Time to Make the Donuts
September 26, 2017 6:43 AM Subscribe
The Oral History of Dunkin Donuts
Before Dunkin' finally expanded to L.A. in 2014, every time I went back east for a conference, I'd need to figure out a way to bring home a dozen chocolate cake Dunkin' Donuts to my husband who grew up in New York and went to BU and was utterly bedeviled by the fact that he couldn't have his favorite food in his favorite city.
If I was flying out of certain airports, I knew there'd be a Dunkin' in the terminal. If not, I'd have to stop on my way to the airport to buy donuts. I swear to Maude I could not be happier that they've opened here and I don't have to protect a chocolatey smelling giant box of a dozen (chocolate cake) donuts on a jet liner from the east coast for 6-8 hours from getting smushed, dropped or eaten. I actually considered on my last trip to Boston before they came to L.A. bringing a hard tupperware on the trip with me specifically to protect the precious. Now I just need to make it home from Encino or send him to get his own donuts.
posted by Sophie1 at 7:01 AM on September 26, 2017 [6 favorites]
If I was flying out of certain airports, I knew there'd be a Dunkin' in the terminal. If not, I'd have to stop on my way to the airport to buy donuts. I swear to Maude I could not be happier that they've opened here and I don't have to protect a chocolatey smelling giant box of a dozen (chocolate cake) donuts on a jet liner from the east coast for 6-8 hours from getting smushed, dropped or eaten. I actually considered on my last trip to Boston before they came to L.A. bringing a hard tupperware on the trip with me specifically to protect the precious. Now I just need to make it home from Encino or send him to get his own donuts.
posted by Sophie1 at 7:01 AM on September 26, 2017 [6 favorites]
CEO: "Our philosophy was that there should be at least one Dunkin on every block in New England. Sometimes two, and occasionally three. I'm proud to say we succeeded."
It sounds crazy, but the two Dunkins in T.F. Green Airport seem like they're not enough. I'd definitely support adding a third.
posted by Bulgaroktonos at 7:08 AM on September 26, 2017 [7 favorites]
It sounds crazy, but the two Dunkins in T.F. Green Airport seem like they're not enough. I'd definitely support adding a third.
posted by Bulgaroktonos at 7:08 AM on September 26, 2017 [7 favorites]
"Up until a few years ago, iced coffee was sold only in Rhode Island. Most people had never heard of iced coffee. It’s now an international beverage."
Until about 10 years ago, the only time I had ever heard of iced coffee was when Geordi LaForge ordered it in Star Trek. I had always assumed it was a made-up future drink.
I think I may have tried it once or twice before I moved to RI. Even then it was some sort of frappucino or something instead of straight-up iced coffee.
(Now, back in Tennessee. Haven't ordered iced coffee since coming down here. On the other hand, it is iced tea country here.)
posted by Huffy Puffy at 7:08 AM on September 26, 2017 [3 favorites]
Until about 10 years ago, the only time I had ever heard of iced coffee was when Geordi LaForge ordered it in Star Trek. I had always assumed it was a made-up future drink.
I think I may have tried it once or twice before I moved to RI. Even then it was some sort of frappucino or something instead of straight-up iced coffee.
(Now, back in Tennessee. Haven't ordered iced coffee since coming down here. On the other hand, it is iced tea country here.)
posted by Huffy Puffy at 7:08 AM on September 26, 2017 [3 favorites]
Also, back when David Ortiz got accused of PED's, his defense was that he bought all his stuff at a GNC or some other retail supplement store, "in a strip mall across from a Dunkin' Donuts". Which, to be fair, describes 75% of the land area of Metro Boston.
posted by Huffy Puffy at 7:10 AM on September 26, 2017 [11 favorites]
posted by Huffy Puffy at 7:10 AM on September 26, 2017 [11 favorites]
I use the phrase "time to make the donuts" at work a few years ago and no one under forty knew the reference.
posted by octothorpe at 7:11 AM on September 26, 2017 [17 favorites]
posted by octothorpe at 7:11 AM on September 26, 2017 [17 favorites]
related (and a fascinating bit of inside history around chain migration and how one family from the Azores)
1 lb of Dunkin Donuts Dark Roast
1 bottle of hydrocortizone cream
the biggest bag of Cape Cod kettle chips that you can bring
The heart wants what the heart wants. She came to visit me and my fiance a few years later. She greeted us with a cup of Dunks in her hand, because of course she did.
posted by bl1nk at 7:12 AM on September 26, 2017 [6 favorites]
At one point, the number of stores owned by the Andrades or people they had brought into the business topped 400 (though they never functioned as a single entity). And almost all of these owners could trace their roots back to Vila Franca. That includes Mark Cafua’s father, who was a baker for Tony Andrade’s brother-in-law (though the two families no longer have any business relationships). Cafua says by his count more than half of the nation’s 10 largest Dunkin’ franchisees are Portuguese families with Azorean roots.the only thing I would contribute to this thread is a story of how, five years ago, I decided to visit Hong Kong for the first time in ages. An old university friend of mine lived there, but I hadn't seen her in 16 years. She was thrilled to hang out, and as we were making plans to meet, I asked her if there's anything from Boston that I could bring. Her reply came back in five minutes.
1 lb of Dunkin Donuts Dark Roast
1 bottle of hydrocortizone cream
the biggest bag of Cape Cod kettle chips that you can bring
The heart wants what the heart wants. She came to visit me and my fiance a few years later. She greeted us with a cup of Dunks in her hand, because of course she did.
posted by bl1nk at 7:12 AM on September 26, 2017 [6 favorites]
bl1nk: "Cafua says by his count more than half of the nation’s 10 largest Dunkin’ franchisees are Portuguese families with Azorean roots."
And yet...
Dunkin’ Donuts expands to Portugal in 2017
still hasn't happened
posted by chavenet at 7:15 AM on September 26, 2017
And yet...
Dunkin’ Donuts expands to Portugal in 2017
still hasn't happened
posted by chavenet at 7:15 AM on September 26, 2017
I have to admit that the ad that did the whole "venti, grande, what are these weird foreign words" got on my nerves because it ultimately was marketing a latte.
Grew up in a small CT town with only one Dunkin Donuts. (Boy, that sounds like a way to scale your town, doesn't it? "My town was so small we only had ONE Dunkin' donuts!"). At some point, I stumbled upon the fact that every other Wednesday or something, a bunch of the local farmers would gather there to hang out in their John Deere seed caps and talk about either hydroponic farming or Nietzchien philosophy.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 7:16 AM on September 26, 2017 [4 favorites]
Grew up in a small CT town with only one Dunkin Donuts. (Boy, that sounds like a way to scale your town, doesn't it? "My town was so small we only had ONE Dunkin' donuts!"). At some point, I stumbled upon the fact that every other Wednesday or something, a bunch of the local farmers would gather there to hang out in their John Deere seed caps and talk about either hydroponic farming or Nietzchien philosophy.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 7:16 AM on September 26, 2017 [4 favorites]
Life long New Englander and I've never seen the appeal. Their food is artificial plastic and their coffee is watery shit. Maybe once every five years I'll enjoy a glazed doughnut or if I'm on the road and that's all there is I'll stop, but that's about it. I'm not even a food snob. It's just... not good food.
Yet every single one has a line a mile long. I commute through Back Bay station where there are two under the same roof. You could throw a doughnut from one and hit the other. I get off at another station and there's another one with a line. I just don't get it.
Am I so out of touch? No, it's the Dunkin' Donuts customers who are wrong.
posted by bondcliff at 7:22 AM on September 26, 2017 [11 favorites]
Yet every single one has a line a mile long. I commute through Back Bay station where there are two under the same roof. You could throw a doughnut from one and hit the other. I get off at another station and there's another one with a line. I just don't get it.
