Crystal Johnson noticed business was a little slower than usual this morning, but she didn't think much of it until a customer came in and told her about the Starbucks trailer that was parked on the same block as the downtown coffee shop. The trailer was giving away free coffee on the corner of San Jacanito and North St. Paul streets and potential Pearl Cup customers were all over the java.

Johnson confronted the cart and determined they are permitted to operate at the location, but the move still seems like a cheap shot -- and not the espresso kind.

According to Johnson the truck is still operating into the lunch rush, despite another full service Starbucks location currently operating just down the street. Starbucks recently closed it's downtown location at the Magnolia Hotel, with no plans to reopen that location.

"We are currently working on getting them removed,"Johnson said, pointing a a provision in the city's mobile vendor ordinance that requires the building's management to give permission to vendors that wish to operate directly in front of the building.

Talk about a caffeine buzz kill ... or a brewing battle ... seriously, we got a million of these puns.