Starbucks Cancels Evening Booze Program

Expect more lunch options and high-end coffee in 2017

Starbucks will say good night to its evening program of beer, wine and snacks at 400 of its stores tomorrow.

In 2014, the company started offering wine and beer, along with bar snacks like spinach and artichoke dip and truffle mac and cheese in the evening, hoping to entice customers to return after the 3 p.m. rush for caffeine. The company planned for the program to make it to a quarter of its U.S. stores, but it never took off as expected, the Seattle Times reports.

Canceling the program "will allow the majority of our locations to focus on our core business, continuing to deliver the Starbucks experience for our customers while optimizing the evening for our premium customer," a Starbucks spokesperson explains.

The company is switching gears and focusing on lunchtime offerings, adding new sandwiches, salads and soups. But it's not getting rid of alcohol. Wine, beer and spirits will show up on menus at the higher-end Roastery and Reserve stores, the latter of which Howard Schultz, Starbucks' longtime CEO, recently stepped down to run.

As for an evening fix of beer and snacks, we'll stick with the local bar.