Am I so out of touch? No, it's the Dunkin' Donuts customers who are wrong.
posted by bondcliff at 7:22 AM on September 26, 2017 [11 favorites]
Dunkin's biggest flaw is not being named after a hockey player.
posted by GuyZero at 7:24 AM on September 26, 2017 [5 favorites]
posted by GuyZero at 7:24 AM on September 26, 2017 [5 favorites]
Wow they really buried the lede there on They Might Be Giants...
posted by chavenet at 7:24 AM on September 26, 2017 [3 favorites]
posted by chavenet at 7:24 AM on September 26, 2017 [3 favorites]
There used to be a Donut shop in Hadley, MA called The Donut Man. I liked this shop because it wasn't Dunkin Donuts and because about 6 years ago a worker in the store told me that DD had scouted their location and when The Donut Man wouldn't budge, they told them "fine, we'll open one down the street." The Threat Dunkin Donuts went into a gas station .3 miles to the west and there was already a DD 2 miles to the east.
The Donut Man held up.
In fact, even though donuts are really not on my diet, I made a point of stopping in. A couple weeks ago, I tried to order a bagel. I was told they didn't have any. Why? "We're closing." What happened? "We lost our lease. It's going to Dunkin Donuts." Mother fucker. They're trying and succeeding in killing donut diversity.
posted by plinth at 7:26 AM on September 26, 2017 [7 favorites]
The Donut Man held up.
In fact, even though donuts are really not on my diet, I made a point of stopping in. A couple weeks ago, I tried to order a bagel. I was told they didn't have any. Why? "We're closing." What happened? "We lost our lease. It's going to Dunkin Donuts." Mother fucker. They're trying and succeeding in killing donut diversity.
posted by plinth at 7:26 AM on September 26, 2017 [7 favorites]
Wow they really buried the lede there on They Might Be Giants...
Speaking of which, I googled the commercial in question... am I missing some clever cuts, or is it actually all one take? And in either event, how?
posted by Shmuel510 at 7:30 AM on September 26, 2017 [2 favorites]
Speaking of which, I googled the commercial in question... am I missing some clever cuts, or is it actually all one take? And in either event, how?
posted by Shmuel510 at 7:30 AM on September 26, 2017 [2 favorites]
The ubiquity of Dunkie's means it's basically impossible to get a decent doughnut in most of the northeast. And jesus fuck, that coffee. It's like coffee cosplay. Like a pot of water saw a movie about coffee and decided to become vaguely brown and bilious.
I will admit, though, that I really love their French crullers.
posted by uncleozzy at 7:34 AM on September 26, 2017 [16 favorites]
I will admit, though, that I really love their French crullers.
posted by uncleozzy at 7:34 AM on September 26, 2017 [16 favorites]
I love Dunkin Donuts like only a non-native and then transplanted New Englander can. There's one DD near me here in Austin (and it's not that near) and every time I go about 75% of the people in there are wearing Patriots hats and David Ortiz shirts and stuff. I am always too afraid to order a "lahge regula" for fear they will (bad) give me black coffee or (worse) say, "huh?"
My spec Dunkin Donuts commercial:
Exterior, dawn. No music, ambient sounds only. A small sports car winds through misty mountain roads. There is no other traffic. Several shots from different angles - this looks like a car commercial. During a distant shot of the car entering off right and speeding across to exit left we see flashing lights suddenly to reveal a police cruiser, which emerges to pursue the sports car. The sports car rolls to a stop, the police car pulls in behind it. The police officer gets slowly out of his car and walks up to the window. We see the officers reflection in the driver's side window, which after several beats rolls down to reveal FRED is the driver of the car. Fred looks at the officer for a few moments and blinks once. Screen goes black.
A new exterior shot of the police car, sirens blaring and lights flashing, escorting Fred and his car through more mountain roads.
Title screen: "TIME TO MAKE THE DONUTS"
posted by dirtdirt at 7:36 AM on September 26, 2017 [20 favorites]
My spec Dunkin Donuts commercial:
Exterior, dawn. No music, ambient sounds only. A small sports car winds through misty mountain roads. There is no other traffic. Several shots from different angles - this looks like a car commercial. During a distant shot of the car entering off right and speeding across to exit left we see flashing lights suddenly to reveal a police cruiser, which emerges to pursue the sports car. The sports car rolls to a stop, the police car pulls in behind it. The police officer gets slowly out of his car and walks up to the window. We see the officers reflection in the driver's side window, which after several beats rolls down to reveal FRED is the driver of the car. Fred looks at the officer for a few moments and blinks once. Screen goes black.
A new exterior shot of the police car, sirens blaring and lights flashing, escorting Fred and his car through more mountain roads.
Title screen: "TIME TO MAKE THE DONUTS"
posted by dirtdirt at 7:36 AM on September 26, 2017 [20 favorites]
Wonderful! I can hear all of this in a Boston accent.
Mike Sheehan: To a colleague: Are we allowed to say who did the music?] We’re not.
Gilbert: I don’t think the band ever wanted to be cited for their work. I don’t care, they can’t do much to me — They Might Be Giants did the music. That’s who it was.
Also just the random Larry Bird drop in quote, like you do.
posted by PandaMomentum at 7:36 AM on September 26, 2017 [4 favorites]
Mike Sheehan: To a colleague: Are we allowed to say who did the music?] We’re not.
Gilbert: I don’t think the band ever wanted to be cited for their work. I don’t care, they can’t do much to me — They Might Be Giants did the music. That’s who it was.
Also just the random Larry Bird drop in quote, like you do.
posted by PandaMomentum at 7:36 AM on September 26, 2017 [4 favorites]
Life long New Englander and I've never seen the appeal.
Granted, I'm a transplant, but when you're getting up at 4 am to head up to the mountains or out to the Cape it's both the only thing that's generally open at that hour and one of the easiest things to eat in the car.
For a while it was also the only thing open in Terminal C for those 6 am flights, but that's changed and now I can get local artisinal hipster food even in the airport!
posted by backseatpilot at 7:38 AM on September 26, 2017 [1 favorite]
Granted, I'm a transplant, but when you're getting up at 4 am to head up to the mountains or out to the Cape it's both the only thing that's generally open at that hour and one of the easiest things to eat in the car.
For a while it was also the only thing open in Terminal C for those 6 am flights, but that's changed and now I can get local artisinal hipster food even in the airport!
posted by backseatpilot at 7:38 AM on September 26, 2017 [1 favorite]
Dunkin Donuts was magical when I was a kid. The closest was in Ellsworth, which was like a 30 minute drive from our house, and even though we made this drive weekly for groceries it was on the 'far' side of Ellsworth so it wasn't something that ever seemed to happen.
My dad was a small town doc (PA actually, but when he switched clinics from Maine Coast Memorial's to Bar Harbor Hospital's which were literally across the street from eachother, he pulled 80% of not his patients but THE patients seen by that location with him). Anyway.
Every once in a while, we would finish our dinner and there would be a treat of a dozen sideways stacked doughnuts and my sister and i would squeal with joy and negotiate who got what...
Anyways, so... they were the biggest treat in my house growing up. They were magical and tasty and just wow. My loyalty to D&D is strong (I literally just finished a "great one cream and sugar" - i refuse to call it an extra large). Ive roasted coffee. There are so many better better cups of coffee i could get. But, every cup of dunkin donuts reminds me of the sheer joy of eating a donut as a treat growing up.
