Starbucks vs. Two Popular Japanese Coffee Shops

Above, a Tokyo neighborhood Tully's Coffee. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

During my trips to Japan, I have found that there are Starbucks just about everywhere, just like in the U.S. 

One thing about the Japanese Starbucks I found, they don't honor Starbucks gift cards. Maybe it's because they were issued in the U.S.

But, even though I have frequented Starbucks while in Japan, my preference is Tully's Coffee, a Japanese coffee shop chain.

There's another, one I've never been to, Doutor Coffee.

Japan Today has an article on the three. Which gives the best value?

They start with:

TOKYO - With all of the awesome flavors that Starbucks is always coming out with, you might think that it dominates the cafe market in Japan. Well, it might, to be honest, but Japan also has a whole host of other, exclusive coffee shops that have equally diverse menus. So, to decide which of them has the best food and drinks available, at the best price, we decided to test out two of Japan’s top coffee shops and see how they compare to Starbucks. 

The cafes we chose are Doutor Coffee and Tully’s Coffee, both of which can be found in and around train stations and shopping centers all across Japan. We set our cost limit at 700 yen for one food item and one drink item, preferably in a set. Our goal? To see which cafe gives us the most bang for our buck.

To see what they decided, go here.