Franchises That Are the Web Worker’s Best Friend
June 19th, 2007 (12:00am) Judi Sohn 72 CommentsTweet This
When you want to get out of the house and work in a new environment, many head for the local Starbucks. Starbucks locations are easy to find no matter where you are, and the experience is consistent. Jazzy music, dark earth tones, small tables, limited non-coffee menu and sparse outlets. The reason we’re there is the reasonably reliable TMobile Hotspot wifi priced at $6 for an hour, $9.99 for 24 hours, or monthly plans starting at $29.99 if you commit to a year. Minor ambience or menu changes aside, you know what you’ll get when you walk in, even if you’re in a new-to-you Starbucks in a new town.
Here are a few other franchises that offer the essentials of web working: wifi, food/beverages, power outlets and no one expecting you to leave the minute you finish whatever you’ve ordered to eat or drink.
Panera Bread. According to Panera’s website, there are 940 locations across the country that offer free wifi. This is primo web working territory if you have a location near you. It’s certainly my first choice. There are a wide variety of table configurations in its large dining rooms, from booths, bar stools, square and round tables and couches so you can settle down as you feel comfortable. The lighting is excellent. The menu is a wide variety of breakfast/lunch foods. I don’t know if this is specific to our local Panera Bread, but at the Princeton, NJ location I go to there is a corner of the dining room that is particularly web worker friendly. A bit more isolated from the rest of the dining room and two, count ‘em two power outlets. The wifi is free, as are the fountain drink and coffee refills. My only complaint, and once again this may be the particular location, is that the music is played too loud. Headphones are a must and phone calls are best taken outside.
Borders Books. If you have a T-Mobile Hotspot account and you’re tired of fighting for a table at Starbucks, then head for your local Borders instead. Most, if not all of the cafes are Seattle’s Best Coffee shops now, still T-Mobile hotspots. Lighting and access to power outlets will vary widely location to location, but tend to be much better than Starbucks. Expect to have to leave for lunch, as the non-bakery foods are not very good. If you are near Penn Station/Madison Square Garden in Manhattan, the Seattle’s Best Coffee cafe on the 2nd floor of the Borders next door is particularly comfy for web working. And you have the added bonus of being able to flip through a real, live book during down time.
Barnes & Noble. These bookstores have wifi by AT&T FreedomLink. Monthly services starts at $19.99 per month, which is more reasonable than T-Mobile. For those not wanting to make a monthly commitment, you can buy prepaid access in smaller increments. Many Barnes & Noble stores now have their cafe in the center of the store, so while the location is good for a quick check of email over coffee, it’s not ideal for extended stays. I’ve yet to see an easily accessible power outlet close to the cafe in any location, but that’s doesn’t mean it’s not possible.
McDonalds. I suppose there’s no point in commenting about the quality of the food, is there? If you’re used to surfing with a latte at your side, this isn’t where you want to head. However, if you have watch of the kids and you’re on a deadline, the time spent at a McDonald’s with your laptop might not be terrible. Definitely hold off unless there are no other options. Pricing is reasonable compared to other not-free services, at just $2.95 for 2 hours.
Cosi. Cosi is more of a lunch place than a coffee shop, with locations primarily in the Northeast and California. The wifi is through Surf & Sip, and has been free since the middle of 2006. Lighting is not as good as it could be, and the few locations I’ve been to have been very noisy. Not my first choice if a Panera Bread can be found.
Admittedly, these are franchises with locations in the Northeast United States. Do you have any coffee/lunch franchise shops to recommend in your part of the world? Share in the comments.
Web Work 101: How To Escape The Cubicle
in Ahmedabad, India, there is a place called Mint. You get good snacks, food, mocktails, and red bull. The wi-fi is from icenet, and is free.
Judi,
There are a number of great free wifi locations in the Princeton, NJ area. My favourite is the Panera Bread (Nassau Park, West Windsor) but I can also be found at Orpha’s Cafe near Route 206 and 518 in Skillman.
Caribou Coffee has free wifi: they’re a chain in the US southeast, but I think they have locations elsewhere too.