So I found out, maybe a year ago why we had them. As I said, my dad was the local doc (seriously to the doctors out there i mean no offense to your additional training, i intimately understand the difference). So, my dad was the local doc. And when his patients were admitted to the hospital, most of who were admitted as elderly, he would go up to MCM, which was not to far from dunkin donuts.
The donuts arrived when his patients died. They were Dad's way of coping with grief.
posted by Nanukthedog at 7:41 AM on September 26, 2017 [30 favorites]
My dad was a small town doc (PA actually, but when he switched clinics from Maine Coast Memorial's to Bar Harbor Hospital's which were literally across the street from eachother, he pulled 80% of not his patients but THE patients seen by that location with him). Anyway.
Every once in a while, we would finish our dinner and there would be a treat of a dozen sideways stacked doughnuts and my sister and i would squeal with joy and negotiate who got what...
Anyways, so... they were the biggest treat in my house growing up. They were magical and tasty and just wow. My loyalty to D&D is strong (I literally just finished a "great one cream and sugar" - i refuse to call it an extra large). Ive roasted coffee. There are so many better better cups of coffee i could get. But, every cup of dunkin donuts reminds me of the sheer joy of eating a donut as a treat growing up.
So I found out, maybe a year ago why we had them. As I said, my dad was the local doc (seriously to the doctors out there i mean no offense to your additional training, i intimately understand the difference). So, my dad was the local doc. And when his patients were admitted to the hospital, most of who were admitted as elderly, he would go up to MCM, which was not to far from dunkin donuts.
The donuts arrived when his patients died. They were Dad's way of coping with grief.
posted by Nanukthedog at 7:41 AM on September 26, 2017 [30 favorites]
When we lived on the Cape there were 4 Dunkin' Donuts (and a Honeydew) within a half mile of our house, including 2 directly across the street from one another -- it was too hard to make a left across traffic in the summer, so they opened the second one.
I'm wicked pissed at Dunkies right now. I was an almost-daily user of their on-the-go app until my account was apparently hacked into and a bunch of stored value was stolen. I've spent literally hours on the phone to try to remedy the situation, but based on the lack of assurances they will give me about the account's security, I'm never using the app again. Once I've spent the remainder of the gift card they sent to make up for the missing funds, I'll probably be mostly done with them. I just ordered a cold brew maker online, and I'll pick up their coffee at the supermarket and make my own.
posted by Rock Steady at 7:44 AM on September 26, 2017 [2 favorites]
I'm wicked pissed at Dunkies right now. I was an almost-daily user of their on-the-go app until my account was apparently hacked into and a bunch of stored value was stolen. I've spent literally hours on the phone to try to remedy the situation, but based on the lack of assurances they will give me about the account's security, I'm never using the app again. Once I've spent the remainder of the gift card they sent to make up for the missing funds, I'll probably be mostly done with them. I just ordered a cold brew maker online, and I'll pick up their coffee at the supermarket and make my own.
posted by Rock Steady at 7:44 AM on September 26, 2017 [2 favorites]
Their food is artificial plastic and their coffee is watery shit.
We call it candy coffee. When you get it regular (cream and sugar) it's barely coffee any more, it's pretty much warm sugary cream with a hint of coffee flavor. Hits the spot at 3pm when you're starting to drag at the office.
The donuts are crappy, but damn if I can't stop eating the stupid Munchkins.
posted by schoolgirl report at 7:44 AM on September 26, 2017 [5 favorites]
We call it candy coffee. When you get it regular (cream and sugar) it's barely coffee any more, it's pretty much warm sugary cream with a hint of coffee flavor. Hits the spot at 3pm when you're starting to drag at the office.
The donuts are crappy, but damn if I can't stop eating the stupid Munchkins.
posted by schoolgirl report at 7:44 AM on September 26, 2017 [5 favorites]
We call it candy coffee. When you get it regular (cream and sugar) it's barely coffee any more, it's pretty much warm sugary cream with a hint of coffee flavor.
Exactly. I take my coffee black, no sugar, unless it's Dunkin's and then I get cream and sugar so it's more like drinking soda. It's still gross, but at least it goes down easier.
posted by bondcliff at 7:46 AM on September 26, 2017 [2 favorites]
Exactly. I take my coffee black, no sugar, unless it's Dunkin's and then I get cream and sugar so it's more like drinking soda. It's still gross, but at least it goes down easier.
posted by bondcliff at 7:46 AM on September 26, 2017 [2 favorites]
Gilbert: I don’t think the band ever wanted to be cited for their work. I don’t care, they can’t do much to me — They Might Be Giants did the music. That’s who it was.
"I took off the intellectuals, I put on There May Be Giants...Don't blame me if the guy's a nut..."
posted by Strange Interlude at 7:47 AM on September 26, 2017 [5 favorites]
"I took off the intellectuals, I put on There May Be Giants...Don't blame me if the guy's a nut..."
posted by Strange Interlude at 7:47 AM on September 26, 2017 [5 favorites]
Honey Dew 4 life.
posted by Biblio at 7:48 AM on September 26, 2017 [6 favorites]
posted by Biblio at 7:48 AM on September 26, 2017 [6 favorites]
I'm wicked pissed at Dunkies right now.
This sounds like the passphrase to enter a New Englanders only speakeasy.
posted by Bulgaroktonos at 7:59 AM on September 26, 2017 [40 favorites]
This sounds like the passphrase to enter a New Englanders only speakeasy.
posted by Bulgaroktonos at 7:59 AM on September 26, 2017 [40 favorites]
Speaking of which, I googled the commercial in question... am I missing some clever cuts, or is it actually all one take? And in either event, how?
I'm not a cinematographer so I can't say for certain there are zero cuts, but I can't catch any, nor really see the need for them. It's a pretty straightforward shotbut I'd love to see the behind the scenes on it because I imagine the choreography was intense.
posted by sixfootaxolotl at 8:03 AM on September 26, 2017
I'm not a cinematographer so I can't say for certain there are zero cuts, but I can't catch any, nor really see the need for them. It's a pretty straightforward shotbut I'd love to see the behind the scenes on it because I imagine the choreography was intense.
posted by sixfootaxolotl at 8:03 AM on September 26, 2017
Grew up in a small CT town with only one Dunkin Donuts. (Boy, that sounds like a way to scale your town, doesn't it? "My town was so small we only had ONE Dunkin' donuts!"). At some point, I stumbled upon the fact that every other Wednesday or something, a bunch of the local farmers would gather there to hang out in their John Deere seed caps and talk about either hydroponic farming or Nietzchien philosophy.also, as a Canadian, I find it somewhat endearing how much the New England love for Dunks mirrors the Canadian affinity for Tim Horton's, and I suspect that it's largely for the reason above. It's just a comfortable, predictable place to hang out for a morning and just see your neighbors come by. My wife and I went to go see Come From Away on Broadway last month and I was amused to see that the Tim's was represented as Gander town square.
(oh, and as far as where one can get a decent alternative donut in Boston -- Blackbird is where my donut dollars go)
posted by bl1nk at 8:10 AM on September 26, 2017 [1 favorite]
I love their jelly munchkins. Whenever I bite into a glazed munchkin, thinking it was jelly, I feel ripped off.
posted by 80 Cats in a Dog Suit at 8:10 AM on September 26, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by 80 Cats in a Dog Suit at 8:10 AM on September 26, 2017 [2 favorites]
This sounds like the passphrase to enter a New Englanders only speakeasy.
