Best Coffee House
Starbucks
In some cities, coffee houses are in actual houses, former residences refurbished with counters, tables and java brewing accessories. We have at least one of those in Knoxville, but most of our coffee-based establishments are tucked inside strip malls or streetfront properties, endowed with whatever personality can be gotten from stylish lighting, funky tables and various wall hangings. Starbucks’ nude wood floors and furniture don’t impart the cozy domesticity that “coffee house” implies, but, looking at their second win in a row, Starbucks may be starting a dynasty suiting an international chain with a drive-thru. The sterility of Starbucks’ stand-alone yuppie hut in Bearden and other outlets in Cedar Bluff, UT campus and (soon?) the downtown Hilton didn’t stop our readers from voting them tops in this category. And who can blame them for not quibbling over semantics? Starbucks fervor has gripped Knoxville for only a couple of years now, but what a grip it is—and it’s not half as destructive as paranoid, local-versus-chain coffee shop screamers feared (plus, they support local non-profits like the Actors Co-op). Knoxville’s coffee scene doesn’t seem to have suffered for the addition of the chain; if anything, caffeine addicts have been further appeased by their daily Grande Caffè Mochas and Soy Vanilla Lattes. And we want these jittery jonesers appeased as fast as possible.