Soon to conquer America
Written: Mar 03 '07
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Good Coffee
Cons: Bad donuts
The Bottom Line: Classic Canadian coffee
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| bbbradk's Full Review: Tim Hortons |
I grew up just outside of Toronto, so ever since I was young, I've known about Tim Horton's.
They used to be few and far between, but in the last few years Tim Horton's has become a hot franchise.
I'm pretty sure the franchise frenzy began a few years back when Wendy's bought the chain (they have since sold it off to focus on growing Wendy's, as Tim Horton's success was overshadowing them)
So due to the franchising, Tim Horton's has gone from a local coffee shop that people would seek out, to a place on every corner here in Toronto.
Really, there is no need to look for one, they are everywhere.
However along with the expansion, came a drop in quality.
For many years, every store had their own baker who would come in every night and cook all of the donuts for the following day.
Once the expansion happen, the executives were looking for ways to cut costs, and decided it would be best to get rid of all the cooks (the highest paid staff member at any location) and opened their own donut factory.
So every night instead of getting a fresh batch of donuts, every location will get boxes and boxes of mostly cooked donuts.
I say moistly cooked because to give the illusion that the donuts are fresh, every store has a small toaster oven sort of a machine.
The mostly cooked donuts are loaded into the oven to finish cooking, then they are placed on the shelf and called freshly made.
There is nothing unusual about this method, most donut stores in Toronto do the same.
But as a customer who has been around since they started out, the premade donuts cannot even compare to the old really fresh made ones.
Another donut type item Tim's is known for is the Tim Bit.
The Tim Bit is like a small donut, or a donut hole, most donut places sell something similar, but the thing I like about the Tim Bit is the variety.
Some stores will have up to a dozen diferent types of them in pretty much every flavor you would find in the regular donut selection.
They make a great travel companion, as a box of 20 will sit perfectly between the driver and a passenger, and aren't as filling or messy as a whole donut.
But really, the cornerstone of Tim Horton's has and always will be their coffee.
They have, ever since I started drinking it, had a great coffee, a nice mellow taste, not really strong like Starbucks, but a little stronger than what Dunkin Donuts serves.
The coffee is the one part of the menu that does not seen to have been affected by the merger.
It tastes the same as it always has, which has always been good enough to cause line ups for it here in Toronto, even with some stores being less than 2 blocks apart.
If you prefer your coffee cold, Tim's has the iced cappucino.
It is pretty much the same as the frozen coffee sold at any Starbucks, except it seems to have waaaay more cream in it.
So not the best for those who are watching their waistlines, but they are very popular in the summer.
Tim's does offer some soups and sandwiches along with the coffee and donuts, but most are not worth trying.
The soups are from a can, and served in tiny styrofoam bowls with no crackers.
The sandwiches are made fresh to order, but are served on tiny dinner rolls.
They are good sandwiches, but really over priced.
They do offer toasted bagels, and they are only 0.99 and most times taste very good if you like bagels.
Recently, Tim Horton's has decided to go head to head with McDonald's by offering their own breakfast sandwich (it is an egg mcmuffin on a biscuit) and the 2 that I've tried since their debut needed large amounts of ketchup to drown out the greasy taste, but it seems many people do not agree with my assessment, as they seem to be a very popular item?
I mentioned earlier that the donuts are shipped in from a donut factory, this is not the case with their muffins (they don't need a baker, you pour water into the muffin mix and bake, not very complicated) and if you can get a muffin first thing in the morning while they are fresh, they are great, otherwise, skip them.
In the same oven they bake their own cookies and croissants, both are quite good (again best when fresh out of the oven).
The title of the review mentions that Tim Horton's is headed to the U.S.
They have been a phenomenon here in Canada for quite some time, and I've noticed the last few times I crossed the border into Buffalo or Michigan that U.S. franchises are opening at an alarming rate.
From what I've seen, these South of the border locations are doing very well, so I would imagine there will be a lot more expansion.
In summary, Tim Horton's serves up a very good cup of coffee, so good in fact, that I drink at least one cup of it every day.
Most of the other items on their menu have suffered from all the expanding that the company has done, but as most locations are open 24 hours, they are great to eat when nothing else is open.
Thanks for reading
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
bbbradk
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Location: Toronto
Reviews written: 119
Trusted by: 42 members
About Me:
Hi there, I'm 37 live in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
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