Starbucks Corporation

Tunnel Mole on Speed

We'd Been Looking for an Excuse to Quote Wesley Snipes...

Starbucks Makes Nice with Holiday Cups

Starbucks' Vivanno Smoothie Hits the Counter Today

Starbucks, We Hardly Knew Ye

No Tears for Starbucks

Let The Polluting Begin Anew!

Bean Town

Will Houston ever reach a caffeine overdose?

Best Galleria Alternative

Highland Village

David vs. Goliath

Scenes from the Starbucks trial

Black Day For What Makes Houston Houston

Chase Bank recently announced that it will close 36 of its newly acquired Houston-Area WaMu locations over the next month. (Leaving a mere 220 behind.) Starbucks likewise announced 200 upcoming nationwide closures. Swamplot scarcely exaggerates the matter when it brands it a "Pad Site Massacre." Not ... More >>

That Fiesta At 14th & Studewood May Be Going, Going, Gone

Logo courtesy FiestaVia Swamplot comes word that the Fiesta supermarket near Woodland Heights, and the land around it, is for sale.The property at 14th Street and Studewood is a prime location for a Starbucks, a cel-phone store, a bank branch and a Wingstop, if Houston history is any indication.The ... More >>

Best Drive-thru Java

Starbucks

Best Bar with a Ghost Story

The Ale House

Houston's Worth It, Says Visiting Brit

Photo courtesy GHCVBMadame B., a blogger for Here Is The City News, "London's fastest growing financial website," was quite charmed by her recent stay here. "Let's All Move to Houston" she urged in her headline, under which she gushed about her stay at the plush Royalton at River Oaks, with its free ... More >>

Michael Gates Gill

The author of How Starbucks Saved My Life: A Son of Privilege Learns to Live Like Everyone Else tells all

The Ron Paul Revolution, Sayonara Starbucks, Ivory No No

Its true belivers trash Hair Balls

Café Orleans Express

This hard-to-find sandwich stand is a little slice of NOLA on the Katy Freeway

Iran Around

This hard-to-find sandwich stand is a little slice of NOLA on the Katy Freeway

Bellini Martini

River Oaks Lounge

Beating Around the Bush

Politics are hot in Houston at large, but lukewarm in "The Voting Machine"

Coffee Crusader

Hell-raiser Reverend Bill battles Starbucks and shopping

Best Coffeehouse

Hell-raiser Reverend Bill battles Starbucks and shopping

Best Gym

Hell-raiser Reverend Bill battles Starbucks and shopping

Best Place to Buy Coffee Beans

Hell-raiser Reverend Bill battles Starbucks and shopping

Best Place to Take Out-of-Towners

Hell-raiser Reverend Bill battles Starbucks and shopping

Letters

Hell-raiser Reverend Bill battles Starbucks and shopping

Beer Brawl

Starbucks tries to step on the start-up of Starbock beer

Best Hardware Store

Southland Hardware

Best Coffeehouse

Brasil

Best Belly Dancers

Agora

Best Example of Starbucks World Domination

River Oaks locations

Viva Japanic!

Local Music News

City of Coffee

Is Houston about to become America's coffee capital?

Hans' Bierhaus Asks: "War (Huh) Yeah: What Is It Good For?"

​You may not have known it, but a war has been brewing for five years between the residents of the Robinhood Condominums and the owners/patrons/performers at Hans' Bierhaus, a bar with a big patio just outside Rice Village. Or, to hear Bierhaus owner Bill Cave tell is, it's not so much a war -- it ... More >>

They're Modifying The "Bible Of Psychiatry": Five Houston-Specific Disorders They Should Consider

​The DSM, the so-called "Bible of Psychiatry," is getting a re-do. More mental disorders will be included, as the Washington Post says: Children who throw too many tantrums could be diagnosed with "temper dysregulation with dysphoria." Teenagers who are particularly eccentric might be candidates f ... More >>

Gimme (A Tax) Shelter

​Even if Uncle Sam took a great big bite out of your wallet this year, there are still ways to enjoy a good meal today -- several, in fact -- thanks to local restaurants taking advantage of your newfound poverty to offer free or reduced-price goodies today. It's like a crack dealer giving you ... More >>