The correct counterphrase is "Aaron Fuckin' Boone".
posted by Rock Steady at 8:16 AM on September 26, 2017 [4 favorites]
The correct counterphrase is "Aaron Fuckin' Boone".
posted by Rock Steady at 8:16 AM on September 26, 2017 [4 favorites]
There's definitely good donuts in Boston and the surrounding area, though they tend to be of the pricey $2-$3 a donut kind. For some reason I find it easier to find good other pastries (muffins and such).
That being said, it's worth remembering that Dunkin's food wasn't always so bad. It used to be everything was made in-house, and it was all actually pretty good. That's not the case anymore -- basically everything ships in fully made in a truck, formulated for transport and storage (as far as I know). It's the same thing that's made it so that a lot of chain restaurants that used to be fine-but-not-great are now shit on a plate -- the neverending push for tiny, incremental profit bumps has shaved away quality bit by bit till it's all microwaved garbage.
I honestly give McDonald's a lot of credit, at least e.g. their breakfast sandwiches involve eggs (scrambled or whole) cooked sometime remotely close to when served.
But fuck all you haters of DD coffee -- it's not the best, but it's totally serviceable and available and you know what you're gonna get.
posted by tocts at 8:26 AM on September 26, 2017 [4 favorites]
That being said, it's worth remembering that Dunkin's food wasn't always so bad. It used to be everything was made in-house, and it was all actually pretty good. That's not the case anymore -- basically everything ships in fully made in a truck, formulated for transport and storage (as far as I know). It's the same thing that's made it so that a lot of chain restaurants that used to be fine-but-not-great are now shit on a plate -- the neverending push for tiny, incremental profit bumps has shaved away quality bit by bit till it's all microwaved garbage.
I honestly give McDonald's a lot of credit, at least e.g. their breakfast sandwiches involve eggs (scrambled or whole) cooked sometime remotely close to when served.
But fuck all you haters of DD coffee -- it's not the best, but it's totally serviceable and available and you know what you're gonna get.
posted by tocts at 8:26 AM on September 26, 2017 [4 favorites]
I don't drink coffee, so I can't speak to that. But their doughnuts are shit. I don't even understand anyone buying them.
posted by Chrysostom at 8:32 AM on September 26, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by Chrysostom at 8:32 AM on September 26, 2017 [1 favorite]
Granted, I'm a transplant, but when you're getting up at 4 am to head up to the mountains or out to the Cape it's both the only thing that's generally open at that hour and one of the easiest things to eat in the car.
When I was more actively involved in local randonneuring and long distance endurance cycling, the Dunks was often the only reliable place for nutrition on our routes at ass AM in the morning. When I did my stint as a ride organizer, and would get 2am calls from riders who were bonking somewhere in New Hampshire, and this close to quitting and giving in to despair, I'd calmly say to them, "where are you right now? What was the last cue that you passed? Ok, there's a Dunkin Donuts a couple of miles off route to you. It should be open. Go there. Sit. Have some coffee. Get some calories. Take a nap if you need it. Call me again and tell me if you still want to quit after that. You'll only have 80 miles left. It might not feel so bad after a nap. If you do want to quit, that's ok. I'll come to that Dunks and get you."
posted by bl1nk at 8:39 AM on September 26, 2017 [10 favorites]
When I was more actively involved in local randonneuring and long distance endurance cycling, the Dunks was often the only reliable place for nutrition on our routes at ass AM in the morning. When I did my stint as a ride organizer, and would get 2am calls from riders who were bonking somewhere in New Hampshire, and this close to quitting and giving in to despair, I'd calmly say to them, "where are you right now? What was the last cue that you passed? Ok, there's a Dunkin Donuts a couple of miles off route to you. It should be open. Go there. Sit. Have some coffee. Get some calories. Take a nap if you need it. Call me again and tell me if you still want to quit after that. You'll only have 80 miles left. It might not feel so bad after a nap. If you do want to quit, that's ok. I'll come to that Dunks and get you."
posted by bl1nk at 8:39 AM on September 26, 2017 [10 favorites]
I don't even understand anyone buying them.
When I was a little kid in Providence they were everywhere and they had pink! frosted donuts so that drove at least one purchasing decision.
It turned out the pink was not only beautiful but tasted of strawberry (i.e. delicious) so I stuck with them for a while. I remember being at the Dunkin' Donuts on Thayer Street with my mom and getting a pink frosted donut as a special treat for being patient and helpful during errands.
I was in third grade in 1992/93 and one of our vocabulary words was "slogan" and the example the teachers gave was "it's time to make the donuts" because that's one everyone knew.
Also as someone mentioned earlier, Dunkin' Donuts is what you get when you have a long car trip that starts really early in the morning. My brother would get strawberry milk and we'd all get bagels usually but maybe donuts. It's how you start a road trip.
posted by Mrs. Pterodactyl at 8:41 AM on September 26, 2017 [2 favorites]
When I was a little kid in Providence they were everywhere and they had pink! frosted donuts so that drove at least one purchasing decision.
It turned out the pink was not only beautiful but tasted of strawberry (i.e. delicious) so I stuck with them for a while. I remember being at the Dunkin' Donuts on Thayer Street with my mom and getting a pink frosted donut as a special treat for being patient and helpful during errands.
I was in third grade in 1992/93 and one of our vocabulary words was "slogan" and the example the teachers gave was "it's time to make the donuts" because that's one everyone knew.
Also as someone mentioned earlier, Dunkin' Donuts is what you get when you have a long car trip that starts really early in the morning. My brother would get strawberry milk and we'd all get bagels usually but maybe donuts. It's how you start a road trip.
posted by Mrs. Pterodactyl at 8:41 AM on September 26, 2017 [2 favorites]
Also prior to this thread I had no idea iced coffee was a Rhode Island thing! I thought everyone had it! Wild!
posted by Mrs. Pterodactyl at 8:42 AM on September 26, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by Mrs. Pterodactyl at 8:42 AM on September 26, 2017 [2 favorites]
Bubbler!
posted by Mrs. Pterodactyl at 8:42 AM on September 26, 2017 [7 favorites]
posted by Mrs. Pterodactyl at 8:42 AM on September 26, 2017 [7 favorites]
I remember my first Dunkin' Donuts experience. I grew up in LA, land of amazing Cambodian and Vietnamese owned donut shops. The coffee is always mediocre but drinkable, the donuts are always perfect.
Surely the mythical Dunkin' Donuts donuts must be even better! So I made a point of visiting one when seeing a friend in Boston. The first bite brought on the most complete feeling of disappointment I've ever had. Dry. Crumbly. Tasteless. What the hell? The coffee was also terrible. I see why people like it "light and sweet". Awful.
I feel bad for New Englanders and their inferior donuts, safe in the knowledge that literally any local donut shop I go to here will be better than just about anything on the east coast.
posted by mikesch at 8:42 AM on September 26, 2017 [6 favorites]
Surely the mythical Dunkin' Donuts donuts must be even better! So I made a point of visiting one when seeing a friend in Boston. The first bite brought on the most complete feeling of disappointment I've ever had. Dry. Crumbly. Tasteless. What the hell? The coffee was also terrible. I see why people like it "light and sweet". Awful.
I feel bad for New Englanders and their inferior donuts, safe in the knowledge that literally any local donut shop I go to here will be better than just about anything on the east coast.
posted by mikesch at 8:42 AM on September 26, 2017 [6 favorites]
The first bite brought on the most complete feeling of disappointment I've ever had.
