Does Nashville Have a Starbucks Problem?
- 2 sections
- 1 table
- 3 sources cited
The sources point the other way: Nashville has a deep bench of local coffee shops, and the chains sit alongside them. The Infatuation’s Nashville coffee guide, updated April 30, 2026, lists 18 shops, none of them national chains. They are spread across East Nashville, North Nashville, Downtown, West End, Music Row, Sylvan Heights, Wedgewood-Houston, Chestnut Hill, Sylvan Park, South Nashville, and Nashboro Village (The Infatuation). Local companies have grown into small chains of their own. Frothy Monkey lists four Nashville cafes and four more in other cities (Frothy Monkey). National drive-through chains are here too. Dutch Bros lists 5 Nashville locations, all drive-throughs (Dutch Bros). None of these sources gives a Starbucks store count for Nashville, so whether its number of stores is high for a city this size is unmeasured. What can be said is that the chains have not crowded independent shops out of the guides.
What the Numbers Show
| Measure | Figure | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Shops in a current critics' guide, none of them national chains | 18 | The Infatuation, April 30, 2026 |
| Neighborhoods those shops are in | 11 | The Infatuation |
| Frothy Monkey cafes in Nashville | 4 | Frothy Monkey |
| Dutch Bros locations in Nashville | 5, all drive-through | Dutch Bros |
| Starbucks locations in Nashville | not measured |
If You Want to Skip the Chains
- Use a neighborhood list: the 18 shops are in the best coffee shop in Nashville.
- Try a local multi-location company when you want predictability; see the biggest local coffee chains in Nashville.
- For an early commute, drive-through options are covered in whether there is a drive-through coffee culture in Nashville.