I wonder what visitors to EZE think of the local franchise of this international coffee giant. Is it up to par with what you get back at home...?

The coffee tastes the same to me. The two big differences are:

(1) It takes forever and a day to actually get your cup of coffee! In the time it takes to serve one customer in Buenos Aires, they'll have served 10 customers in NYC or London. Bring a good book to read while you're waiting for the barista to work his "magic"

(2) The prices do not reflect the cost of living or average salaries in Argentina so the same cup of coffee is considerably more expensive relatively speaking

The chai latte was spot on. Agree re prices.
I am amazed at how expensive food courts are
in BA compared to the prices for top class
restaurants & how popular they are with young people.

I didn't even know Starbucks had outlets in BA till I spotted one at Alto Palermo. To be honest since I had a cappuccino in the Empire State building Starbucks which consisted of 9/10 froth I have not been a great fan so tend to avoid them.

I find drinking a coffee in one of the many cafes a far more pleasant experience....one is amongst the locals and not a load of tourists clutching their Lonely Planet guidebooks.

Hiddy.... let me tell you that its the locals that are fueling the Starbucks expansion, I have one store 2 blocks away from my home in Martinez and this is no tourist area...

Interesting observation.

Saw similar scenes in Beijing many years ago when it was full of locals. Went back again a couple of years later and saw that the novelty of being seen at Starbucks had worn off with the locals and they had moved on to Dunkin Donuts instead.

I inhabit the Costa Coffee chain when in the UK and like them for the convenience of being able to get a take away.

My recollection is that it tastes the same.

I like have Starbucks here and make a habit of dropping in whenever I'm in another country. I also like to collect the mugs from each city/country.

In 2008, I went to the one at Alto Palermo (which might have been the first in BA?) and it was an insane wait - 30min+ just to get inside the store. My observation at the time was that it was 90% teenage girls - leading me to to believe it was more of a trendy thing. On the last trip to BA, i didn't see nearly the same queue at the Starbucks.

Are the milk/cream, etc. "behind the counter" items as they are in Chile? (This avoids South America becoming another Ghetto Latte capital, where you order an espresso and add as much "free milk" as you like.)

That I don't recall - because I ordered a latte so it was pre-made. However, I am lactose intolerant and was pleased to see that they could make it "con soy". I figured i would be the only lactose-intolerant person in South America so it was awesome they had this available.

You aren't, but normally down there, one would simply vomit the goods prior to digestion.

Good luck finding Lactaid or any other lactase products down there. I've tried. Maybe they have a special name.

I like good coffee and bought my first home espresso machine 25 years ago, long before it became popular across the US. I worked at a couple of upscale restaurants where we served espresso and cappuccino and learned to make a decent cup, I got a lot better at it when I found information on the Internet about 15 years ago.

I dislike Starbucks, but I'll get my coffee there when there aren't better alternatives. I equally dislike the coffee at Starbucks in Bs. As., but I still go there when I have hours to kill between flights because there's usually comfortable chairs available, power plugs, and wifi. I like the coffee at many cafes around Argentina more than Starbucks, but my wife and I still make better cappuccino at home using mediocre beans from Carrefour than most of them do. Occassionally we'll splurge on really good beans, then ours beats everything I've had down here or in the US

I'd agree on both accounts.

At the location near Plaza(parque?) Armenia in Palermo yesterday it was probably 80/20 locals to tourists. Very busy the entire 3 hours I spent there working. Lots of frapuccinos being ordered. Me, I just liked being able to get a decent drip coffee, and a big one at that.

yea newcastle is right. Locals love the stuff and I think its because it tastes nothing like what I get back in the states, haha. I think its completely different. Ice coffee is not even comparable, that is uniquely US starbucks niche. Frappucinos are also of another house.
It may be the same company but the coffee is very different.

The coffee is the same as in the USA.... please remember that Starbucks buys the stuff on a global scale so the specs for beans are the same for all markets.

What will taste different is things like Milk.... dairy products are sourced from local vendors, when possible.

I would be interested in learning who thinks the milk in EZE is less tasty than what you get in NYC... a very interesting topic on its own....

I do not drink milk, so I cant say about which is better.

About The Starbucks question I feel that in the same way fast food chains have local menus, like how BK would have things that you would not see in US, Starbucks could be the same.
I found that Iced Americano was one of those items, it would come out different then what it would be in the US. For my taste at least, maybe others disagree.

I also feel like baristas can make or break the coffee. Depending on the barista you have does impact the taste of the coffee. Just my opinion.