Apart from the excellent if somewhat over priced coffee and the sociable environment , the Watchdog has never encountered much to admire about Starbucks.
The usually pre-frozen pastries are overly sweet and there are few health conscience selections.
The oatmeal, made with water, has to be camouflaged with raisins, nuts and brown sugar to become barely edible.
So it is with delight that we discover in downtown Halifax, Canada a thriving competitor diagonally across from the local Starbucks.
At “Second Cup”, the coffee is equally as good and everything else is done better. The facility is larger and offers a range of seating alternatives, the pastries are baked daily and there is a greater variety, and two choices of oat meal come in larger containers and are available with water or skim or regular milk.
Perhaps there is an opportunity for a chain of “Second Cup” type operations to be launched in downtown Manhattan and ultimately another twenty major cities.
Come to think of it, we already have at least two such independent cafes in Lancaster: The Prince Street Café at 15 North Prince Street across from the Fulton Opera House and, a smaller version, The Coffee Company at 1639 Lititz Pike in the Golden Triangle Shopping Center.
