New McD's Menu Muscles In on Starbucks

Unlimited Internet access comes with new content system

(NEWSER) - Starbucks will offer free unlimited Wi-Fi at its company-owned stores starting July 1. Battered by the recession and the successful challenge mounted by McDonald's, the coffee giant will also plug its customers into customized content—including free access to pay sites like the Wall Street Journal's, Frank James blogs for NPR . The goal is to draw users in and keep them around, notes the LA Times . More»

This cup o' joe is quite fancy

(NEWSER) - Attention coffee snobs: You have a new mecca. Starting today Café Grumpy in (where else?) New York will offer a $12 cup of coffee. That’s just coffee—not a cappuccino or a latte—so why the high price tag? “There are flavors you would expect in a really nice glass of wine,” the president of the distribution company tells the New York Post , going so far as to call it “a cacophony of nuances.” More»

Fast-food places have plenty of little-known options

(NEWSER) - In-N-Out Burger’s “secret menu” (veggie burgers, etc.) has gotten way too famous to really be considered a secret anymore—but Coupon Sherpa rounds up little-known items at other fast-food joints:

• Chili’s: Though it’s not on the menu anymore, you can in fact still order the restaurant’s namesake dish.
• Long John Silvers: Ask for a side of crumbs and you’ll get—for free—a box of fried batter parts that fell off the fish or chicken.

Iced drinks available only in Phoenix and Tampa for now

(NEWSER) - Starbucks is offering a 31-ounce cup of iced coffee or tea in Phoenix and Tampa. The move is likely another step in the competition between McDonald's and Starbucks—McDonald's sells 32-ounce sweet teas in Southern markets, and recently started offering espresso. The new Starbucks size is called "Trenta." An iced coffee in that size costs $3.30 and an iced tea $2.60, Reuters reports. More»

This sure ain't Starbucks, so don't go in blind

(NEWSER) - Americans love their coffee, and if you’re among those who are way beyond Folgers and are starting to tire of chains like Starbucks and Peet’s, perhaps you’re ready for the so-called “third wave.” Cafés of this genre offer high-quality coffees—drip and espresso—often roasted on the premises, and can tell you pretty specifically about each kind of bean they’ve ground—just then, and for just one cup—to make it. More»