Timmies in New York!
July 10, 2009 1:21 PM   Subscribe

Tim Hortons, the perennially popular Canadian donut chain, is coming to New York, taking over 13 Dunkin Donuts locations in what some are calling the Doughnut Wars. There seems to be some controversy over the precise reason for the change. Want to know where to get a Double Double in the Big Apple? There's a Google Map! And, Monday morning, FREE COFFEE.
posted by 235w103 (131 comments total) 5 users marked this as a favorite
 
It has begun...look upon these works, all of ye, and tremble.
posted by jquinby at 1:25 PM on July 10, 2009 [1 favorite]


The Carlyle Group, a private equity investment firm with ties to the bin Laden family, global terrorism and no-bid military contracts, owns Dunkin Donuts outright. I wish Tim Hortons all the success in the world.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 1:26 PM on July 10, 2009 [8 favorites]


I'm sorry, there's only one Double-Double in the U.S. Those Canadians will have to find a new name for that one.
posted by jabberjaw at 1:27 PM on July 10, 2009


Holy cow, Tim's coffee is terrible. Their donuts taste like donuts, but the rest of the food is pretty gross. What does it say about Canadians that we identify ourselves by that brand?
posted by KokuRyu at 1:29 PM on July 10, 2009 [5 favorites]


In other Canadian/New York food news, the LES is getting poutine.
Soon you can have a night in Montreal from the comfort of New York.
posted by 235w103 at 1:29 PM on July 10, 2009


Tim Horton's maple cream doughnuts, nom nom nom. I make a point of getting one whenever I go to Canada. I'm not sure it's a great idea to distribute them widely in a country without universal health care.
posted by escabeche at 1:30 PM on July 10, 2009 [8 favorites]


Even as they move to New York, Tim Horton's is moving back to Canada.
posted by Lemurrhea at 1:34 PM on July 10, 2009


As a rather demanding coffee snob, I can say that Timmies' coffee is:

1) rather crappy
2) addictive as crack
3) comforting for this Canuck after long absences from the motherland.

I can't really explain it, but when you have a long night / morning ahead of you, Tim's coffee does the trick.

And hooray for the donuts! Maple glaze, chocolate crullers, and TimBits....
posted by LMGM at 1:35 PM on July 10, 2009


It's pretty misleading - they aren't taking over any Dunkin Donuts, just the combination Dunkin Donuts that are run by Riese restaurants.
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 1:36 PM on July 10, 2009


The secret to Timmy's coffee is cheap, robusta beans and a hint of chocolate. Also, I swear there's more caffeine in that crap than an average cup of coffee. I always feel like I'm literally flying down the highway after downing a cup....

rrrroll up the rim anyone?
posted by weezy at 1:41 PM on July 10, 2009


I hate Tim Horton's except under extreme circumstances. For example, badly hungover in the Winnipeg airport, where the only food available past security is a Tim's kiosk? Hell yes, I'll take a large double double.
posted by threetoed at 1:42 PM on July 10, 2009 [1 favorite]


Anyone else find it strange that when you trace a line through all the Tim Horton's locations you get a pentagram?

Okay, not really.

...It's a maple leaf.

posted by ODiV at 1:45 PM on July 10, 2009 [1 favorite]


For those who are used to Starbucks and may not understand the Canadian sizing system; Tim Horton's coffee comes in "small", "medium", "large" and "extra-large". You'll get used to it after a while.
posted by rocket88 at 1:49 PM on July 10, 2009 [24 favorites]


OMG POUTINE YES.
posted by unknowncommand at 1:49 PM on July 10, 2009


It's too bad Tim Hortons' iced coffee is, shockingly, even worse than that at Dunkin' Donuts.
posted by The Great Big Mulp at 1:49 PM on July 10, 2009


What I've learned in this thread is that Canada can offer us average donuts, third rate coffee, and French fries as a meal.

Now I understand why there are so many Mexican restaurants in the US, and not a single Canadian one.

Also, the Carlyle group has no ties to global terrorism. The bin laden family is (a) huge, (b) an owner of a construction company, and (c) no longer an investor in Carlyle. Libel much?

Furthermore, the dunkin' donuts stores near you are almost always franchises. I.e. the restaurant you walk into is owned outright by an entity wholly unrelated to Dunkin Brands. It may be an individual and his family, or it may be corporate franchiesee that owns a number of franchises of many different companies in your area. In any case, that store owner has simply entered into a franchise agreement with Dunkin Brands. But the real estate and the physical plant are owned by the franchisee, not Dunkin.

Or maybe I'm misunderstanding a joke you were making about how dunkin donuts are often run by Muslim immigrants or something...
posted by Pastabagel at 1:52 PM on July 10, 2009 [3 favorites]


THERE ARE NO AVERAGE DOUGHNUTS. THERE ARE ONLY DOUGHNUTS.
posted by jquinby at 1:55 PM on July 10, 2009 [2 favorites]


Dunkies forever! Here in Queens I can access their iced coffee from four different locations each within ten minutes walking distance. And this is a significantly lower level of penetration than obtains in Boston, the motherland of Dunkies. The hideous eyewrenching combo of purple and orange shall not go down without a fight! Your bagels are doughy, your doughnuts merely adaquate, but your iced coffee is a necessity. [Rise, tears trembling on lower eyelids, and turn in the direction of Quincy, wrap hand around travel mug and murmur a quick prayer to Fred.]
posted by Diablevert at 1:57 PM on July 10, 2009 [1 favorite]


