Agreed. I also have not been in (when forced to do so) been in one which didn't smell of stale cooking oil or something similar. The smell alone is enough to turn me off.

Coffee is very subjective. I will stop at Starbucks in North America for Pike Place if nothing else is available, but in general I prefer trying independents or small chains. Some are pretty awful, but every now and then one finds a gem. Many small and middle size cities in the US have some great local options. There are excellent mini chains in the UK as well.

And every so often one finds an outpost of a microchain - the Canadian company Bean Around the World for instance has a location in St Hellier, Channel Islands, for instance which seems to serve even better coffee, soup, and baked goods than the 'home' location.