Even with the seeming glut of coffee shops in the downtown Madison area, Starbucks once again topped the competition as students' favorite coffee shop. In fitting hegemonic fashion, the coffee giant crushed second-place finisher Espresso Royale by more than a 2-to-1 margin.

A skeptic might cite Starbucks' ubiquity as the reason for their continued SCA dominance. Indeed, the Madison downtown area is home to three Starbucks in as many miles, and, in bigger cities, the saturation is almost laughable. But this criticism misses the point — Starbucks is everywhere because everyone loves Starbucks.

If you're looking for black coffee stiffer than an Al Gore stump speech, Starbucks is your place. Perhaps something more sophisticated that, well, tastes less like coffee? Starbucks delivers, serving a plethora of hoity-toity, high-end concoctions, the names of which I feel self-conscious saying in public.

Unlike many coffee shops, Starbucks puts as much effort into their in-store experience as they do into their cups of coffee. With quality music, comfy chairs, study tables and even a fireplace, finding a place to sit at the State Street location in mid-winter can be as difficult as getting courtside seats to a Wisconsin men's basketball game.

While the Starbucks experience is truly unique, it does have one unconscionable drawback — no free wireless! Until Starbucks remedies this absurdity, UW students can sit near the window and hop on the University Book Store or Memorial Library wireless network.

That said, even with its shortcomings, Starbucks really does serve up fantastic coffee, with each sip reminding us why big chain stores do in fact belong on State Street!

Starbucks: 578 votes

Espresso Royale: 274 votes