Why Does Anyone Patronize Starbucks?

Nathan Heller writing about Starbucks coffee in Slate:

The flavor was bitter, the dark liquid acidic on the tongue.  One taster described it as aggressive in the manner of drain cleaner.  An iridescent oil slick capped all our samples, looking like something spewed out behind a maimed petroleum tanker.

To me, it is even simpler.  Starbucks' coffee just tastes burnt.  And, what's worst, they must aim for this taste because I have found this characteristic consistent across visits, times, and locations.  I have a hard time believing that most people like it.

So why do so many people buy it?  Ambiance?  Seems unlikely.  I think people buy it and drink it because they just don't know any better.

Before you tell me how wrong I am:  Go try a cup of the unpretentious Dunkin' Donuts coffee.  My office just happens to be equidistant between a McDonald's and a Starbucks.  Price aside, I always pick McDonald's for coffee.
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Elizabeth David on Food and Wine

Rereading Elizabeth David's classic 1959 essay, An Omelette and a Glass of Wine:

Although there are those who maintain that wine and egg dishes don't go together I must say I do regard a glass or two of wine as not, obviously, essential but at least as an enormous enhancement of the enjoyment of a well-cooked omelette.

We are not in any case considering the great occasion menu but the almost primitive and elemental meal evoked by the words:  Let's just have an omelette and a glass of wine.

One of the main points about the enjoyment of food and wine seems to me to lie in having what you want when you want it and in the particular combination you fancy.

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