Starbucks Corporation

Could You Survive On $1.50 Per Day? A Bunch of People Tried It for a Week, and Here's What Happened

A buck fifty. Less than the price of an energy bar, it is the amount that 1.4 billion people in the world must live on each day. They are the ones who fall below the "extreme poverty" line, a sum set by the World Bank. Makes you kind of feel like an asshat for Instagramming a picture of your $4 St ... More >>

SNL Skewers Starbucks Verismo Machine In a Parody; But Is It Racist?

Have you seen the SNL parody commercial on Starbucks' Verismo machine? It has surprisingly sophisticated special effects for a late-night comedy show, but there's a significant amount of controversy over the content. The sketch uses African-American stereotypes that The ... More >>

OC Music Awards: Night 2 Puts Singer-Songwriters On a Frosty Pedestal

OC Music Awards: Night 2 The District at Tustin Legacy January 15, 2013 The second night of the showcase series for the OC Music Awards featured five more acts to the mix of local hopefuls on Tuesday evening at the open-air District at Tustin Legacy. Dedicated patrons donned thick sweaters, jackets ... More >>

Dave Reviews OC Yelp Reviews, Part 8

Oh, Yelpers. You get your knickers in a twist over the dumbest, pettiest things. Maybe it would be better if Yelp offered a 0-to-100 scale, like in school, or a 0.000-1.000 scale, like in baseball; then you could ding restaurants to your heart's content and not have such an immense impact on their r ... More >>

Michael King Lim Sought for Selling Phony Theme Park Tickets Thanks to Arrested Brother

After a Buena Park police sting that resulted in the arrest of Raymond John Lim, 23, of Walnut, for allegedly making and selling counterfeit tickets to Knott's Berry Farm and other Southern California theme parks, attention shifted to his brother, Michael King Lim.That's because Raymond implicated h ... More >>

Racial Controversy Surrounds Peanut Butter And Jelly Sandwiches

PB&J. We always thought it was a neutral--albeit boring--lunch option. Seemed like the type of food that would stay out of trouble.We were so wrong. 

Starbucks To Open at Disneyland and Disney California Adventure

The Happiest Place on Earth will soon become The Most Caffeinated Place on Earth. Starbucks will be coming to Disneyland and Disney California Adventure, it was announced today on the Disney Parks blog. The first location is set to open in June at California Adventure. It will be located i ... More >>

Broadway Singer Susan Egan Talks About the OC High School of the Arts and Growing Up in Seal Beach

​When I hear the term "Broadway," I think of lots of things, but mostly I think of New York City, bright lights, people wearing pea coats, taxis and how bummed I am that I never got a chance to see those failed "Spider-Man" previews. However, thanks to Saturday's Long Beach Symphony POPS! concert, ... More >>

Starbucks Opens Its First 'Ski-Thru' in California

​Skiers know the dilemma. During a long, cold day on the slopes, you yearn for a steaming beverage to warm you up, but getting those clunky things off your feet, and then finding a safe place to store them, is so much of a hassle that you'd rather just eat snow.   Enter the world's first ... More >>

TopBrewer: A Revolutionary iPhone-Controlled Coffee Faucet

​There are things you want, and there are things you need, but some products cross into the very special territory of want-need-now.   TopBrewer, developed by Denmark-based Scanomat, is an awe-worthy coffee machine built like a sleek faucet. It can produce four cups of coffee in a minute ... More >>

Starbucks Raises Prices in Some Parts of the Country

​If Starbucks raised its already high prices would you notice? The question might go in the same rhetorical category as the if-a-tree falls-in-a-forest-does-it-make-a-sound brain teaser. The answer is, by the way, "yes" if someone like me in the press writes about it and makes a big stink. So he ... More >>

Ethan Rosenfeld: Court Rejects OCDA's First Degree Murder Conviction

​There's no doubt that alcoholic Ethan Emanuel Rosenfeld murdered his elderly mother in Leisure World, but two powerful legal entities don't agree on the strength of the district attorney's case.On May 30, 2005, Orange County paramedics found 82-year-old Helen Rosenfeld wrapped in bed "like a burr ... More >>

