In the New River Valley, you are more likely to pass a coffee shop than a Taco Bell, McDonald's or Pizza Hut.

With at least 18 coffeehouses in the region, there's more than one for every 10,000 NRV residents.

And more caramel machiattos are coming soon.

A new Starbucks store is set to open Sept. 30 at the U.S. 460/114 intersection in Christiansburg.

It's the company's third in the area since breaking into the market last year.

But coffee wasn't always this hot locally.

When Bollo's opened in Blacksburg in 1994, the only competition was Mill Mountain Coffee & Tea, recalled Felicia Jackson, a Bollo's barista and manager.

But in the past 11 years, the nation's coffee craze -- born in the Pacific Northwest -- has moved east, and businesses have bubbled up to capture it.

Coffee drinkers now have all kinds of options for their morning cups. There are small independent coffeehouses, bookstore cafes and Starbucks, the world's largest coffee retailer.

Jason and Shannon Magenheimer moved to the region three and a half years ago from Oregon and opened the New River Coffee Company. The company now operates two kiosks -- one at the New River Valley Medical Center and one at the New River Valley Mall.

"Being from Oregon, this is nothing," Jason Magenheimer said of the number of coffee shops.

In fact, when he learned that a new Starbucks was set to open kitty-cornered to the mall, Magenheimer wasn't surprised.

"My first question was: What took them so long?" he said.

Coffee industry expert Bruce Milletto said that often large chains like Starbucks can be a benefit to independent shops or entrepreneurs.

"What happens is when a large chain is coming to town, it basically raises the awareness of the entire community," said Milletto, who is president of Bellissimo Coffee InfoGroup in Eugene, Ore.

"Starbucks has really penetrated markets that -- before Starbucks -- really did not understand specialty coffee."

Jaeil Park is new enough to Blacksburg to still have Pennsylvania license plates -- but he already knows where the town's two Starbucks stores are.

The post-doctoral student visits the Kent Square Starbucks daily for a Venti-size regular coffee that he admitted has become sort of an addiction.

"I like their coffee; it's very simple," Park said, noting that he also liked being able to walk into any Starbucks and order the same flavored drink, in the same size, for the same price.

But that isn't for everybody.

"There's really nothing Starbucks can offer me to make me want to walk there," said Leon Davis.

The Virginia Tech student was sitting in Bollo's on a recent morning -- a place where he can be found three to four times a week.

"This is much more comfortable to me -- and it's a local business," Davis said.

Customers such as Davis are a big reason why Bollo's has yet to feel the impact of having a Starbucks just blocks away, shop manager Jackson said.

"I know our regular customers are still coming in," she said.

"Our concern was more for new customers that might not bother to look for small independent coffee shops when they see the Starbucks name."

The chain may be the most recent addition to the local coffee scene, but more business could be brewing.

Coffee shops are one of the fastest-growing segments of the restaurant industry, and Milletto called Virginia one of the hottest coffee-growth areas in the nation.

Indeed, six more coffee shops would have to open in NRV for the area to earn a place on the top 10 list of cities with the most coffee restaurants per person.