That's how my first bite of Chick-Fil-A went. I had heard so much hype about it and I finally got to eat one and it was... a chicken sandwich. At the time I didn't even know about all the homophobia and religious nutjobbery that went along with it. It was just... disappointing.
posted by bondcliff at 8:45 AM on September 26, 2017 [3 favorites]
That's how my first bite of Chick-Fil-A went. I had heard so much hype about it and I finally got to eat one and it was... a chicken sandwich. At the time I didn't even know about all the homophobia and religious nutjobbery that went along with it. It was just... disappointing.
posted by bondcliff at 8:45 AM on September 26, 2017 [3 favorites]
When we were in LA a few years ago, I insisted that we have donuts from a proper donut shop. They were so wonderful that the earth moved.
No, really, there was a small earthquake while we were eating.
posted by uncleozzy at 8:45 AM on September 26, 2017 [4 favorites]
No, really, there was a small earthquake while we were eating.
posted by uncleozzy at 8:45 AM on September 26, 2017 [4 favorites]
Despite my love for Honey Dew, DD is just everywhere and is generally where all road trips begin. When my kids were little they called the bagel sandwiches “lunch bagels.” One road trip we stopped and my kid tells me he wants a “poppy seed lunch baby.” He meant bagel of course, and we all had a good laugh. That was probably 10 years ago and we still call them that.
posted by Biblio at 9:13 AM on September 26, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by Biblio at 9:13 AM on September 26, 2017 [2 favorites]
I mean, I was in Philadelphia recently, I had a bunch of very good food, and the worst thing I ate by a long shot was a cheesesteak. I've had ones in MA that are a-fucking-mazing, and in the land of cheesesteaks was served up some bland, slightly offputting garbage.
Sometimes the place that is known for a thing or made a thing popular ends up stagnating and becoming mediocre-to-bad while elsewhere people take the same idea and make it amazing.
posted by tocts at 9:13 AM on September 26, 2017 [1 favorite]
Sometimes the place that is known for a thing or made a thing popular ends up stagnating and becoming mediocre-to-bad while elsewhere people take the same idea and make it amazing.
posted by tocts at 9:13 AM on September 26, 2017 [1 favorite]
tocts - "But fuck all you haters of DD coffee -- it's not the best, but it's totally serviceable and available and you know what you're gonna get."
Agreed.... tho I have a slight preference for Tim Horton's over DD. I'm guessing the DD haters are under the delusion that Starbucks has good coffee. They do not. It is over-roasted shit. Only thing I can drink from SB is the cold brew. (not that nitro crap tho)
posted by Grither at 9:16 AM on September 26, 2017 [2 favorites]
Agreed.... tho I have a slight preference for Tim Horton's over DD. I'm guessing the DD haters are under the delusion that Starbucks has good coffee. They do not. It is over-roasted shit. Only thing I can drink from SB is the cold brew. (not that nitro crap tho)
posted by Grither at 9:16 AM on September 26, 2017 [2 favorites]
I live in Rhode Island, where we have a skewed concept of distance (as in, I live by the northeast border of Massachusetts, and anything past PVD is wicked far. In high school, driving to Warwick to go to Newbury Comic was a day trip), so I was just beside myself when we moved across town and the closest Dunks was a whole THREE MILES away.
Did not know that iced coffee was an RI thing, although I guess that explains why I know so many people who drink iced coffee year round.
I stopped eating their donuts when they stopped making them in-store, and sometimes I'll get a coffee that's just disappointing (and their cold brew is just... not good), but I drink the stuff every day. We buy the beans for the Grind and Brew. I get an iced coffee basically every time I leave the house.
And on preview: Down with Starbucks forever. Over-roasted shit, indeed.
posted by Ruki at 9:18 AM on September 26, 2017 [3 favorites]
Did not know that iced coffee was an RI thing, although I guess that explains why I know so many people who drink iced coffee year round.
I stopped eating their donuts when they stopped making them in-store, and sometimes I'll get a coffee that's just disappointing (and their cold brew is just... not good), but I drink the stuff every day. We buy the beans for the Grind and Brew. I get an iced coffee basically every time I leave the house.
And on preview: Down with Starbucks forever. Over-roasted shit, indeed.
posted by Ruki at 9:18 AM on September 26, 2017 [3 favorites]
The Dunkin' Donuts in the Hartford metro area has these delicious strawberry jelly donuts with powdered sugar on the outside. This is my platonic ideal of a donut. This is the donut I imprinted on.
Imagine my horror when I found out that seemingly every other donut place in America uses granulated sugar. Why don't I just eat out of a dumpster?
posted by zeusianfog at 9:20 AM on September 26, 2017 [3 favorites]
Imagine my horror when I found out that seemingly every other donut place in America uses granulated sugar. Why don't I just eat out of a dumpster?
posted by zeusianfog at 9:20 AM on September 26, 2017 [3 favorites]
Sometimes the place that is known for a thing or made a thing popular ends up stagnating and becoming mediocre-to-bad while elsewhere people take the same idea and make it amazing.
This pretty much describes the year I spent in NYC perfectly. Every NY style pizza I've had outside of New York has been better than what I had in the city, except for John's on Bleeker (but it's so far divorced from the awful canned mushroom laden 2 dollar (or whatever it is now) slices that I hardly count it as NY pizza). I could never find a decent donut there (including Donut Plant). The Chinese food is better in California. So is coffee and Italian food in general.
Really the only things I miss about NYC's food are the Halal carts and bagels. A few carts try here but they're not quite right and I really don't know what the hell is going on with bagels here. People say it's the water, but I think Californians are scared of getting a decent crust on them.
posted by mikesch at 9:22 AM on September 26, 2017
This pretty much describes the year I spent in NYC perfectly. Every NY style pizza I've had outside of New York has been better than what I had in the city, except for John's on Bleeker (but it's so far divorced from the awful canned mushroom laden 2 dollar (or whatever it is now) slices that I hardly count it as NY pizza). I could never find a decent donut there (including Donut Plant). The Chinese food is better in California. So is coffee and Italian food in general.
Really the only things I miss about NYC's food are the Halal carts and bagels. A few carts try here but they're not quite right and I really don't know what the hell is going on with bagels here. People say it's the water, but I think Californians are scared of getting a decent crust on them.
posted by mikesch at 9:22 AM on September 26, 2017
Jelly donuts should have granulated sugar on the outside, the coarser the better.
Which reminds me of the only other DD item I like, the chocolate chip muffin. Roughly the side of a kindergartener and topped with pebble-sized sugar granules. The bagel place down the block from me makes great muffins, but I still like Dunkie's better.
posted by uncleozzy at 9:24 AM on September 26, 2017 [3 favorites]
Which reminds me of the only other DD item I like, the chocolate chip muffin. Roughly the side of a kindergartener and topped with pebble-sized sugar granules. The bagel place down the block from me makes great muffins, but I still like Dunkie's better.
posted by uncleozzy at 9:24 AM on September 26, 2017 [3 favorites]
This is a good Dunkin' Donuts commercial
posted by chavenet at 9:41 AM on September 26, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by chavenet at 9:41 AM on September 26, 2017 [1 favorite]
A-and the TMBG stuff is hardly a secret, it turns out:
A few years later, John Flansburgh had this to say of the project:
Through the mid-00s TMBG recorded a couple dozen songs for television and radio commercials for Dunkin Donuts. It was an impossibly open-ended assignment and easily the most fun we’ve ever had working for television folks.
posted by chavenet at 9:44 AM on September 26, 2017 [1 favorite]
A few years later, John Flansburgh had this to say of the project:
Through the mid-00s TMBG recorded a couple dozen songs for television and radio commercials for Dunkin Donuts. It was an impossibly open-ended assignment and easily the most fun we’ve ever had working for television folks.
