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Health & Fitness

STARBUCKS IS CLOSING (for renovations!)

Starbucks is bringing Clover to town.

140 Turnpike Road
Westborough, MA 01581


(508) 898-9421

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Going to Starbucks is a bit of a guilty pleasure for me (I’m a daily DD visitor.)  While premium priced, there is something of a ritual when going to Starbucks

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First, you must speak a foreign language.  Gone are simple terms like small or large.  At Starbucks, there’s  Tall (12 ounces – hint: rhymes with small), Grande (16oz), Venti (24oz), and Trenta (31oz).  You can even learn this language online.

Personally I’m an Iced Venti Nofat Mocha kind of guy.  6 pumps of Bittersweet chocolate sauce, with 3 shots of espresso.   Delicious. 

Second, the stores are all very inviting.  They are relaxing places to enjoy a beverage, have a meeting, or work on something with the free wi-fi.

So after getting up at 2:40AM for a work issue, I was ready for a pick me up Sunday afternoon.

Arriving at the Julio’s plaza store, many other people clearly had the same idea.  There were people sitting in cars, and on the steps enjoying their Starbucks hit.

Reaching for the door, I was surprised it didn’t open with my gentle tug.  Looking inside, there was a single Barista (Starbucks’s speak for the coffee making staff.)  I did my best long in the face disappointed look, hoping she would take pity on me and share  a pump or two of chocolate sauce.

“You’re a restaurant critic, aren’t you?”  Ahh, a reader.   I could almost feel the rush of espresso clearing my sleep deprived mind.

“I’m sorry, we’re closed for renovations until May 31st.”

Closed for renovations?  Oh my….this could be an issue.

It turns out the barista-reader was the store manager, Jen Richardson. 

“Please don’t say anything bad about us.”    I won’t, tell me about the renovations…

Jen beamed.  “We’re really excited.  We’re redoing the whole inside…including adding bar seating by the windows.”

Will the store be larger?  Have a drive through??  A disappointed “no” greeted by query (the Seekonk MA location has a drive through…really convenient for a quick drink, although something about the Starbucks experience is lost at the drive through.)

Jen gushed about an additional coffee brewing option coming to the store.  “Have you heard about Clover?”  Yes, I have some in my lawn.

Jen beamed again.  “Clover is a coffee brewing system.  Starbucks is putting Clover machines in select stores.  It allows you to produce an individual cup of coffee, from a wide range of coffee bean options.  It’s going to be one of the first in this area, it’s all very rad.”  (Hmm, rad must be a Starbucks term.  I’ll have to look that up.)

A group of Stanford engineers developed the $10,000+ Clover machine, a cross between a French press and a vacuum pot.  The accompanying video shows the Clover in action. 

The Starbucks people apparently decided it was cheaper to buy the company than buy the machines, so Clover is truly something from Starbucks.

So fellow caffeine craving Westborough people….  If you can only take your coffee from a Starbucks barista, there is a Starbucks in the Roche Brothers in Bay State Commons.  And if you can’t wait to try a Clover, the Starbucks store locator suggests the closest store today with a Clover Brewing System is in Wellesley.

I left Starbucks sadly de-caffeinated, although Jen’s enthusiasm was infectious.  Sometime in June I’ll have to return!

The Author

Gary Kelley has lived in Westborough since 1994. His reviews are what he would tell friends, and are not an academic analysis. You can follow him @glkelley or www.garylkelley.com

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