My approach to getting cafe latte from Starbucks in the US is to ask for a double shot in a "tall" (or whatever their smallest cup is) and then only add milk to a the level of one-third of the cup (it's still always served too hot however). I get some strange looks occasionally but it's the only way I can get a decent cafe latte as opposed to a hot coffee milkshake.

It's interesting that the smallest sized Starbucks cup in the US is the largest available in Australia!