posted by chavenet at 9:44 AM on September 26, 2017 [1 favorite]
I had friendship custodianship over a Swiss exchange student who came to my NH high school our senior year, and made sure that he got to do all the typical American high school things. I took Claudio to my first ever homecoming dance, for example, and the only football game I went to. In the course of this, I spent a lot of time driving him around downtown Manchester. And one morning, Claudio stopped me. "Erin! What are funeral homes and why are there so many here? They are on every corner. They're like Dunkin' Donuts!"
posted by ChuraChura at 9:47 AM on September 26, 2017 [4 favorites]
posted by ChuraChura at 9:47 AM on September 26, 2017 [4 favorites]
Here's that They Might Be Giants commerical.
posted by borkencode at 10:01 AM on September 26, 2017 [3 favorites]
posted by borkencode at 10:01 AM on September 26, 2017 [3 favorites]
When in Worcester, go to Donut Cafe (the one on Shewsbury).
posted by Chrysostom at 10:16 AM on September 26, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by Chrysostom at 10:16 AM on September 26, 2017 [2 favorites]
The Dunk's in the back corner of North Station was my daily stop until recently, and one morning I heard a woman asking for extra cream and (I am NOT making this up) TWELVE sugars. A dozen heaping teaspoons of sugar in her "coffee". It's not even coffee at that point, it's a milkshake.
posted by briank at 10:18 AM on September 26, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by briank at 10:18 AM on September 26, 2017 [2 favorites]
Welp, y'all have made the case that I'm going to DD for lunch, through a rather confusing mixture of spite, snark, appreciation, and hunger.
I hope you're proud of yourselves.
posted by soundguy99 at 11:02 AM on September 26, 2017 [4 favorites]
I hope you're proud of yourselves.
posted by soundguy99 at 11:02 AM on September 26, 2017 [4 favorites]
I dunno, I kind of respect the "having Dunks on every corner makes it impossible to get a good donut around here" thing, but I'll take it over "somehow a single, monolithic Krispy Kreme location makes it impossible etc," which was the situation where I used to live.
posted by nebulawindphone at 11:32 AM on September 26, 2017
posted by nebulawindphone at 11:32 AM on September 26, 2017
DD are not the best donuts in the world* but they're edible unlike those gross sugar bombs that Krispy Kreme sells.
*The best donuts in the world are from Orams in Beaver Falls, PA
posted by octothorpe at 11:47 AM on September 26, 2017
*The best donuts in the world are from Orams in Beaver Falls, PA
posted by octothorpe at 11:47 AM on September 26, 2017
Wisconsin had Mister Donut in the 80s. I think. Chicago may have had a Dunkin or two in the late 80s? I don’t remember.
And there was (is?) a local donut shop in Madison at the southern end of the UW-Madison campus that had the absolutely the best donuts I’ve ever eaten, and that includes Mister, Dunkin’, Krispy AND NYC’s famed Doughnut Plant. I say that because I hate cake donuts. And Reader, I ate those cake donuts in Madison. There were mornings that I got up just to hit the place at 6AM and get a sack of a half-dozen glazed fresh from the oven and would inhale them all before my first class of the day with a pint of milk. Sugar and carb heaven.
posted by droplet at 11:55 AM on September 26, 2017 [2 favorites]
And there was (is?) a local donut shop in Madison at the southern end of the UW-Madison campus that had the absolutely the best donuts I’ve ever eaten, and that includes Mister, Dunkin’, Krispy AND NYC’s famed Doughnut Plant. I say that because I hate cake donuts. And Reader, I ate those cake donuts in Madison. There were mornings that I got up just to hit the place at 6AM and get a sack of a half-dozen glazed fresh from the oven and would inhale them all before my first class of the day with a pint of milk. Sugar and carb heaven.
posted by droplet at 11:55 AM on September 26, 2017 [2 favorites]
Those ARE good. DeAngelis in Rochester is good, too.
posted by Chrysostom at 11:55 AM on September 26, 2017
posted by Chrysostom at 11:55 AM on September 26, 2017
And somehow metafilter hates hipster donuts too.
I unabashedly enjoy Dunkin and Krispy Kreme and Donut Plant, so I guess I just have to thank y'all confused cake donut lovers (I assume that's what you must be, since that's the only type I won't eat) for leaving all the good stuff for the rest of us.
posted by mosst at 12:14 PM on September 26, 2017 [4 favorites]
I unabashedly enjoy Dunkin and Krispy Kreme and Donut Plant, so I guess I just have to thank y'all confused cake donut lovers (I assume that's what you must be, since that's the only type I won't eat) for leaving all the good stuff for the rest of us.
posted by mosst at 12:14 PM on September 26, 2017 [4 favorites]
Ugh the hipster coffee joint in town replaced the oversized, overpriced hipster yeast donuts with overpriced hipster cake donuts. So cheesed. Cake donuts are unacceptable.
posted by uncleozzy at 12:23 PM on September 26, 2017
posted by uncleozzy at 12:23 PM on September 26, 2017
Up until a few years ago, iced coffee was sold only in Rhode Island. Most people had never heard of iced coffee.
Even given that this article is from 2010, this assertion is just crazypants. I drank iced coffee at a variety of locations in both Oregon and Minnesota in the mid-90s. And in Australia, for that matter.
posted by nickmark at 12:28 PM on September 26, 2017 [1 favorite]
Even given that this article is from 2010, this assertion is just crazypants. I drank iced coffee at a variety of locations in both Oregon and Minnesota in the mid-90s. And in Australia, for that matter.
posted by nickmark at 12:28 PM on September 26, 2017 [1 favorite]
I admit -- I was not a fan of Dunkin until fairly recently. I was on a road trip passing through suburban Detroit on Christmas. It never occurred to me that everything would be closed. Everything. E-V-E-R-Y-T-H-I-N-G. I was stuck.
After driving past I don't know how many strip malls, and so many McDonalds (as if one McDs would be open when the others were all not), I finally happened upon a gas station, and in the convenience store at that gas station, there was a Dunkin, and it was open.
The single staff person was quite attentive -- no doubt she was bored out of her mind, and had other places she wanted to be at Christmas. And she let us order from the breakfast menu and that turkey sausage flatbread was good and hot and I had food in my belly on Christmas. God bless us, every one!
America runs on Dunkin.
posted by Capt. Renault at 1:06 PM on September 26, 2017 [8 favorites]
After driving past I don't know how many strip malls, and so many McDonalds (as if one McDs would be open when the others were all not), I finally happened upon a gas station, and in the convenience store at that gas station, there was a Dunkin, and it was open.
The single staff person was quite attentive -- no doubt she was bored out of her mind, and had other places she wanted to be at Christmas. And she let us order from the breakfast menu and that turkey sausage flatbread was good and hot and I had food in my belly on Christmas. God bless us, every one!
America runs on Dunkin.
posted by Capt. Renault at 1:06 PM on September 26, 2017 [8 favorites]
Life long New Englander and I've never seen the appeal. Their food is artificial plastic and their coffee is watery shit. Maybe once every five years I'll enjoy a glazed doughnut or if I'm on the road and that's all there is I'll stop, but that's about it. I'm not even a food snob. It's just... not good food.
Bondcliff, are you my soulmate?? I've moved to California and I live in constant fear they'll take over here, too. They put all the local donut shops out of business in my hometown. I love the local donuts here now. Please don't take my local donuts away, DD. Leave me that, at least.
I reserve the right to enjoy a ridiculous DD iced coffee with crunchy sugar on the bottom once a year when I go home for the holidays and I won't say I'm sorry.
posted by greermahoney at 1:25 PM on September 26, 2017
Bondcliff, are you my soulmate?? I've moved to California and I live in constant fear they'll take over here, too. They put all the local donut shops out of business in my hometown. I love the local donuts here now. Please don't take my local donuts away, DD. Leave me that, at least.
