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After spending another $4 for a latte this afternoon at the green awning mecca known as Starbucks, Bostonist was disgusted. No, not by the coffee, but by how typical the whole Starbucks experience now is. When they were few and far between, a Caramel Macchiato was heavenly; but now, with the 'Buck on every street corner, they are the norm. Luckily, Bostonist was saved by our fellow blog, the DCist, who mentioned a fabulous new website that's all about giving us coffee drinkers choices. Delocator.net was created to give you an option to the corner Starbucks each morning. By just typing in your zip code, the site gives you a list of other places you can go and get some much-needed caffeine without having to see any green aprons.
Bostonist gave it a try and typed in our 02116 work zipcode. Voila, the results were pretty shocking: within 5 miles, there are 56 cafes and 53 Starbucks...they really are taking over the city! (Starbucks currently has 6,000 stores in the U.S., 10,000 world-wide.)
Delocator.net was started out in California and is hoping to change more than just the coffee monopolies in America. According to their site, "Delocator.net was launched with the intention of becoming a web-meme, sprouting many future delocated corporate stores." They give you the option of downloading a "Toolkit" to start your own corporate delocation site. If you were pissed when your local bar turned into a T.G.I. Fridays, then Delocator.net might be just what you need to deal with your corporate angst.
And as for us, Bostonist has a whole new list of coffee places to try out before having to settle for another grande mocha (non-fat of course).
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It's a nice idea, but the locator feature has some kinks: I live right in the middle of an independent hipster cafe triangle: Toscanini's on Beacon Street (Somerville), The Sherman on Washington Street (Somerville), and 1369 in Inman Square (Cambridge) are all about four blocks from me. Yet of the 49 cafes within five miles (according to the site), none of these three shows up before #27 on the list (so I guess they don't put them in any kind of order of proximity - it starts with Boston listings for my S'ville zip). Also, of the 49, a handful are duplicate listings.
Still, the sentiment is good, and it's better than when I was in Provincetown needing to return a defective product to Babies R Us: Their website told me the closest store was in Braintree and a handy map instructed me to point my car west and drive straight across the Bay.
one of the very few things i miss about living in the 02134 zip is Herrells. they have the best everything.
i refuse to believe that anyone in boston lives more than half a mile from a dunkin donuts. it's corporate, but if you're looking to assuage some yuppie guilt, it's one of the most working class places around.
And let's face it: who among us isn't looking to assuage some yuppie guilt?
Yes, there are kinks. It says that the distance from Pepperell to Natick is less than 5 miles - that would make the commute sooo much easier
I gave it 02144. The very first locations it finds should be Diesel, Someday, O'Naturals (former Carberry's on Elm Street). Then Teele Square and Ball Square places.
But instead, the first hit is in Winchester. I don't get it.
I avoid Starbucks like the plague. For one thing, I don't like their coffee. I find it far overrated. Secondly, I don't like supporting what their corporation has created in terms of a lifestyle ambiance after studying the demographics, and then they take that atmosphere and drop it willy-nilly throughout the cities of America, regardless of geography or culture, as if to say "THIS" is our coffee drinker, and what "THIS" usually smacks of...you wouldn't want to be.
One of the great jokes to come out of Boston was when comedian Steve Sweeney said he would be playing "..at the Dunkin' Donuts in Somerville." Little did he know... There was such depth to that joke in what wasn't being said, and yet he covered it all: the customers, the neighborhood, the history and the solid role that Dunkin' Donuts has played out in so many neighborhoods in Boston. Sweeney often broadcasts his radio show from Dunkin' Donuts around the city now, and I love that he does that. Dunkin' Donuts kahfee for me.