Starbucks Reserve Roastery Tokyo: Is It Worth It?

A Starbucks? In Tokyo? You're in one of the best food and coffee cities on the planet, there's a regular Starbucks on half the corners, and most Roastery photos online look like a crowd with a copper backdrop. Crossing town for one sounds a little silly. Is it a real experience, or just a pricey photo op?

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In this guide 12 sections

Cream and I were skeptical too. That giant copper cask had been all over our social feeds, and we wanted to find out if the coffee, the cocktails, and the building matched the hype, or if it was just a Starbucks with nicer lighting.

So, during our month living in Shinjuku, we rode the train out to Nakameguro, timed it for opening, and spent the morning climbing from the first-floor cold brew bar up to the third-floor cocktail bar. Here's our honest Starbucks Reserve Roastery Tokyo review.

Watch Our Visit to the Starbucks Reserve Roastery Tokyo

Our video covers both cold brews, the pastries, two cocktails, and a wander through the whole building:

Is the Starbucks Reserve Tokyo Worth It? My Quick Answer

Yes, if you plan for a cocktail and go in knowing it's expensive. The Starbucks Reserve Roastery Tokyo gets an 8 out of 10 from us. The building and the views are beautiful, the classic barrel-aged cold brew beat our expectations by a mile, and the Arriviamo cocktail bar on the third floor was the best part of the visit. Not everything was good, though: the pastries were just OK, and the Japan-only Sakura cold brew wasn't my favorite. But the things that were good were really good. Go early, give it a whole morning, and don't squeeze it in.

What Makes the Tokyo Roastery Different

A Reserve Roastery is Starbucks' showpiece format: the coffee is roasted on site, and each floor has its own bar and menu. Tokyo's opened in February 2019,⁴ and it's the first Roastery Starbucks designed and built from the ground up, with an exterior by Japanese architect Kengo Kuma.³

Everything inside is built around a copper cask that rises through all four floors, about 17 meters (56 feet) tall. It's covered in roughly 2,100 hand-hammered copper flowers,⁶ a tribute to the cherry trees along the Meguro River outside. The design carries through every detail on every floor.

You'll see it called the largest Starbucks in the world, and it was when it opened. But the five-story Chicago Roastery took that title in November 2019.⁵ Tokyo is still enormous, and it doesn't need the record to be worth seeing.

The Barrel-Aged Cold Brew: The Coffee to Get

The first floor is the coffee bar, and the menu has two barrel-aged cold brews you can only get at this location: the classic barrel-aged cold brew and a Sakura barrel-aged cold brew. The beans are aged in bourbon whiskey barrels before brewing.⁶

The classic comes as a small carafe that you pour over one big ice cube. Cream described it as looking "like whiskey on the rocks, but there's no alcohol in it."

It surprised us. Neither of us expected the coffee to be that good. It tastes a little sweet even though there's no sugar in it, and the barrel comes through the way it does in a whiskey, with notes of caramel and vanilla. You still taste the coffee, though. Nothing covers it up.

The Sakura version arrives layered, with a leaf on top. Before stirring, it reminded Cream of chocolate or cinnamon. Mixed, it turns toward tea. It was interesting, but the flavor kept changing as we drank it and wasn't as enjoyable by the end. For a special Japan-only drink, it just wasn't my favorite.

The classic was the opposite. Cream admitted, "I thought this one would be a little gimmicky, but it's very enjoyable all the way through." If you only get one coffee here, get that one.

The Pastries: Just OK

The first floor also has a Princi bakery counter, with trays of Italian-style pastries. We picked two that looked good: a strawberry tart and a cream-filled bun.

The tart was light and not too sweet, with real strawberry flavor and a soft, moist base. The bun was the fun one. Cream didn't really know how to eat it, but he loves cream, and there was a hazelnut cream inside he wasn't expecting.

Cream enjoyed them on camera, but honestly, I thought they were just OK. They were kind of basic for the price, and the coffees were the clear winners. Grab a pastry only if you want something with your cold brew. The two cold brews and two pastries came to about $30 for the two of us.

The Arriviamo Bar: Plan for a Cocktail

This is the part I'd tell anyone not to skip, and it's where we spent most of our morning. The third floor is the Arriviamo bar, a full cocktail bar built around coffee and tea, with a wall of whiskey barrels and seats that look out over the Meguro River.

The biggest sell is outside. The third floor opens onto a long outdoor terrace with wooden benches, hanging plants, and a glass railing looking out over Nakameguro toward the Meguro River. We walked out to take in the view, and on a clear morning it's the best seat in the building.

We ordered the two drinks we were most curious about: the Starbucks Reserve Espresso Martini and the New Tokyo Fashion. The presentation alone was immaculate, and one sip in, Cream decided, "Actually, I think the bar just significantly raised my experience."

1. Starbucks Reserve Espresso Martini // For the Coffee Fan

A strong shot of espresso with vodka and vanilla syrup, under a soft, frothy foam with chocolate shavings on top. You can taste the espresso and the vodka separately, which is what you want, and it's hard to imagine a better version. It was 2,400 yen on the menu when we went.