I reserve the right to enjoy a ridiculous DD iced coffee with crunchy sugar on the bottom once a year when I go home for the holidays and I won't say I'm sorry.
posted by greermahoney at 1:25 PM on September 26, 2017
Even given that this article is from 2010, this assertion is just crazypants. I drank iced coffee at a variety of locations in both Oregon and Minnesota in the mid-90s. And in Australia, for that matter.
I'm 46 and have been drinking iced coffee my whole life. My crazy mother let us drink coffee as kids if we wanted, and I didn't like it hot much, so yes, I've been drinking it for almost 40 years. (Albeit, MA isn't far from RI, but still. A ridiculous assertion.)
posted by greermahoney at 1:29 PM on September 26, 2017
I'm 46 and have been drinking iced coffee my whole life. My crazy mother let us drink coffee as kids if we wanted, and I didn't like it hot much, so yes, I've been drinking it for almost 40 years. (Albeit, MA isn't far from RI, but still. A ridiculous assertion.)
posted by greermahoney at 1:29 PM on September 26, 2017
Bondcliff, are you my soulmate??
Probably. I'm pretty great.
posted by bondcliff at 1:51 PM on September 26, 2017 [4 favorites]
Probably. I'm pretty great.
posted by bondcliff at 1:51 PM on September 26, 2017 [4 favorites]
About a decade and change ago there was a mom-and-pop donut shop on the corner of 5th Ave and 9th Street in Brooklyn. Duncan Donuts opened a location, not just next door, but on an L-shaped lot surrounding it. They literally enveloped and destroyed the tiny mom-and-pop shop. It was a deeply creepy thing to see.
posted by phooky at 1:55 PM on September 26, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by phooky at 1:55 PM on September 26, 2017 [2 favorites]
First iced coffee that I had was in 1990, in Champaign, Illinois. It was canned and honestly not that great, but yeah, RI didn't invent it by a long shot; I'm pretty sure that Japan has had it for a while. (And isn't the stuff in RI really coffee milk? Like, milk with a smaller amount of sugary coffee syrup mixed in?)
posted by Halloween Jack at 1:58 PM on September 26, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by Halloween Jack at 1:58 PM on September 26, 2017 [1 favorite]
There used to be a time in the long, long ago when there were like five frozen yogurt stands in every mall. Does anyone remember that?
posted by Yowser at 2:02 PM on September 26, 2017
posted by Yowser at 2:02 PM on September 26, 2017
Coffee milk is definitely a RI thing; iced coffee appears to be at least RI and Mass, and probably has spread to other places too.
posted by Huffy Puffy at 2:08 PM on September 26, 2017
posted by Huffy Puffy at 2:08 PM on September 26, 2017
Grinder! Sinker! Gagger! Awful Awful!
Ok, I'm done now.
Dunks coffee is still shit.
posted by jmignault at 2:23 PM on September 26, 2017 [1 favorite]
Ok, I'm done now.
Dunks coffee is still shit.
posted by jmignault at 2:23 PM on September 26, 2017 [1 favorite]
"I'm not sure they're interested in being part of this piece."
just could not love those guys more.
posted by ovenmitt at 2:40 PM on September 26, 2017 [1 favorite]
just could not love those guys more.
posted by ovenmitt at 2:40 PM on September 26, 2017 [1 favorite]
"I've never seen the appeal"
Sometimes I have to take a dump. I prefer to do that at Wendy's, since their restrooms are off the entrance and thus you don't have to order anything, but you guys only have a Wendy's every twenty miles, so that's not often an option. Dunkin is annoying because they do the thing where you have to ask the Keymaster for permission to enter the Chamber, and so that forces you to buy a donut. In that case, I've found it to be useful.
posted by kevinbelt at 6:01 PM on September 26, 2017 [1 favorite]
Sometimes I have to take a dump. I prefer to do that at Wendy's, since their restrooms are off the entrance and thus you don't have to order anything, but you guys only have a Wendy's every twenty miles, so that's not often an option. Dunkin is annoying because they do the thing where you have to ask the Keymaster for permission to enter the Chamber, and so that forces you to buy a donut. In that case, I've found it to be useful.
posted by kevinbelt at 6:01 PM on September 26, 2017 [1 favorite]
Wendy's: Sometimes I have to take a dump.
That's some solid ad copy there.
posted by tocts at 5:28 AM on September 27, 2017 [11 favorites]
That's some solid ad copy there.
posted by tocts at 5:28 AM on September 27, 2017 [11 favorites]
Ruki: Did not know that iced coffee was an RI thing...
Um, not to harsh on you, my friend, nor on my neighbor who is a high-muckety-muck at DD Global corporate headquarters, but I gotta push back on this thing I have heard a few times now. I grew up in Minnesota, and we drank cold/iced coffee in The Before Times.
My dear friend Gail taught me how to make cold press coffee probably 30 years ago, when she was running a little coffee shop (long since closed) in downtown St. Paul's skyways.
St. Paul had an amazing coffee culture in the 1980s: the delightful Bad Habits Cafe (mentioned here near its end, in 1993) was open until 2AM, and we high school kids could hang out in the deseted streets of latenight downtown, or else head over to the U of M's Dinkytown neighborhood and find a table near the steamed-up windows at the Espresso Royale Caffe until well after our curfew.
And the first location of the Dunn Bros. chain was directly across the parking lot from my parish church, so I often ducked in on Sunday morning after (or maybe "instead of") 11:00 Mass.
posted by wenestvedt at 7:26 AM on September 27, 2017 [1 favorite]
Um, not to harsh on you, my friend, nor on my neighbor who is a high-muckety-muck at DD Global corporate headquarters, but I gotta push back on this thing I have heard a few times now. I grew up in Minnesota, and we drank cold/iced coffee in The Before Times.
My dear friend Gail taught me how to make cold press coffee probably 30 years ago, when she was running a little coffee shop (long since closed) in downtown St. Paul's skyways.
St. Paul had an amazing coffee culture in the 1980s: the delightful Bad Habits Cafe (mentioned here near its end, in 1993) was open until 2AM, and we high school kids could hang out in the deseted streets of latenight downtown, or else head over to the U of M's Dinkytown neighborhood and find a table near the steamed-up windows at the Espresso Royale Caffe until well after our curfew.
And the first location of the Dunn Bros. chain was directly across the parking lot from my parish church, so I often ducked in on Sunday morning after (or maybe "instead of") 11:00 Mass.
posted by wenestvedt at 7:26 AM on September 27, 2017 [1 favorite]
(Also, Ernie Boch Jr. is a fucking dick, his salespeople are as rapacious as botflies, and he killed my fave Toyota dealership in Attleboro, Mass. because all of New England must be ground under his heel. Get a haircut, you tasteless jerk.)
posted by wenestvedt at 7:37 AM on September 27, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by wenestvedt at 7:37 AM on September 27, 2017 [1 favorite]
(Also, Ernie Boch Jr. is a fucking dick, his salespeople are as rapacious as botflies, and he killed my fave Toyota dealership in Attleboro, Mass.
I hate him because he uses his dad's money to promote his shitty bar band.
Also, the Clerks movie made an iced coffee joke in 1994. I don't think Ice Coffee has been a New England thing for a long, long time, if ever.
posted by bondcliff at 7:53 AM on September 27, 2017 [1 favorite]
I hate him because he uses his dad's money to promote his shitty bar band.
