Probably because coffee shops tend to charge two to four times more for a cup than a diner would. Like, you could buy a bag of coffee grounds for the amount some people pay

If you just get a cup of coffee, the price is usually about the same, modulo free refills. The quality from the coffee shop is also usually better.

Diners (at least those where I live) have started offering more options (including cappuccino style concoctions) in response to the coffee house trend, and now tend to match the prices of those coffee houses.

Yeah, at this point, it might just be lingering feelings of luxury, even if its no longer the reality for the most part.

Yea but by the time you make friends with the baristas you are only paying for like half your coffees though.

Diners are also terrible in the quality of food, service, and amenities they provide.

what something is seen as is largely shaped by politicians jockeying for power and muckraking journalists whoring their principals for clicks.

edit: again with the downvotes? is this not largely true? I think you give most people too much credit if you disagree with this. please back up your down votes with some kind of argument.

meh you're blaming two small groups. the general public as a whole deserves a lot of blame as well

Would you please stop posting unsubstantive comments to HN and (more importantly) stop using the site for ideological battle? That's destructive of what HN is for.

https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html