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The Starbucks at 154 North 7th Street in Williamsburg will start selling wine and beer beginning at 4 p.m. this Wednesday, according to DNAinfo. The chain is experimenting with an expansion into alcoholic beverages and truffle-sprinkled small plates — branded as “Starbucks Evenings.”

The alcohol offering comes as no surprise. This location applied for a liquor license — which received some vocal community opposition — before opening last year. Local bars and eateries were concerned that the Starbucks’ new offerings might threaten business.

Though Community Board 1 initially rejected the Starbucks’ application for a license, the final decision was made by the State Liquor Authority, who granted it.

A Starbucks is very different from the nearby Hotel Delmano, serving craft cocktails a few blocks away; the lively Radegast Hall, which serves beer; or any number of other artisanal-inflected hipster venues in the area. It’s the difference between getting a sugar-spiked Starbucks frappuccino and an aromatic Blue Bottle pour-over.

Would local residents and businesses have objected if an artisanal roaster had applied for a liquor license?

Williamsburg Starbucks to Start Serving Beer and Wine [DNAinfo]


What's Your Take? Leave a Comment

  1. This location in particular (in my neighborhood) is pretentious as hell. The thin white guy who always wears golf hats is rude and condescending (to be transparent, it wasn’t to me it was to an older polish lady). I prefer Oslo, if Oslo served beer I’d drink it there.

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