Also, the Clerks movie made an iced coffee joke in 1994. I don't think Ice Coffee has been a New England thing for a long, long time, if ever.
posted by bondcliff at 7:53 AM on September 27, 2017 [1 favorite]
Do we believe wikipedia?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iced_coffee
Mazagran from Algeria in 1840, apparently.
posted by Grither at 10:10 AM on September 27, 2017 [1 favorite]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iced_coffee
Mazagran from Algeria in 1840, apparently.
posted by Grither at 10:10 AM on September 27, 2017 [1 favorite]
As a native New Englander who lives far away, this made me insanely nostalgic. I also loved learning about the fattier cream they use, which I think really helps explain the appeal of the "coffee regular." Milkfat! Of course!
I don't order regular anymore because I can't stand that much sugar in my coffee, but whenever I'm home, I get a medium with cream. It's obviously not the same as getting a french press shade-grown dark roast blend from the artisan coffee shop, but it's its own thing and it hits the spot. (Also, living in Seattle I really appreciate how unpretentious Dunkin's coffee is. Coffee culture snobbery is real here and the fancy stuff doesn't always taste better.)
I also stand by Dunkin's donuts being good. I think partly it's just a personal preference thing. When it comes to donuts, you have your two kinds: lighter and sweet, like Krispy Kreme, or cakier and less sweet, like Dunkin's. (of course Dunkin's is still plenty sweet - we're talking about donuts here!) Dunkin's does the latter pretty well, especially given the distribution model. And they have that distinctive smell. I don't know what the smell is but it pings a powerful nostalgia note for me.
posted by lunasol at 2:33 PM on September 27, 2017 [1 favorite]
I don't order regular anymore because I can't stand that much sugar in my coffee, but whenever I'm home, I get a medium with cream. It's obviously not the same as getting a french press shade-grown dark roast blend from the artisan coffee shop, but it's its own thing and it hits the spot. (Also, living in Seattle I really appreciate how unpretentious Dunkin's coffee is. Coffee culture snobbery is real here and the fancy stuff doesn't always taste better.)
I also stand by Dunkin's donuts being good. I think partly it's just a personal preference thing. When it comes to donuts, you have your two kinds: lighter and sweet, like Krispy Kreme, or cakier and less sweet, like Dunkin's. (of course Dunkin's is still plenty sweet - we're talking about donuts here!) Dunkin's does the latter pretty well, especially given the distribution model. And they have that distinctive smell. I don't know what the smell is but it pings a powerful nostalgia note for me.
posted by lunasol at 2:33 PM on September 27, 2017 [1 favorite]
I worked at our town's Dunkin Donuts my junior and senior years of HS, and the owner always saved a spot for me for Christmas and summer breaks when I came back home from college. This was in the 1980s-- the only non-donut foods we had were cookies, muffins, cinnamon rolls and some other fancy pastries, and soup. No fancy coffee drinks--just black or cream & sugar. No drive-through. All the baked goods were baked onsite and we could eat anything we wanted for free when we were working. On weekends I was the "finisher"--the person who frosted and filled all the donuts by hand.
I remember when I would get home from an 8 hour shift my uniform would reek of that unique donut smell. I rarely go into a Dunkin Donuts these days but when I do, the smell inside is exactly the same and it instantly takes me back in time.
I never worked the graveyard shift but when I worked evenings I would be the only employee in the store for several hours--a teenaged girl alone in a store with cash and no easily accessible phone because the owner didn't want us making personal calls. And of course no cell phones back then. I can't believe my parents allowed it--but those were different times...
posted by bookmammal at 5:20 PM on September 27, 2017 [2 favorites]
I remember when I would get home from an 8 hour shift my uniform would reek of that unique donut smell. I rarely go into a Dunkin Donuts these days but when I do, the smell inside is exactly the same and it instantly takes me back in time.
I never worked the graveyard shift but when I worked evenings I would be the only employee in the store for several hours--a teenaged girl alone in a store with cash and no easily accessible phone because the owner didn't want us making personal calls. And of course no cell phones back then. I can't believe my parents allowed it--but those were different times...
posted by bookmammal at 5:20 PM on September 27, 2017 [2 favorites]
I never knew that Mister Donut was a breakaway from Dunkin Donuts or that it eventually got taken over by them. We had Mister Donut in Toronto until the 90's and it was a surprise for me to see them when I first visited Japan. The donuts at Japanese Mister Donut are great so if you're ever in Japan you should get some. The worst donut at Mister Donut is still better than the best donut from Dunkin Donuts or Tim Hortons.
posted by any portmanteau in a storm at 5:58 PM on September 27, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by any portmanteau in a storm at 5:58 PM on September 27, 2017 [1 favorite]
MMMmmmm DUnkin Donuts
There was always an annual trip to Dunkin to get a box or two of some plain unglazed donuts then up to our friends sugar shack to help with the collecting of Maple sap and the boiling it down into syrup. You could dip the unglazed donuts into the final stage of the bioling syrup. Those were the best donuts dipped strtaight into the large cast iron tub under a gentle simmer. I'm not sure if you can even get the unglazed ones anymore as I think they were really only available in Vermont during sugaring time.
posted by koolkat at 12:57 AM on September 28, 2017
There was always an annual trip to Dunkin to get a box or two of some plain unglazed donuts then up to our friends sugar shack to help with the collecting of Maple sap and the boiling it down into syrup. You could dip the unglazed donuts into the final stage of the bioling syrup. Those were the best donuts dipped strtaight into the large cast iron tub under a gentle simmer. I'm not sure if you can even get the unglazed ones anymore as I think they were really only available in Vermont during sugaring time.
posted by koolkat at 12:57 AM on September 28, 2017
All the baked goods were baked onsite
I mark the end of the DD era as when they stopped doing that and went to regional supplies.
Never liked the mouth-feel of their 'creamer' though.
posted by mikelieman at 4:39 AM on September 28, 2017
I mark the end of the DD era as when they stopped doing that and went to regional supplies.
Never liked the mouth-feel of their 'creamer' though.
posted by mikelieman at 4:39 AM on September 28, 2017
I mean, I was in Philadelphia recently, I had a bunch of very good food, and the worst thing I ate by a long shot was a cheesesteak.
BEST cheesesteak I ever had was at the old sports-bar in the downtown Philly Marriott.
posted by mikelieman at 4:41 AM on September 28, 2017
BEST cheesesteak I ever had was at the old sports-bar in the downtown Philly Marriott.
posted by mikelieman at 4:41 AM on September 28, 2017
Reading this thread made me realize I live in one of two (probably) counties in Mass with no Dunkin, no Micky D's, no other burger chains, no Taco Bell. There are a couple of places that brew Starbucks beans but no actual Starbucks. We have a DQ, Stop and Shop, and that is it for chains. No stoplights, no billboards. It is groovy here, come visit!
posted by vrakatar at 3:45 PM on September 29, 2017
posted by vrakatar at 3:45 PM on September 29, 2017
Living on Martha's Vineyard is kind of cheating, isn't it?
posted by Chrysostom at 7:36 PM on September 30, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by Chrysostom at 7:36 PM on September 30, 2017 [2 favorites]
Yeah, you're right. And I do love hitting the chain straunts when I go off island, especially Friendly's. Whatever you do don't go to the BK off exit six off 495, it is cheerless.
posted by vrakatar at 7:41 PM on October 11, 2017
posted by vrakatar at 7:41 PM on October 11, 2017
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CEO: "Our philosophy was that there should be at least one Dunkin on every block in New England. Sometimes two, and occasionally three. I'm proud to say we succeeded."
posted by kevinbelt at 6:54 AM on September 26, 2017 [7 favorites]