In Hong Kong and China Starbucks was a lifesaver for me, because just like McDonalds, these two chains have a higher quality standards than anyone else when it comes to: Aircondition. Many of the local chains in China don't have aircon. So you're eating in an uncomfortable humid enviornment. It's really uncomfortable in the rain seasons. Starbucks and McD fixes that.
It also has a higher level of hygine standards. The toilets and bathrooms are leaps and bounds above the alternatives.
There was a local chain in Beijing I saw everywhere which was called Mr. Lee. It was so fucking disgusting. I'm biased since I am a foreigner, and I am sure the Chinese are used to the warm humid temperatures.
I think Starbucks is decent but I grow bored after a while with the food and coffee. Starbucks best things are these sugary drinks with some coffee in them. I hate going in there because I feel tempted to buy something crazy with syrup, vanilla cream or something else.
In China in the Beijing Northern Train station they had this Starbucks with a Green Bean flavor. It actually tasted really interesting and different. In China they eat a lot of bean-type smoothies, but this one was iced like a frappucino.
I think in Europe in general Starbucks is overpriced for a big black cup of filter coffee. Here in Denmark we have an alternative chain which feels like a copy-pasted version of Starbucks called Barasso. It feels like it's completely the same, but Danes prefer it for nationalistic reasons.
I think it's really cool the Australians are so passionate about coffee they wanna keep doing the local thing. Things like that make living in a city much more interesting than being in chain cafes and stores. Because it's the same everywhere.