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Fast Times

Starbucks Breakfast Wrap Almost Worth the Average Cup of Joe

As ambivalent as I am about Starbucks coffee, I'm really starting to warm up to its food. Over the last year I have had considerable luck with Starbucks' breakfast sandwiches as well as their fruit-and-cheese "Bistro Box," so it didn't feel like too much of a risk when I recently ordered a spinach and feta breakfast wrap; after all, I love spinach, I love eggs and I love feta cheese. The woman who took my order enthused that this was her favorite Starbucks breakfast sandwich, and then upsold me from a regular coffee to a soy latte -- she was smooth.

To complete the "Mediterranean feel" of the wrap, Starbucks also throws on herbed, diced tomatoes. I'm not sure why they don't include "tomatoes" in the name -- I would be even more inclined to order a dish with tomatoes on it -- so it was a nice surprise. Conversely, I have to think someone who doesn't like tomatoes would be unpleasantly surprised.

My wrap took just a few minutes to assemble -- my latte wasn't even cool enough to sip by the time my name was called. Wrapped in paper, the breakfast "sandwich" was piping-hot -- I had to wrap it in a napkin just to carry it back to my table. When I opened it up, I have to admit it didn't look like much, kind of on the small side, with a few stray tomatoes peeking out of the end where the wrap came apart. When I tore the wrap in half, steam came pouring out of the center; the wheat wrap was almost as soft as a white flour wrap.

The bottom line is that this is a winner of a wrap. The eggs (free range, according to the Starbucks Web site) are obviously "egg product," but they aren't too rubbery, and inoffensively average. If it weren't for the extras -- the feta, the sun-dried tomatoes and the spinach -- this would be a whole different review. But the feta is sharp and salty, and the tomatoes are both bright with acidity and rich with a depth of flavor that is almost sun-dried tomato-like. The filling-to-wrap ratio is perfect, and I like that this is a neat, clean fast-food option -- a cinch to eat when you're on the go.

Not only would I not hesitate to recommend the Starbucks spinach and feta wrap, I wouldn't hesitate to eat it again. And I didn't hesitate -- I went back the very next day and got another.

Nutrition info: 290 calories, 10 g fat, 830 mg sodium, 33 g carbs, 6 g sugar, 19 g protein, 6 g fiber



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Christina Uticone