Starbucks expands sale of beer, wine and dinner plates

SEATTLE, Aug. 17 (UPI) -- Starbucks is stepping up efforts to introduce an expanded "Evenings" menu by selling wine, beer and small plates, including bacon-wrapped dates and truffle mac 'n' cheese.

There will be nearly 100 Starbucks locations offering the new menu when the program expands starting Wednesday. The company has applied for liquor licenses at several hundred locations in recent months.

Company executives hope the new introduction will mean $1 billion more in annual sales by 2019.

The company first announced its intention in 2010 to experiment with the expanded menu as to increase sales when consumer traffic slow down after 4. p.m. Markets where Starbucks tested the introduction of beer and wine include Florida, Washington state, Oregon, Los Angeles, Calif., Chicago, Ill., and Atlanta, Ga.

"We learned resoundingly that our customers want to come to Starbucks and have a glass of wine or a craft beer," Rachel Antalek, vice president of concept innovations at Starbucks, said in an interview with USA Today at a Starbucks store in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn, where the menu also expands this week. "There aren't that many places to go in the evening where you can go very relaxed, very casual. It's not loud. You can actually have a small group and hear yourself talk."

Other plates on the menu include truffle macaroni and cheese, spinach artichoke dip with pita chips, artichoke and goat cheese flatbread, truffle popcorn and chicken sausage and mushroom flatbread.