Another option: skip the chains altogether and check out your local owned coffee shops and bookstores. Most of them offer wifi, and many of them are a little more relaxed about how long you setup shop. More importantly: you can get to know the company, and possibly have an in for a contract job down the road: hard to say that about Starbucks.
When it comes to coffee… Go local!!!
The coffee is almost always better and the wi-fi almost always free!
You guys are right, the privately-owned local shops are great. But there are some national chains that are pretty good (like Panera) and it helps to know exactly what you’re gonna get before you walk in the door and that’s what I was trying to highlight.
I’ve found that it’s more than the free wifi. Lighting, noise level, square tables (can’t stand working at those small round tables at Starbucks) and power outlets are key for me.
Khurt, that’s exactly the Panera I was talking about. I know there’s another one across from the University, but the one at Nassau Park has easier parking. :-) I didn’t realize Orpha’s had free wifi. I love that place for, of all things, the coffee!
If you are in the Lansdowne, PA area, Go straight to Regency Cafe.
Great food, great coffee and espresso, and free wi-fi.
We’ve a lot of local options in SW Ohio:
A two mile stretch of both banks of the Ohio River have free WiFi (working in the park rocks)
Our local bell has a few dozen hotspots that are free for their DSL subscribers
A local coffee shop has 4 locations in a 4 mile radius of my house with free WiFi (for when I just can’t get anything done with the kids home for the summer)
I have used Panera frequently though I usually try to avoid it at lunch time. I usually connect in Upstate NY and my nearest Panera is in the Saratoga Springs area. One other option I have used – many city libraries now offer free WiFi. Speed will vary as will atmosphere but most city libraries offer a variety of seating/tables with plenty of power outlets. Of course, you have to stop at Starbucks on your way if you want a decent cup of coffee while you are there! And who can work on the Web without a good coffee in hand?
Other options are Regus Offices if you are an American Express Platinum cardholder when you travel or locally the many CoWorking options. Check wiki.coworking.info for details and locations.
Coffee shops are often too noisy for my taste. I go there if I want to meet someone to chat and exchange ideas.
Have a good day
Serge
‘The French Guy from New Jersey’
Blog:
http://www.sergetheconcierge.com
Judi, you’re right, sometimes it can be hard to find the local spots in other cities. So, to help remedy that if anyone is ever in Louisville, KY, (and to add more substance to my previous comment) here’s a list of several local coffeehouses in Louisville with great coffee and free wireless.
Heine Bros. Coffee
Highland Coffee
Sunergos Coffee
Java Brewing Co. (coffee is okay, not super)
Tempest Tea (may just be local to DFW) has free wifi…
Interestingly most of bar’s in this area also have free wifi
Kevin
http://technogeek.org/
Around here, if you’re talking chain restaurants, IHOP and Panera Bread have decent coffee and free wifi.
I do prefer to frequent the smaller coffee shops though.
I definitely like Panera for the free Wifi and free coffee refills, though some of them can get hectic at lunch time. One advantage of Starbucks was that since they didn’t serve hot food there was less of the greasy table problem. Now they’ve got the sandwich presses. You can use Delocator to find independent coffee shops. (Google Maps works pretty well too.) I usually map out all of the coffee shops before I visit anywhere.
Regarding the Latte at McDonald’s comment… I’m not sure if this is local to the Los Angeles area, or if it’s nationwide, but McDonald’s has started offering espresso-based coffee drinks… lattes, cappuccinos, etc.
You know what, I actually prefer the taste of the McDonald’s coffee to that of Starbucks! Weird, huh?
When I do use the McDonald’s wifi, I tend to use it in my car to stay away from the noise.
EVDO changed my life! Just spent an hour working on the waterfront in Portland yesterday!
In the southeast, Krystal’s Hamburgers (the southern White Castle) has free wifi. I’ve never used it, but certainly seen it advertised.
Anybody know of any cool locations to work out of in South Beach? I’m here for a while, and NO i can’t spend my days at the beach :)
I feel moved to chime in regarding local coffee shops versus chains…While the local shops often provide a more relaxed environment, I have found their reliability to be a bit suspect. The ‘little guys’ seldom have the resources to adequately maintain a network if there are problems. They are great when they work well, but can be troublesome if you need a consistent connection.
