on Dunkin

By: Kayla Katt

1. The prices: When you want a coffee, it doesn’t cost an arm and a leg. A medium iced coffee from Dunkin Donuts costs about 2.50, while a coffee from competitors, like Starbucks, can cost up to $1.50 more.

2. The food: Dunkin Donuts has actual food like donuts (of course), bagels and breakfast sandwiches. Competitors have food items, like bread and cookies, but they’re more of a snack. You can go to Dunkin at any time of the day and get just a snack or even a meal.

3. The service: Compared to other competitors Dunkin’s service is faster; you’re not waiting in the pick up line for 5-10 minutes for your coffee or latte. You usually get your coffee pretty fast.

4. Ordering: It’s pretty easy to order at Dunkin—small, medium, or large, followed by a flavor of your coffee, latte or cappuccino, then add cream or milk and sugar. Its not like you have to speak another language when you order, and then get looks and be corrected when you don’t know the correct terms or how to even pronounce the name.

5. The flavors: There are a lot of flavors to choose from at Dunkin, and there are plenty of seasonal flavors as well. For instance, this season there’s a cookie dough flavor and a butter pecan flavor. It’s not only the variety that makes Dunkin Donuts better; it’s also the types; average people actually know the flavors are and want to try them.

6. The coupons: Aside from cheaper prices, Dunkin gives coupons, both in the paper and in their calendar, which has coupons for each month, or through their free mobile app, making coffee even cheaper.

Overall Dunkin Donuts is better. However, I’m not gonna lie—every now and then I have a craving for a shaken passion fruit sweetened iced tea from Starbucks.