Dunkin Donuts: Reliable coffee, Decent Bagels
Written: Aug 04 '05
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Good, reliable coffee, good service, lots of carbs
Cons: Yucky pink and orange restaurants, lots of carbs
The Bottom Line: Dunkin Donuts has reliable coffee and good service. What else do you need on your way to work?
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| modernmarvel's Full Review: Dunkin' Donuts |
I have probably stopped at Dunkin Donuts over 500 times in the course of my life. Growing up in the Boston area, you can find Dunkin Donuts everywhere, including many with drive through service. The best thing about Dunkin Donuts is the reliability. Like McDonalds, you get reasonably friendly and reliable service and you generally get food that tastes the same from one location to the other.
FOOD
Dunkin Donuts is known, of course, for its donuts. They have a very good selection of flavors plus the little deep-fat-fried dough balls they call munchkins. I am actually not a huge fan of donuts in general although I occassionally indulge in one. What I like about Dunkin Donuts is that their donuts appeal to everyone and, when I have to deliver breakfast to an event such as a 9am soccer practice, it is easy to run into Dunkin Donuts and grab a box of munchkins. They pack them quickly, they are fresh and, it seems, all kids like them.
My favorite thing about Dunkin Donuts is the coffee. I think everybody old enough to drink coffee falls into one of two categories. There are those that like Starbucks coffee and those that don't care for the strong, almost burnt, flavor of Starbucks coffee. Those that don't care for Starbucks coffee are the ones most likely to find a home at Dunkin Donuts. Here the coffee is not as strongly flavored as Starbucks. However, it tastes good to me and it is very consistent day in and day out. There are no outrageous flavors or pretentious-sounding names or exotic origins for the beans. At Dunkin Donuts, the coffee sizes are small, medium and large. You don't have to guess what size a "grande" will yield.
Dunkin Donuts also has quite a few iced coffee drinks and a few fruit drinks. They are loaded with calories and not really to my liking so I can't really comment on these offerings.
The other thing I like about Dunkin Donuts is the bagels. I eat them quite frequently and am currently getting a toasted everything bagel for my morning breakfast. The bagels come in basic flavors with nothing too gourmet except, perhaps, blueberry. The cream cheese comes in its own separate foil-covered tin. They have plain, lite, chive, salmon, veggie and a couple of other flavors. When you get your bagel, it comes either toasted or untoasted in a little wax paper sleeve. They don't spread the cream cheese, but include the little package in your bag with a knife. This is great if you are a control freak but it doesn't work too well if you are driving.
In addition to donuts and bagels, Dunkin Donuts has some breakfast sandwiches that include egg, cheese and meats and are served on bagels. I have had the egg and cheese and generally like it.
SERICE
Dunkin Donuts has counter service only. Some have drive-throughs. I think the service at Dunkin Donuts is similar to the service at McDonalds. Generally, you can expect the service to be fast, accurate and friendly. In all my orders there, I think they get it right almost all the time. The other thing I like about Dunkin Donuts is that they make your coffee for you. You tell them how much milk, cream, sugar or equal and they put it in so you can just grab your coffee and go.
AMBIANCE / DECOR
My biggest gripe about Dunkin Donuts is that garish pink and orange decor. I wish they would update it with something a little more natural looking. These restaurants are super casual. Many don't have tables at all. The ones that do only have small, formica, fast-food style tables. Dunkin Donuts is not a place you would want to linger.
CLEANLINESS
One of the best things about Dunkin Donuts is that they are consistently clean. They also smell fine. There isn't that greasy wafting smell you get at the fast food burger places.
FINAL RECOMMENDATION
I love Dunkin Donuts for its coffee and speedy, reliable service. I also like the bagels although prefer some other local chains which offer the smaller, chewey New York style bagels such as Bruegger’s Bagels. All in all, I give Dunkin Donuts four stars for providing decent coffee consistently in all of their chain stores.
HUNGRY FOR MORE? TRY THESE BOSTON-AREA RESTAURANTS:
BOSTON: Radius; Caffe Vitoria; Excelsior; Jacob Wirth; Cottonwood Cafe.
BROOKLINE: Mr. Sushi; Fugakyu; Takeshima; Tsunami; Anna's Taqueria; Zaftigs Delicatessen; Bangkok Bistro; Golden Temple.
NEWTON: Appetito; India Paradise; Blue Ribbon Barbeque; Ice Cream Works; Baker's Best; Bill’s Pizzeria; Cafe Nicolas; Union Street; O’Hara’s; Yeradi’s; Johnny’s Luchonette.
CAMBRIDGE: S&S Restaurant; The Japanese Mall; Jasper White’s Summer Shack.
WEST ROXBURY: Cafe Misono.
BRIGHTON: Tasca.
ESSEX: Woodman’s.
SAUGUS: Kowloon.
CHAIN RESTAURANTS: Not Your Average Joe’s; Bertucci’s; Legal Sea Foods; Cheesecake Factory; Rainforest Cafe; Fire & Ice; Bugaboo Creek Steakhouse; Friendly’s; Bruegger’s Bagels.
Recommended:
Yes
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modernmarvel
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