In Burlington, VT, the best places to geek out are — Uncommon grounds on Church Street — Burlington Bay Marketplace on the corner of College & Battery, and for fantastic coffee: Speeder & Earl’s on Pine Street in the artsy section of town.
If you have some stylish grunge clothing and some body piercings, you’ll also love Radio Bean at the corner of N. Winooski and Pearl.
All have free 802.11x and allow plugging-in. I make sure I tip well, as thanks for the juice (electricity.)
Each of these have a few regular web-workers, and today I met a nice guy who was ‘on vacation’ from out of town, getting some hours in at Uncommon grounds.
i don’t know if there are any outside of the phoenix area, but another great place for web working is wildflower bread company, with many outlets, free wifi, and a great menu
You can also check out project that has been worked on by many people across the net .http://hotspotr.com/wifi. If you dont see your fav. spot then add it.
For those in the Boston area, Fresh City offers free Wifi, great smoothies, and LOTS of outlets. In fact, I think they had web workers in mind when they designed the restaurants. There are outlets evenly spaced underneath the rows of 2 person tables.
For a change of pace from the coffee cafes, there is Buffalo Wild Wings. Free Wi-Fi, decent food, and you can get a beer if things get too rough.
Hey guys, if you happen to use Tmobile, just sign up for their internet package. You would have to ebay yourself a wireless card for like 100$ instead of paying 200 for the same thing in a store, but for 30$ bucks a month, I get 1. free tmobile hotspots which are great for everything listed above, and 2. that wireless card lets me use the internet at about the speed of dial up anywhere, including having a passenger google something while I am driving. It’s pretty neat, and in my opinion way better than paying 80$ a month for the verizon version even though its infinitely faster. Somebody email me if they have a better solution than that, but that is by far the best thing I have ever found.
Regionally on the west coast (WA, OR, CA, ID) there is a coffee chain called Tully’s that offeres Free wifi in almost all of their stores. This is advertised on the hompage of their website (www.tullys.com).
A note about the free open wifi: From my experience these systems are much less secure than the fee based ones and you are more open to an attack from someone wishing to do you harm. So, beware FWIW.
Free is the only way to go…Caribou and Dunn Bros. are everywhere in the Mpls. area.
I also encourage everyone to vsit http://hotspotr.com/wifi and add their favorites. It could become “the” webworker directory. It’s the first place I check when traveling.
My first choice also is Panera. Free soda and free wi-fi rock. I’ve noticed that Boston’s also has free wi-fi now. I haven’t seen anyone using it, but nice to know that it’s there should the two urges every arise to have great pizza and work on line.
While franchises tend to be consistent, it may also be helpful to check out if the place you’ll be has a list of wifi locations.
Here in Birmingham we actually have a list maintained by one of our local organizations: Bhamwifi.com. I’ve found similar lists helpful in other cities too.
Most times they tend to be comfortable and there are more than enough outlets to go around.
Just a thought
In the Pittsburgh, PA area, free wifi (with very liberal policies in terms of plugging in and hanging around) can be found at all Crazy Mocha coffee shops – it’s a chain but it’s local. Decent priced drinks, too.
Way down south here in Dixie, Krystal restaurants all have free wi-fi.
Krystal is the southern translation of White Castle for the uninitiated.
Also, check out http://wififreespot.com
Judy,
The coffee is the main draw for me (either at Panera or Orpha’s). Orpha’s also has great staff on hand for conversation about local happenings. If you have time on a Saturday morning, local guitarist, Larry Tritel is often there playing and singing great music.
chick-fil-a has free wi-fi. when travelling, i’ve taken advantage of that a few times since they’re everywhere.
If you are in China, virtually ANY coffee/teashop will have free wifi. I don’t think there is such a thing as paid public wifi now that I think of it. It is best to buy something while you are there, but admittedly coffee from Yunnan (province in southwest China) is amazing, and they do a decent job in Beijing and Shanghai. One China barista at a coffeeshop I go to a lot in Beijing even placed in an international Barista competition!
If you are in Denver, CO, Einstein Bagel (einsteinbros.com) has free wifi with excellent bagel treats and bottomless coffee! Even better: the branch I frequent shares a wall with the Starbucks that has non-free wifi. Take that starbucks!!
