So say you’re making more than just a quick stop off the 401 highway for a Reid’s Dairy milkshake, and you’re spending some time in town. If you’re hankering for some coffee, you’re best bet in Belleville is your good old fashioned Starbucks. You might be satisfied by Tim Horton’s, and in Belleville, all you have to do is travel to the end of whatever block you are driving on, and you will find one (no, you don’t walk anywhere in Belleville, unless its from your car and into your house/mall/nova deli. We’ll get to the Nova Deli in a future installment). And if you regularly order a disgusting abomination like the “triple-triple,” you first of all should just order a milk and add a couple sugar packets yourself, and secondly, you might as well avoid Starbucks, because in Belleville the coffee there is somehow more bitter and acrid than your delicate taste-buds can handle.

Never been to this Starbucks before? Well here’s all you need to know: Never, under any circumstances, should you order anything besides coffee or tea. You’ll look like a pompous so-and-so from Rednersville Road, slumming it in the only part of town you consider classy (here’s a hint: it’s not)… or you’ll look like the too-cool-for-school yuppie taking refuge in a somewhat urban and hip locale (again, not).

At Starbucks, in general, you are going to get ripped off. The coffee is too expensive, and the tea is too expensive (that’s okay, because you are still getting a very highly caffeinated beverage that doesn’t totally taste like sewer water). But don’t ever order any espresso based drinks, because those beans in the back room taste like they are older than dirt, and the under-trained, overworked “baristas” behind the counter have no idea what they are doing…. don’t waste your money on that too short shot of espresso in half warm milk/half bubble bath foamed milk.

And were you planning on getting something “mocha” or “frapped” in it? Spend the 6 bucks at Dairy Queen and just get yourself a milkshake… because you are not getting coffee when you order that business, you are getting desert.

So with that said, grab yourself a nice hot cup of coffee, add your fixings, and head over into Chapters. Belleville’s Chapters is pretty average in the chain of stores, but for Belleville, has a pretty extensive magazine collection. There’s you usual fashion mags, craft mags, “men’s” mags, and honestly, and entire row dedicated to automobile magazines. Grab whatever you like, and sit down on a window ledge that serves nicely as a bench to have a little browse. If none are available in the front of the store, head over the West side window, where there’s another great little window ledge to sit.

Did I mention the entire row dedicated to automobile magazines?

Now, you may be tempted to bring a few magazines into the Starbucks for a little perusing. Shortly after the Belleville Starbucks opened in 1999, this was all the rage. Of course, people started spilling their 4 dollar “lattes” all over the merchandise, and that practice was soon outlawed. But hey, it’s Starbucks, and you should try your luck anyways.

Mind you, you’ll have to see if there’s any tables actually available. There’s usually a handful of Loyalist College students working away on their laptops, doing important work like updating their Myspace profiles, as well as little groups of women who seem to take up the rest. Be warned that if you bring your own book and try to read in one of the comfy chairs, some nice-seeming person will sit in the one next to you, and will soon begin to unfurl their impeccable weirdoness upon you. At least their bathrooms are spacious!

Have I made Starbucks and Chapters in Belleville sound terrible? It really isn’t that bad. In all honestly, it’s the nicest place you can spend an hour or two in town, especially when you combine it with a lap or two of the Quinte Mall next door. Or if you want to go out at night and avoid the bars like “Matt and Joes” or “Little Texas,” this is really your only after 7pm option.

One last Starbucks and Chapters in Belleville tip: If you are just stopping in to grab a coffee all quick like, the locals seem to be okay with just half pulling up into the curb out front, or parking on the painted hash-marks beside the handicapped access slots (not in the slots, just beside them, more or less in traffic). I don’t necessarily condone this, but you should at least know.

Enjoy your stay in Belleville, and stay tuned for more helpful advice!