Starbucks Coffee Company — Restaurant in Morrisville

The fluorescent lights buzz overhead like dying insects in this tired corner of RDU's Terminal 1, where a Starbucks stands as mankind's last caffeinated outpost before the gates of regional jet purgatory. But don't let the sad dated terminal fool you, this isn't exactly your standard airport coffee hell.

The baristas here, bless their caffeinated souls, process drinks with the kind of chipper efficiency that makes you question whether they're secretly robots programmed for perpetual morning-person enthusiasm. They're probably not, more likely just good at their jobs, managing to maintain their humanity despite working in what amounts to a glorified caffeine dispensary under lighting that makes everyone look like extras from The Walking Dead.

The Pike Place Decaf, typically the sad stepchild of the corporate chain coffee world, surprised me with its competence. Yes, it's fantastically over-roasted, because this is Starbucks and that's what they do, even with a new wildly overpaid Chipotle CEO at the helm, but it drinks like a real cup of coffee rather than the brown sadness water usually masquerading as decaf in airports. It's like finding a decent slice of pizza in Ohio, you don't expect it, but if it happens, you'd be grateful. (And don't hold your breath on this one folks.)

The markup here is a mere ~15% over adjacent suburban street prices, which in the grand highway robbery scheme of airport economics, is practically charitable. No wait time at 7 AM on a Monday morning after the Super Bowl feels like stumbling upon a gilded lilly unicorn in the wild. The store itself is stocked like they're preparing for a coffee apocalypse: rows of garish tumblers gleaming under those unforgiving lights, pastry cases full of the usual suspects, and enough retail coffee bags to fuel a small nation.

The truth is, in the fluorescent wasteland of Terminal 1, this Starbucks isn't just surviving, it's trying. Really trying. And in the world of airport food service, that's rarer than a decent night's sleep in economy class. Is it perfect? Hell no. But it's a damn sight better than it needs to be, serving up decent coffee with a side of human dignity in a place where both are usually in short supply.

For the bleary-eyed travelers staggering through Terminal 1: This is your spot. The coffee is hot, the service is quick, and if you squint hard enough, those green fluorescent lights almost look...

5:30AM 04Jul2919: Totally apathetic slow mode personnel x2 going on behind the Starbucks counter at RDU — here again! I guess the crowd surprised the crew who forgot to check the flights leaving the airport this day!!

High priority: Need a change here of management and attitudes!! Plenty of time to check their personal phones lying on top of the express machines! Floor dirty with paper strewn around, plastic wares not restocked from prior shift! After waiting 30 plus minutes in a line down the aisle, my latte had sour milk! I tried to see if I could cover it with multi paks of sweetener but ended up tossing the entire coffee! Obviously I couldn’t wait another 30 minutes! Now, if I just just get that “sour milk” taste out...

First, I stood at the cash register for more than 3 minutes with three people working there and passing by the cash register and never taking my order. So I had to place a mobile order. When I picked it up the lid wasn't on all the way and it spilled on the counter. I told them I spilled coffee because the lid wasn't on tight. I asked them for napkins and they directed me to where there were napkins. I ended up cleaning with multiple runs to get more napkins. Any decent person would have come from behind the counter with a towel to help clean it up. That's what happens when there's a monopoly in an airport. Starbucks only sees revenue so has no signal that customer service is not up to their...