Food Fight: Battle Iced Coffee

This is still my all-time favorite, when I can find it.​It's only the very beginning of May, yet it's already becoming oppressively hot by 10 a.m. each day. And although no good morning can start without a cup of coffee, the hot black stuff just doesn't appeal on days when my legs are sticking ... More >>

Top Five Appetizing Spa Treatments in Houston

Zeetz JonesNot just for eating...​These days, it seems food and drink are meant not just to be eaten but also to be massaged into our skin, soaked into our hair and rubbed into our nails. (Perhaps this is also why spas offer "menus" of services.) And forget the old cucumbers-over-your-eyelids ... More >>

Lamar's eLibrary

Goodbye paper books, hello Facebook.

Taste Test: Nescafé Clasico vs. Starbucks Via

​On a recent trip to a Foodarama, I found eight packets of Starbucks Via instant coffee for $5.69 and an eight-packet box of Nescafé Clasico for $1.09. That's right, more than a $4 difference. That being said, the instructions on the Starbucks call to add eight ounces of water, while the Nesc ... More >>

Top 5: Starbucks Locations

Pick up a few groceries after hitting the Starbucks inside a Randall's on Westheimer.​Katharine Shilcutt just counted down her top 10 coffee houses in town. While those places are great, we all hit Starbucks now and again, too. On average, I visit once a week. I'm certainly not the biggest fan ... More >>

Starbucks: Now Serving Starbucks Coffee

Maybe not the best placement for that white sign.​...just in case you were wondering. The Midtown Starbucks at Smith and West Gray seems exceedingly proud of this fact, writing it in huge letters on a white sign hung from the store's fence, leading us to wonder: What did it serve before it se ... More >>

Comment of the Day

​Today John Kiely declared Classic Donuts better than Shipley's. Then commenter Mike Simon alerted us to the following: There is a new Shipley Do-Nuts "Concept Store" at 12225 Westheimer which takes things to another level. They serve hot donuts, beignets and fresh kolaches (try the Italian s ... More >>

Starbucks Closes 600 Stores in 2008; Opens 800 More in 2011

They're baaaaaack.​In 2008, Starbucks moved to close 600 stores nationwide, a decision by the coffee giant to eliminate stores that weren't contributing to the bottom line and cannibalizing the business of other, closer Starbucks locations that had long since paid for their own overhead and we ... More >>

Your Weekly Heat Wave Music Blog: Hotter Than Hell Edition

Ed. Note: Remember that "songs about Hell" blog we mentioned a couple of days ago? It's still hot, and here it is. maximumwage.wordpress.comThe Southwest Freeway and Loop 610, 4 p.m.​There's an old saying in Botswana: "Shitfire is it hot!" Wait, maybe that was Bandera. Anyway, whatever hemisp ... More >>

Fast Times Snack Attack: Starbucks Cheese & Fruit Bistro Box

Photo by Christina Uticone​Bad planning and Houston traffic led to my latest Fast Times adventure. I had a full day of meetings and errands planned out, and I knew I would be gone for hours. I have been on quite the health kick lately, so I even brown-bagged some healthy snacks: fruits, veggie ... More >>

What Kind of Coffee Do You Unwittingly Resemble?

You look like...a grande mocha, no sugar, no whip, extra dry, half skim, half whole milk with caramel. Sugar-free caramel. Jerk.​This weekend, I stopped into Inversion for a caffeine infusion in my preferred format: a cortado, which is a shot of espresso cut with an equal amount of steamed mil ... More >>

The Motor Courts & Motels Of Texas: 10 Uninviting Or Odd Postcards

Home away from home​Motor courts were all the rage in Texas back before the days of where chain motels became as common as Starbucks in a city. You were never quite sure what you were going to get -- tiny rooms with paper-thin walls and barely functioning a/c and plumbing, or nice-enough-for- ... More >>

Top 5 Seasonal Booze Gifts

Photo by John Kiely​It can be risky to give a bottle of booze as a gift, as it may not always be to the recipient's tastes. On the other hand, some liquors are easy to re-gift, or better yet, used for holiday parties. Here's five of the more seasonal: 5. Jameson Irish Whiskey This blend is ... More >>