I Went to ‘Dumb Starbucks’

Dumb Starbucks took over Gastronomico‘s old Hillhurst Ave. spot in Los Feliz this weekend. Yup, that’s what it’s called. Dumb. Starbucks. Naturally, people were drawn to it. Is it Banksy? Is it art? The only thing known for sure is that it serves free coffee and it’s “dumb.” They also claim they’re a parody in order to get out of potential law suits. We’ll see how that works out.

UPDATE: Nathan Fielder of Nathan for You was behind it! Here he is talking about Dumb Starbucks on Jimmy Kimmel Live. If you haven’t watched Nathan for You on Comedy Central, you should! It’s hilarious.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4MJWz3w5ZQc

As a lover of kitschy art and staying hip to the zeitgeist, I headed to my former Eastside neighborhood yesterday and stood in line. Folks around me said this was the shortest the line had been, so I was optimistic…

Until two hours later, when the Dumb Barista came out and told everyone he’d be closing the doors by 5:30. I was thisclose, y’all. Thisclose. The hipsters surrounding me, though, were way more upset. People started paying those almost in the doors to get them drinks. We even begged for just cups, just give us some cups. Nope.

One girl tried making her way in by threatening to expose the man behind the operation all over Twitter and Facebook. Dumb Barista wasn’t impressed and shut the door. A few hipsters cried riot, but really, the line just dispersed and everyone went to actual Starbucks.

There were also shady men selling knock-off Dumb Starbucks hats (complete with strands of hair, ew) and mugs.

Luckily, before getting in line, I snuck into the store and explored. Gotta love the dumb stuff.