While I have no problems hitting a Starbucks if there's no other option, I'll typically try to check out something local if at all possible. This is partly due to the fact that my drink of choice (Double macchiato) is fairly difficult to screw up. It can be done (oh can it be done) but for the most part it's usually drinkable. While my list of favourites is short, there are a few that I usually head for:

Poland: Krakow: TriBeCa.
Ireland: Cork: Cafe Depeche.
Canada: Saskatoon: The Two-Twenty or Caffé Sola.

And I'm probably a bad Canadian for saying so (actually, I'm sure I'd be told I'm a bad Canadian for many things) but I can't stand Tim Horton's coffee. It's appalling. Or at least I was put off it forever by the Tims at my old university, which was in the middle of an enclosed tunnel, the smell of which almost made me ill on a daily basis. It was horrifying. Since then, I can't drink Tim's coffee.