I don’t think such a place exists in the Netherlands or more specifically Amsterdam. Everywhere I have been has had a feel that is more like: OK, get your food, eat it, maybe linger a bit, but if you pull out a laptop we will kill you! I would love to hear about something that exists though.
I’m with Panera… everything’s free and it’s usually busy so you don’t even have to buy anything and no one’s going to rat you out.
in the princeton/new brunswick area, also consider the west end cafe in new brunswick — much better atmosphere than the princeton coffee shops, and free internet
Panera is great at breakfast time and mid-morning, but the ones near me get crowded and noisy at lunch. My local Panera has a loft area with couches, large work tables and a fireplace. Everyone up there is usually sporting a laptop.
If I’m spending the day out of the office I’ll head to a coffee shop with free wifi – either local or a Beaner’s (midwest chain) location – at about 11am to avoid the lunch rush.
A number of Caribou Coffee shops in Northern Virginia provide free Wi-Fi.
It’s a wonder people would even go to Starbucks, B&N, Borders and pay those high fees. They must not have a Cosi nearby. I also am partial to Caribou Coffee who offer two hours of free service (tied to your email addy, so after 2hrs, you swtich to a different email, and keep on going).
Just for the info, Starbucks is not a franchise.
Judi,
I also work in Princeton but I haven’t had much luck finding a good spot to work at Panera because it’s always packed. Do you go to the one by the University or by Nassau Park? Have you tried any of the other Cafes like Small World?
Thanks for writing the article!
A lot of public libraries these days have both coffee shops and free wireless. (My local library has just gotten both, and I’m surprised at how few problems we’ve had with the wireless connection.)
franchisebrief.com: Well, maybe not. I was thinking “establishments that are in more than one location” but that wasn’t a very catchy title. ;-)
Matt, I go to the one at Nassau Park Blvd. and yes it can get quite busy during lunch time. The food line literally goes out the door. But I typically get there 9-10 am on days that I go so it’s not too difficult to stake out a table near an outlet. My DSL connection is actually working well for a change so I haven’t been in a week or so.
It’s A Grind has free Wifi and lots of locations out here in California: http://www.itsagrind.com
Apparently free wireless is coming to Sydney CBD but the only ‘Franchise’ hotspot I can think of here at the Belgian Beer Cafe in The Rocks. Meh coffee? Beer! :)
In the Mid-South all the Krystal drive ins have free Wi-Fi. They are similar to White Castle.
G
The daily grind coffee shop, better coffee than starbucks and FREE internet. Their site is http://www.dailygrindunwind.com/ and I use the one in arlington, virginia.
I understand that Ladro’s (a coffehouse in the Seattle area) as free wi-fi. I make use of Panera and my local Noah’s bagels free wifi frequently.
I tried to have a meeting today at a local chinese restaurant that advertised wifi, but I couldn’t find anyone in the restaurant who could help me get connected… Sometimes the draw back.
And my MINI dealer, Northwest MINI, offers free wifi in the dealership – I’ve worked there while my MINI has been in for service.
I suppose I don’t understand this fascination with working in a coffee shop. I have a great setup at home – two CPUs, one with dual monitors, all the coffee I want and a great music selection.
Any why anyone would pay for Wi-Fi at Starbucks is beyond my comprehension. In my fair city, there’s a decent amount of free hotspots downtown.
I’m sitting in Tysons Corner Center right now posting; there’s free WiFi in the food court and I’m a pretty fair distance from it and online from a comfy chair. Not sure if other Macerich properties are doing the same, but if so that makes dozens of malls across the country. And I’m looking into a Starbux.
Schlotzky’s has had free WiFi for quite a while:
http://www.schlotzskys.com/wireless.html
Oh, and so do Coffee Bean and Teal Leaf locations:
http://coffeebean.com/location.aspx
If you live in minnesota or the surrounding area, caribou Coffee has free wifi and allot of plugins.
I have to leave another comment and say that i find it easier to just work at home sometimes due to snooping eyes.
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You got a great collection. Thanks for sharing the information.
Thanks for the great list. Nothing beats grabbing a latte at my favorite Starbuck’s franchise and working on my laptop.