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- 1Starbucks
Starbucks was founded in 1971 in Seattle by Jerry Baldwin, Zev Siegl, and Gordon Bowker, originally selling whole-bean coffee rather than prepared drinks, before Howard Schultz joined the company in 1982 and later purchased it, transforming Starbucks into the espresso-bar coffeehouse chain it's known as today. Schultz has said his vision for Starbucks was directly inspired by Italian espresso bar culture he encountered on a trip to Milan, and he built the company's identity around creating a comfortable "third place" between home and work where customers could linger over coffee. Starbucks grew into the largest coffeehouse chain in the world by store count, operating tens of thousands of locations globally, and the company pioneered numerous now-standard coffeehouse conventions, including its size naming system and mobile ordering technology that many competitors later adopted. Starbucks's combination of its founder's Italian espresso bar-inspired "third place" concept and its growth into the largest coffeehouse chain in the world has made it one of the most globally influential coffee companies in history.
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0 - 2Peet's Coffee
Peet's Coffee was founded in 1966 in Berkeley, California by Alfred Peet, a Dutch immigrant whose father had operated a coffee roasting business in the Netherlands, and Peet is widely credited with introducing dark-roast, high-quality specialty coffee to the American market well before it became mainstream. Peet's played a genuinely foundational role in the history of American specialty coffee, since the founders of Starbucks initially trained under Alfred Peet and purchased their original roasted coffee beans directly from Peet's before eventually developing their own roasting operations. The company has remained smaller and more regionally concentrated than Starbucks throughout its history, maintaining a reputation among coffee enthusiasts specifically for its darker roasting style and emphasis on single-origin and specialty-grade coffee beans. Peet's Coffee's combination of its founder's foundational role training the eventual founders of Starbucks and its sustained reputation for distinctive dark-roast specialty coffee has made it one of the most historically influential coffee chains in American coffee culture.
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0 - 3Caribou Coffee
Caribou Coffee was founded in 1992 in Minneapolis, Minnesota by John and Kim Puckett, who reportedly conceived the idea for the company during a hiking trip to Alaska, naming the chain after caribou they observed during their travels there. The company built its brand identity around a rustic, outdoor lodge-style store aesthetic, deliberately distinguishing its physical store atmosphere from Starbucks's more urban, minimalist coffeehouse design during Caribou's period of significant national expansion in the 1990s and 2000s. Caribou Coffee grew into one of the largest coffeehouse chains in the United States by store count at its peak, concentrated particularly in the Midwest, before the company later shifted toward a smaller-footprint retail strategy and increased licensing partnerships within grocery stores and other retail locations. Caribou Coffee's combination of its founders' Alaska hiking trip origin story and its distinctive outdoor lodge-style store branding has made it one of the most distinctively themed coffeehouse chains in the country.
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0 - 4Tim Hortons
Tim Hortons was founded in 1964 in Hamilton, Ontario by NHL hockey player Tim Horton, who opened the original donut and coffee shop during his professional hockey career before his death in a 1974 car accident, after which the company continued operating and expanding under his name. The chain grew into one of the largest and most culturally significant coffee and donut chains in Canada, becoming such a deeply embedded part of Canadian everyday culture that Tim Hortons is frequently described as a genuine national institution rather than simply a commercial coffee chain. Tim Hortons merged with Burger King in 2014 to form the parent company Restaurant Brands International, and the chain has continued expanding into the United States and internationally while remaining most strongly associated with its Canadian origins and cultural identity. Tim Hortons's combination of its founding by a professional NHL hockey player and its status as a genuine cultural institution in Canada has made it one of the most nationally significant coffee chains in North America.
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0 - 5Costa Coffee
Costa Coffee was founded in London in 1971 by Italian brothers Sergio and Bruno Costa, who initially operated as a wholesale coffee roaster supplying other coffee shops and caterers before opening their own retail coffeehouse locations across the United Kingdom. The company grew into the largest coffeehouse chain in the United Kingdom by store count, surpassing international competitors like Starbucks within the domestic UK market specifically, reflecting Costa's especially strong brand loyalty among British consumers. Coca-Cola acquired Costa Coffee in 2019 for approximately $5.1 billion, marking Coca-Cola's largest acquisition ever at the time and giving the beverage giant a significant physical retail coffeehouse presence to complement its existing bottled and canned beverage business. Costa Coffee's combination of its founding by Italian immigrant brothers and its landmark acquisition by Coca-Cola has made it one of the most commercially significant coffeehouse chains outside the United States.
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0 - 6Dutch Bros Coffee
Dutch Bros Coffee was founded in 1992 in Grants Pass, Oregon by brothers Dane and Travis Boersma, Dutch immigrants' descendants who started the business selling espresso from a converted pushcart before growing it into a rapidly expanding drive-through coffee chain. The company built its identity around a distinctive drive-through-focused format with minimal or no indoor seating at most locations, along with an energetic, close-knit company culture emphasizing employee enthusiasm and community involvement at the local store level. Dutch Bros went public in 2021 and has continued rapid geographic expansion beyond its original Pacific Northwest roots, becoming one of the fastest-growing drive-through coffee chains in the United States over the following several years. Dutch Bros Coffee's combination of its founders' pushcart origin story and its rapid modern expansion as a drive-through-focused coffee chain has made it one of the fastest-growing coffee brands in the country.
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