There are many Starbucks all over this damned world. Almost all of them are more or less the same as each other. Why bother writing about one? Heck, I don't even drink Starbucks often!
But this one at Gerrard and Jones, is one unlike the others. No really, it has a lot of personality built into it. Crazy, yes, that it struck me oddly that this visit is a very unique experience for a mere ubiquitous international coffee chain that normally employs uniform interior design standards. A metamorphosis really, when compared to the cheap greasy spoon this property was previously where I once regularly bought $2 chicken burgers for lunch, in a rather unremarkable-and-unglorious-yet-slowly-gentrifying stretch of east-end Toronto (I'll spare y'all the ancient memories--the Starbucks that it is now bears absolutely no signs or semblance of its former past, but lest I digress..).
Be at awe upon walking in. This location is decked out with a series of unique wall murals, lighting fixtures, and furniture, including very comfy chairs upstairs. A bookcase and communal table anchors the south front. Plenty of power outlets for all you laptop-in-a-cafe fiends. And upstairs, you'll find they've carved out a spacious patio. The atmosphere is warming enough to want to make you want to live here instead, or feel like you're in a fancy cocktail lounge and not a chain cafe. Very cozy.
I'd imagine this Starbucks would be packed during school hours--it sure must be a blast for the RCI students across the street to study and hang out here. But in the middle of the afternoon during an intense summer heat wave, I had the whole patio to myself. And for a moment, I felt like the king of a castle.
I wish all Starbucks were like this location. This is the Starbucks to end all Starbucks.