Five Great Pumpkin Treats In Orange County

​Halloween has come and gone. Our costumes are once again being put away, packed in boxes or hung in closets, pushed to the corners of our minds until next year. But one culinary theme remains throughout the rest of autumn: pumpkins. While your squash-based sculptures won't keep through November, ... More >>

Weekend Guide: Rare Beer, Spooky Bites and Yummy Anniversaries

Blackmarket Bakery FacebookIt's beginning to look a lot like fall at Blackmarket Bakery.​Here's our lineup--with a couple extra events for the week ahead! FRIDAYRare Beer Weekend At The Factory What: Drink up--these beers aren't so easy to get your hands on. As part of the final weekend ... More >>

Shaw Bruce Warrington Accused of Meeting with "13-Year-Old" After Posting Craigslist Ads Seeking Moms and Daughters for Sex

​If you were scanning craiglists personal ads and came upon this "men seeking ..." one, you'd surely stop and take notice:a mom and/or her daughter to have sex. I really don't mind what age. Young or underage is cool -- like high school and below.Unfortunately for a 21-year-old with a name that so ... More >>

Why Can't Starbucks Offer Lids That Don't Spill? (And How Porto's Does It)

​I hate Starbucks. Not because it overroasts its coffee beans, though it does, and not because I'd rather chew a jumbo roll of aluminium foil than order using the irritating, obfuscating jargon, though I would, but because I hate its cups -- more specifically, the lids.You know what I'm talking ab ... More >>

Daniel Shemtob Chats About The Lime Truck's Semi-Permanent Home in Costa Mesa

​During The Great Food Truck Race premiere party last Sunday night with The Lime Truck and Seabirds at the OC Mart Mix in Costa Mesa (3303 Hyland Ave.), I noticed that there was a bar area set up inside with indoor seating and a wall of blackboards with "The Lime Truck" scribbled in gigantic lette ... More >>

Krispy Kreme to Offer Healthier Fare?

Flickr User Ableman​After ill-advised over-expansion and a really ill-advised accounting scandal, Krispy Kreme is rebounding. Business Week reports that last month, the donut purveyor posted its best quarterly profit since 2004. Now it's got its sights on the likes of Starbucks and Dunkin Donuts.H ... More >>

This Week in Food: Banned Grasshopper Tacos, The Greatest 'Cue in Texas, and Acceptable Pantry Items!

Flickr user uberculture​Another great week wrapped up in the wackiest food blog this side of Fast Food Maven. Legitimate highlights after the jump!

Five Ethnic Breakfasts To Shake Up Your Morning Routine

Flickr user theimpulsivebuyThere's not enough brown sugar in the world to make this appetizing.​Tired of Starbucks and their awful, industrial pastries and burnt coffee? Sick of the insipid pancakes from IHOP, drowned in butter and artificially-flavored syrup? Can't hack another packet of instant ... More >>

This Week in Food: Smoked Turkey Legs, Cinco de Drinko, and

Flickr user madmarv00​This was Cinco de Mayo week, so we understandably went more Mexican than usual. But after the jump are non-Mexi delights and more!

Five Songs We'd Love To See On Glee (and Storylines to Go With Them)

​ Last week, Dave Grohl of the Foo Fighters entered into a minor public spat with Glee overlord Ryan Murphy when he announced that none of his music would ever appear on the FOX-TV hit. Grohl is not the first rock star to issue a No Glee statement to the press-- Coldplay and Guns n' Roses did th ... More >>

Five Words That Signify a Foodstuff in One Latin American Country, But a Crude Term for 'Vagina' in Another

Flickr user neoliminalStarbucks' original logo: Perhaps the most-graphic American corporate example of vagina-as-sweet-food EVER​Ya gotta love Latinos. Even though we share the same language (except for those retrograde Brazilians and pinche indios), regional variations lead to more than a few sni ... More >>

Starbucks' New 'Trenta' Size Latest Subject of CGI Ridicule

Next Media Animation, the Taiwanese producer of CGI animation clips such as this, has topped itself with its latest and ultra-timely (how do they do it so quickly?) animated "reenactment" on the news that Starbucks is introducing its "Trenta" size. The spoof is equal parts satire and facts. 

