Around 3:30 most afternoons, I go full raccoon mode in search of snacks — raiding my cupboards and fridge at home, or furtively rifling through the offerings in the office breakroom, searching for something sweet/crunchy/salty/savory/life-affirming.
Starbucks knows about raccoon mode and wants to expand its afternoon snack menu to serve those customers. CEO Brian Niccol said this week that he’s looking at bringing the “aperitivo”-style menu it has in its European locations to the US. Think of the “aperitivo” as a little late afternoon or pre-dinner snacky-snack.
I say, with rabid enthusiasm (the rabies here is purely metaphorical), bring it on!
Checking out Starbucks’ current snack menu
I ventured out around 3 p.m. to a local Starbucks to see what was currently on the menu that would fill that late afternoon void in my soul. What did it already have, and what was missing in terms of “aperitivo”-type snacks?
I browsed the online menus for Starbucks in a few European countries to see what we’re missing in the US. There’s definitely some difference in the food among countries.
The UK has a lot of sandwich options we don’t have, as well as a strange breakfast sandwich that appears to be just sausages on a bun (I am told this is a classic British delicacy). France has some way better-looking pastry items, like a “pistachio pyramid,” but, interestingly, has no egg-based breakfast items. Italian Starbucks locations have cannoli (nice), a wide array of doughnuts, and a grain bowl.
Most intriguing to me: Spain has a bagel or multigrain toast you can order with oil, tomato, and salt. Frankly, that sounds amazing.
But browsing these menus, I wasn’t clear on what the “aperitivos” were. The stuff that Niccols might want to bring to America to serve during the 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. hour. What is it about some of these items that makes them more appropriate for a late-day snack instead of a morning one?
My afternoon at Starbucks — with snacks!
So when I got to my local Starbucks, I tried to find what might be considered a proper late afternoon snack based on the current menu. The shop was packed with kids from the nearby middle school that just let out, getting colorful iced drinks.
I ordered a new drink from Starbucks’ “spring selections menu” — a Blackberry Sage Lemonade Refresher. Gotta say, that was fantastic.
To sample some more of the afternoon fare, I asked for a brownie (sold out) and then the vanilla bean custard danish (also sold out). I asked the barista what the most popular afternoon treat was, and she said the chocolate chip cookie. I’ve had one of those already, so I got the baked apple croissant to try something new. It was great.
I was particularly hungry, so I ordered the turkey pesto sandwich, which I’ve also had before. After the other items, which were quite good, the sandwich was kind of a dud. I didn’t finish it.
The thing I think most fits the bill for an afternoon snack was the new spicy falafel pocket, which is a small wrap with falafel mush inside. It was too small to be a full lunch or meal, but perfectly snack-sized. It scratched the itch for a savory snack that isn’t packaged like chips.
Niccol, who led turnarounds at Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, and Chipotle, has expressed his desire to get Starbucks back to its roots as a place people want to hang out and relax — not just a place to pick up a to-go order (or to use the bathroom).
Making Starbucks cool again
As a teen in the late 90s, I remember the days when Starbucks used to be a hangout. One of my first summer jobs was working at a Starbucks in Massachusetts. Even then, I was aware that it had a vibe problem: Its image in the popular consciousness at that time was as a pretentious chain that muscled out mom-and-pop coffee shops and forced customers to use ridiculous names for its sizes, like grande and venti.
The fast-food-ification of Starbucks in more recent years has helped it shed the image of a place that served oversized lattes to mean bosses — but it came at a price.
Starbucks is going through a bit of a rough patch. Sales fell 2% in the US last quarter. The new CEO has big plans to turn things around, including having baristas handwrite messages on cups, and possibly this new late-afternoon menu.
As I sat inside my local Starbucks, sipping my drink and eating a late-afternoon snack, it was really entirely pleasant. It was a sunny spring day, I was away from my computer. I typically don’t linger in Starbucks often, but this … this was nice.
Did I aperitivo? Was I living a Continental lifestyle? Perhaps!
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