As a rule I try to avoid chain restaurants, except for the occasional Happy Meal fix which I feel guilty about immediately afterwards.  However, I’ve found a chain, Argo Tea, which I’ve been singing its praises and promoting relentlessly to my co-workers.  Not being a big coffee drinker I normally do not have a big interest in those types of places but found that Argo is just the place for us folks who love coffee type drinks but do not love coffee.

Oh, they do have coffee, and it is only a dollar in the morning for a
small cup of Illy.  But what got me are the tea flavored drinks and
particularly the Chocolate Mint, which is part of their hot, signature
drink menu.  The Chocolate Mint consists of black tea, milk, chocolate
and mint syrup.  It tastes inflatable water slide like a warm peppermint patty if made with
the proper proportions and it is amazing.  The black tea has all of the
punch of coffee with none of the caffeine jitters.  I’ve gotten most
everyone in my office to try it and now they too are repeat users.

I’ve dared to try some other signature flavors such as the Tea Sangria, MojiTea and Smootea, which is fresh fruit blended with ice and tea.  All have been great and are a welcome change from the standard latte and Frappachino drinks.  To go with your beverage they carry an assortment of pastries from local bakeries however, the selection has been become more limited as they are cooking frozen baked goods in a convection oven in the store.  Avoid these items, they are not good.  But if they happen to have a Carol Cookie go for it.  Just don’t forget your Chocolate Mint.

Their website has a list of locations:
http://www.argotea.com/