Go Now: Free Latte at The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, Free Spicy Chicken Biscuit at Chick-fil-A, $2 Artisan Breakfast Sandwich at Starbucks

​The perfect antidote to those post-holiday blues--and that post-holiday debt: Free (and cheap) food! Today from 4 to 7 p.m., get a free 12 oz. latte at The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf. Choose from the Scottish Breakfast Tea Latte, the English Breakfast Tea Latte or the Vanilla Latte. Exc ... More >>

On the Line: Britta Kvinge Pulliam, Part Two

Photo by Todd Barnes​Part two of our interview with Britta's Cafe owner Britta Kvinge Pulliam. First one is at this link; the latest batch after the jump!

Drive-In to Distraction at Ruby's

Why eating in your car should be an act of desperation, not a conscious choice

This Week in Food

Flickr user Hello_QuynhFrom jelly rats to racist PR debacles, see what you missed this week in Stick a Fork in It after the jump!

Spotted: Batman Retires in Boca Raton

J. Ming ZhuContrary to popular belief, the Batmobile did not lose its wheel... ​ ​ Spotted by a diligent reader in a Boca Raton, Florida Starbucks parking lot! After the jump: Detailed photos and the awesome, awesome vanity plate. 

Free Pastry at Fourbucks This Morning!

​From opening until 10:30 a.m. (or whenever they run out) this morning, your local Fourbucks will be giving away a free pastry if you buy a beverage (iced, brewed or "handcrafted", whatever that means). While it's fun to mock Starbucks, they did get rid of the high-fructose corn syrup in their pas ... More >>

Why Not Just Post The Price, Juice It Up?

Dave Lieberman​Click on the picture to the right. How many sizes of smoothie do they sell at Juice It Up in the Stadium Lofts in Anaheim?Did you guess "two", as I did when I went in today to get a smoothie?Wrong. They sell THREE sizes; the advertised 24 oz. and 32 oz. sizes, and a smaller 16 oz. s ... More >>

Is There ANYTHING Salvageable from the Weekly's Best of OC Reader's Poll Food Winners?

​Fair is fair, folks. A couple of weeks ago, I blasted the Orange County Register's "Best of Orange County" for the horrible selections readers picked as the best representation of a culinary category (Peppino's as best Italian! Subway as best Sandwich! Daphne's as best Greek!). Our Best of OC iss ... More >>

On the Line: Vincent Muraco of Zimzala

​When he enrolled at the California Culinary Academy in San Francisco at the tender age of 17, Vincent Muraco was its youngest student ever. Since then, his culinary career has taken him to the Park Hyatts in that city and in LA, as well as Vix in Miami. Muraco is now Executive Chef at Zimzala, th ... More >>

You Really Can't Live a Day Without a Gay

The KTLA Morning News just ran a story about a campaign launched by West Hollywood's Sean Hertherington to have everyone "call in to work gay" today to demonstrate outrage over the passage of Prop. 8 and how, "You really can't live a day without a gay." The memo obviously did not reach Wo ... More >>

Guilt (and Carbs) Be Damned at Irvine's Amazing 85°C Bakery Café

The Accidental Band

Summer Wilshire buck Starbucks and shine

Flying Blind

A birds-eye view of 9/11

Telephoning Buddha

'Westward Toward the East'

Get Out!

June 15 - June 22: Os Mutantes!

Who Let the Power Out?

So Balboa Peninsula is always dark in terms of morals and decency. But now it's just plain DARK. Yes, I stood outside Cassidy's tonight and watched the lights flicker, waver, return to strength ... then bow out completely. After a few moments, SOME streetlights came on. And some of the neon signs in ... More >>

Sunset Beach

Step to the New

With a new organizer and, where possible, fewer paintings of sailboats, Long Beachs Tour des Artistes tries to make friends

Men Are From Long Beach, Women Are From Orange County

Two new books dissect the local dating scene

What Goes On

Winter Music Issue

This Week in the Real Cheap OC

State of the Union

Vacation, time to get away

Little Beach House

Coffee Crusade

The great Little Saigon coffee inquiry

Excerpts: Part 2

Willie NileBeautiful Wreck of the WorldRiver House Records