Starbucks' cup brimmeth under

Though never a fan of Starbucks, more because of their bland-ardization of the world's greatest drug rather than due to any kind of deeply held anti-corporate leanings, Shanghaiist nevertheless enjoys supping the occasional hot chocolate from a Medusa-emblazoned mug. With this Monday being particularly harrowing, we were looking forward to a dose of sickly sweet cream-topped womb regression, only to have our fragile psyche strained to within an inch of another long, expensive course of therapy by the news that Starbucks is out of chocolate. Not just the three branches we visited on Nanjing Lu, but EVERY SINGLE ONE IN SHANGHAI. How? Why? Our putonghua skills barely stretch to these basic interrogatives, so we could only decipher that the supply has been cut, and it may be as long as two weeks before it is restored. Unfortunately, they still seemed to be pumping out their vile ice mocha cream things.

Oh, and one final tip: if you're driven mad enough by the Starbucks chocolate shortage to shell out 35 RMB for a hot chocolate at the Citic Square branch of Wagas, good luck to you. After a 25 minute wait and repeated reminders to the staff, we were eventually presented with a small bowl of tepid brown goo, minus the promised marshmallows. We've been to the same branch four times in the last month and, without fail, they manage to screw the order up somehow, despite the efforts of the well-meaning manager.

Wagas
1168 Nanjing Xi Lu. LG 11A (Near Shanxi Bei Lu)
南京西路1168号中信泰富广场地下一层12A