Write Around Tampa

Starbucks

Town Center Shopping Center

118 S Westshore Blvd

Tampa

This Starbucks is surprisingly small, considering when the new Barnes & Noble opened up two years ago without a café it was because of this Starbucks being a conflict of interest. There’s also a Panera next door, which considering its size and considerably larger menu, just may be a better place to write, eat, park it. There's a lot to consider here, right?

Quality and pricing of food and drink:
Used a gift card for a tall Java Chip made with two percent. It was over $6. Inflation, I suppose. There wasn’t enough coffee flavor in it, and it was a little too sweet, but that may just be my diabetes tastebuds, as I’ve been cutting back on the sugar so everything I used to enjoy now tastes like it was doused with six packets of the pink stuff.

Are there enough outlets?
Yes, one for every sitting area, which is only three tables.

How’s the wifi?
Typical sign your life away unsecured access.

Will my muse come out?
It’s a Starbucks, so yes.

How long can I park it?
I was here on a Sunday afternoon and the place was empty save for one other person. I’m not sure how that would work out during the week. Also, at first sit the chair seemed cozy but now it feels kind of weird. If you get a seat you could park it all day if you choose, but you might have a better time at Panera.

Final rating: 3.5 out of 5 laptops

Rachel Remick’s fiction and non-fiction stories have appeared in various magazines, among them Rosebud, Bluestem, Minerva Rising, and ellipsis . . . literature and art. A frequent contributor to women’s magazine Sasee, her writing has also been published in several volumes of the Chicken Soup for the Soul series of books. She lives in Tampa, Florida.