2. New Tokyo Fashion // For the Whiskey Fan

Cream is a big Old Fashioned fan, so this was the one he wanted. It comes over a giant ice ball with a leaf on top and looks almost like a tea. The whiskey is the star: smooth, with an oaky flavor from the barrel and light notes of cinnamon and coffee.

Our verdict, in Cream's words: "This one's perfect for the whiskey fan. This one's perfect for the coffee fan, or you can have them both." We had both. The two cocktails came to about $31.

The One We Wish We'd Ordered: The Espresso Martini Flight

The menu also has a Starbucks Reserve Espresso Martini Flight: three small espresso martinis with different flavors, for 3,600 yen when we went. We didn't get it, and I wish we had. It looked like the most fun thing on the menu, and if you can't decide between drinks, it's the one I'd order next time.

A Floor-by-Floor Tour of the Roastery

Even if you only order one drink, walk every floor. Whatever you end up drinking, the building is a cool place just to explore. Here's what's on each one, using Starbucks Japan's own floor guide.¹

First floor: coffee and Princi. The main coffee bar, where you can get custom drinks and flights of the same coffee made with different brewing methods, plus the pastry counter, beans, and merchandise. You can watch the coffee being roasted right next to the cask.

Second floor: Teavana tea. It's much calmer up here. A wall of teacups in different positions spells out Teavana, and the matcha is ground fresh on a stone mill. The whole floor feels peaceful.

Third floor: the Arriviamo bar. Cocktails, coffee, and food, with the most natural light in the building. This is where we sat. There's outdoor seating with a view of the Meguro River,⁴ and we walked out to take it in. The barrel wall is here too.

Fourth floor: the AMU Inspiration Lounge. A lounge and event space at the top of the cask. Along the way, look for the wall of coffee cards that spells out TOKYO.

If you're shopping for the Starbucks Reserve Roastery Tokyo merchandise you've seen online, the beans, mugs, and Roastery goods are on the first and second floors.

Make a Morning of It in Nakameguro

We took the train to Nakameguro Station and walked from there, and that walk is when we realized how much we liked the Meguro area. After the Roastery, we walked along the river, grabbed a quick lunch nearby, and looked at all the restaurants along the way.

It felt cool and much less busy than Shinjuku, with lots of fun-looking places to eat. If we came back to Tokyo, I'd stay in this area.

What We Didn't Love

It's expensive. This is the biggest reason it's an 8. We paid about $61 for a cold brew, a pastry, and a cocktail each. We enjoyed the experience and it was fun, but it's a lot for coffee and pastries, and not all of it was worth the money.

Not everything was good. The pastries were basic, and the Sakura cold brew was the drink we enjoyed least. The classic cold brew, the cocktails, and the views carry the visit.

It's a trip. Nakameguro isn't next to the big sights, so this is an outing, not a coffee stop. Don't try to fit it between two other plans.

Who'll Love the Roastery, and Who Won't

Go if you like coffee, cocktails, or design, and you want one slow morning somewhere beautiful. It's also a good date spot, especially on the third floor with a drink by the window.

Skip it if you're on a tight budget, you just want a quick coffee, or you have just a few days in Tokyo and Nakameguro is out of your way.

Tickets, Hours, and Getting There

• Do you need a ticket? Usually not. Reservations aren't taken for regular visits. When it's busy (weekends, holidays, and the New Year season), it switches to same-day entry tickets: a timed ticket or a waiting list, booked by email through a link on the official site or a QR code near the entrance, and you show the live status page at the door.² We arrived around opening on a Monday morning in May, and it wasn't busy at all.
• Hours: 8:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. from October 1, 2026 (it used to open at 7:00 a.m.).¹
• Where: 2-19-23 Aobadai, Meguro City, Tokyo, right on the Meguro River.
• Getting there: about a 14-minute walk from Nakameguro Station or Ikejiri-Ohashi Station. From Nakameguro, the walk runs along the Meguro River, which is lined with cherry trees.
• Cherry blossom season: the Meguro River is lined with cherry trees, so expect the Roastery and its river-view seats to be at their busiest in spring.
• What we paid: about $61 for two in May 2026, by card.
• Seating: an entry ticket doesn't save you a seat, but you can sit on any floor no matter where you ordered.

Starbucks Reserve Roastery Tokyo, 2-19-23 Aobadai, Meguro City, Tokyo

This map comes from Google Maps.

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Our Verdict on the Starbucks Reserve Roastery Tokyo

It's worth it, as long as you treat it as a morning out, not a coffee stop, and you're ready for the price. Get there early, walk every floor before you order, start with the classic barrel-aged cold brew, and finish at the Arriviamo bar with a cocktail and a view of the river. Then take the long way back to the station along the Meguro River.

Next Steps for Your Tokyo Trip

• ⭐ Watch our full visit to the Starbucks Reserve Roastery Tokyo, with every drink and all four floors.
• A Japanese bakery run, from melon pan to yakisoba bread
• Monjayaki, Tokyo's griddle dish, cooked at your table
• Age.3 in Ginza, the famous fried sandwiches
• Where to stay: Nakameguro is quieter than Shinjuku and the river walk is on your doorstep. See what staying there costs