All I can say is that the Boston, Massachusetts area has a dynamic Starbucks Clover market. A number of stores in Boston (and the greater Boston area) offer the Reserve Coffee offerings and are equipped with the Clover coffee brewer. This article about “The Garage” Starbucks is the last in a series of four articles about that area. Here are the other 3 articles:
- Harvard Yard Starbucks (Cambridge)
- One Charles Street Starbucks (Boston)
- 27 School Street Starbucks (Boston)
Since this was the last of my scheduled Starbucks visits, I was on my own when I went to “The Garage.” The district manager did not come with me. A barista from the Harvard Yard Starbucks showed me the way, and introduced me to this store’s manager, “Brandi.” I loved The Garage. It was super packed the entire time I was there, so I only took a few photos. I think we arrived at about 1:00 in the afternoon, which is definitely not a slow hour for this store. Brandi was wonderful. We chatted about her Clover, and the unique large chalkboards, and she told me about her store. I was totally impressed with the hand-drawn chalk art featuring the designs of the Reserve coffees. As regular readers of this blog know, I love the in-store chalk art, and have an older article featuring quite a bit of it here. There is a small seating area directly across from the Clover (not pictured below) which is slightly on a platform. That seating area turns into the site of occasional “poetry slams.”
This store has had a Clover coffee brewer for years, and it is clear that the store partners love it. There is booth seating directly across from the register area/ pastry case area, and then there is a larger table seating area with big windows looking down on the street below. Everything about the design is so very charming.
I bought a “Mallorca Sweet Bread” because I realized I’d never heard of this pastry before! It was so delicious! I wish we had these in Seattle. It’s funny, but this is the only store that I noticed this pastry at. I assume it is available at the Harvard Yard stores and a number of greater Boston locations, but this was the only time I stumbled upon it. Here’s what that wonderful pastry looks like:
Also notice the entrance to the store: you don’t see many of these old Siren logos anywhere. I always thought this was a great looking logo:
The Garage Starbucks got its name because this building it is in original was an auto garage many many years ago. I love the arched windows, and it is easy to imagine that this space was once part of a garage. Starbucks first opened this location on June 7, 1996, and here is the address:
Starbucks store #861
“The Garage”
36 JFK Street
Cambridge, Massachusetts
(617) 492 4881
Here are the rest of the photos from this visit:
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I just read you’ve never had Mallorca bread. I literally stopped reading and had to comment in surprise ; ) I’ll go back to reading now.
We have the Mallorca bread all the time here. Yes, very good for sure. Melody, I like this SB store and am glad it was busy. I think, and I might be wrong, that this store’s number of customers has gone done a bit since the Harvard Yard store opened. That whole garage has some interesting restaurants and stores. BTW we still have the old SB sign up at my local SB.
Very very cool Sbux! Love the logo and the windows especially. I like the booths, in general, but feel a little weird about having them in a coffee shop….I think. Thanx for the visit…very interesting.
That world map is impressive!
I like that map too @LatteRose. I also like the holder for the Clover coffee canisters. I don’t think I’ve seen (or haven’t noticed) a slanted one like that one. I’d like to have one of those for my kitchen.
That seems to be a very nice place. I would love to drop by and to try the Mallorca Sweet Bread.
Clover is definitely the way to go!! Kenya with a lemon loaf will turn ANYONE’S day into a lovely bright spot!! As for the Mallorca sweet bread, I’d warm it up and enjoy it with a clover of Breakfast Blend! 🙂
If I’m not mistaken, The Garage was the first Clover store in the Boston market back when you could count all the Clovers on one hand.
Anyone who goes to Harvard Square owes it to themselves to wander the periphery as most of the great places aren’t on the square itself. This Starbucks is a part of that area along with plenty of quirky shops and great food. Grendel’s Den is my personal favorite place in the area.
Thank you for your review of this Starbucks! It was the first one that I ever visited in the Boston area, so it holds a special place for me. I like the fact that it feels very cozy, but I’ve noticed over the course of several visits that it always seems really crowded. I think there was only one time when I was able to find a seat.
They have the Mallorca Sweet Bread here in NC as well. I’ve seen it in the pastry case often during the morning at my local store. I’ll have to try it sometime soon! BTW, I Love your blog. You truly are a SBUX lover and I’ve sent many people to your blog who also love SBUX. Keep up the great work.
I want to say thank you for the many great comments above. I’m sorry I can’t reply to everyone of them. @Jared – That’s sweet to hear! Have you been recently – in reading Purple1’s comments above, it sounds like this store has actually slowed down a bit. That makes sense – when a new store opens so close to an existing store, that’s bound to happen to some degree.
@Michael P. Thank you for saying that. It makes my day to hear the blog is appreciated. I’ve had such a long week – I’ve left very few comments either here (or on MSI for that matter). A colleague has been out sick. You know how it is, it doesn’t matter what kind of job you’re in, if one person is out sick, everyone else has a little more to do. Next week should be so much better. I’m super stretched thin at this moment, and it makes my day to hear you’re sending folks here.
@GregGhostX – Hope you see this comment. Looks like you’re right! Before August 2008, there were literally like maybe five or six Clovers throughout the Starbucks business. Here in Seattle, I think it was Queen Anne Starbucks (December 2007 rec’d their Clover), 6th & Union Starbucks (Dec. 2007, got a Clover) and maybe Madison Park too. And then per this MSI blog post, The Garage, One Charles, and Federal Street Starbucks were early recipients of the Clover. I’d assume the Garage got theirs either Jan 2008 or Dec 2007.
http://blogs.starbucks.com/blogs/customer/archive/2008/08/26/clover-is-here.aspx
@Melody – I haven’t been there since the Spring of 2010. My wife and I haven’t had a good excuse to travel back to Boston since then.
Oh my goodness! Thank u all soo much for the great comments about my store. U should come on by and introduce yourselves. I would love to meet u all. Al so the map was hand drawn by one of my shift supervisors Nicole. She is very talented. Yes my store in the garage was the first in the square as well as one of the original 3 that was tested for Clover brewing. Thank u again it was awesome to read such great feedback.