You can have your Tim Hortons in New York City, but they'll have to pry my Dunkies out of this New Englander's warm dead hands.
posted by Gungho at 2:07 PM on July 10, 2009 [2 favorites]


The Carlyle Group, a private equity investment firm with ties to the bin Laden family, global terrorism and no-bid military contracts, owns Dunkin Donuts outright. I wish Tim Hortons all the success in the world.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 1:26 PM on July 10


Shit, I had no idea. Thanks, BP.
posted by Optimus Chyme at 2:07 PM on July 10, 2009


Tim Hortons coffee tastes like filth, but they run a decent business. Their breakfast sandwhich (affectionately known as a Timatin in Québec) has the butteriest best biscuit in Canada.
posted by furtive at 2:12 PM on July 10, 2009


2 doughnut threads? This could be awesomest day ever.
posted by Nanukthedog at 2:14 PM on July 10, 2009


Hey, Timbucks, welcome to New York.
posted by gyusan at 2:15 PM on July 10, 2009


235w103, it's not quite the LES anymore, but Pommes Frites on 2nd Av (just below St. Mark's) has had poutine for years. As well as a jillion other things to put on frites (I'm partial to the peanut sauce and onions myself. Don't knock it until you've tried it!)
posted by teferi at 2:18 PM on July 10, 2009


Please, Timmy, further south. Please come to me.
posted by middleclasstool at 2:23 PM on July 10, 2009 [2 favorites]


Holy cow, Tim's coffee is terrible.

Nah, it's good swilling coffee. It's not coffee you get because you want a little bit of interesting, challenging coffee. It's coffee for when it's 3:30 and the sun is already setting and fuck it I want a whole fucking quart of coffee to guzzle until I go home. And it will be guzzled.

And their food, while it is what it is, kicks most other fast-food's ass.

Now I understand why there are so many Mexican restaurants in the US, and not a single Canadian one.

That's not true. There are about a squillion Timmy'ses in NY/OH/MI, and they're a Canadian "restaurant." And there's sort of a Swiss Chalet in Tonawanda*. All we need now is an X and Firkin "pub" and we'll have the major types of Canadian chains.

*Is it Tonawanda there? Or is that Amherst?
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 2:24 PM on July 10, 2009


Dunkin Donuts in Penn Station is where to go if you want to be ignored while trying to get mediocre donuts and stale coffee.
posted by oaf at 2:28 PM on July 10, 2009


Megaglobalcorporatism, Canada style!
posted by blue_beetle at 2:35 PM on July 10, 2009 [1 favorite]


Is TimmyMe available down there?

I'll warn ya: It isn't good coffee, it is variable as hell, most of the food sucks (though is oddly notably better in almost every Quebec timmies I've been in) but the coffee is very very addictive. Someday they'll get caught putting the drugs in....
posted by Bovine Love at 2:42 PM on July 10, 2009


Woo-hoo!

And for those who dismiss this as just another donut chain, well, yeah, it is, but it's one that has a bit of Canadian nationalism thrown in there too boot.

Americans are too used to their cultural hegemony and are beyond complacent about it - y'all see it as normal that there would be a Starbucks every 20 feet all over the globe. It's not.

This is sort of like seeing that kid from down the block that you sort of knew growing up except he was two grades behind you make it into the NHL. It really has nothing to do with you, but it makes you feel a little proud for no good reason.
posted by GuyZero at 2:45 PM on July 10, 2009 [3 favorites]


Hooray for America! You may not have our health care, but please enjoy the delicious Iced Capps!
posted by yellowbinder at 2:46 PM on July 10, 2009


Most of the Tim Horton's are independently owned franchises. I don't get the appeal though - once they switched to their par baked model, their claims of "fresh" is laughable at best. They cook their donuts in Ontario and truck them around the country to be warmed up.
posted by jeffmik at 2:47 PM on July 10, 2009


Also, they have very reliable and good donuts. I don't think there are any chain donut shops out here in the land of excessively clean living and donuts from Safeway don't count. Oh, Krispy Kreme. Meh - even I, who likes donuts dipped in maple syrup, finds them too sweet. And mushy. They lack texture.

although talking about them makes me want to get a box to have for breakfast tomorrow...
posted by GuyZero at 2:47 PM on July 10, 2009


As a new immigrant to Canada (Toronto in particular), I still don't understand the Tim Hortons thing. I rarely have the urge to go eat a donut in the middle of the day, and I don't understand why anyone would go there for coffee given that Second Cup is nearly as ubiquitous. Their sandwiches are okay but expensive compared to Subway or a falafel sandwich. And there's usually a ridiculous lineup around lunchtime that rivals the crowd for Vietnamese sandwiches at Nguyen Huong.

What I find interesting about Tim Hortons (and correct me if I'm wrong Canadians) is that it's not seen as déclassé to get food from there like it would be if you went to McDonalds every morning for coffee. It has a sort of class-transcending appeal, in a way.

Given that Tim Hortons coffee is already really weak, it took me a while before I could bring myself to try the infamous "double double." It actually wasn't as bad as I thought it would be; it's basically a really creamy, sweet drink with a bit of coffee flavor. The trick was ordering it without the expectation that I would be getting coffee; from a linguistic point of view, I think saying "double double" instead of "coffee with two creams and two sugars" helps with this.

A big barrier for me was actually making myself say "double double." Sometimes you hear about slang that people supposedly use but never do (e.g. I've never heard anyone say "hoser" despite it being supposed "Canadian slang"). Fortunately it seems that term is actually pretty common.
posted by pravit at 2:50 PM on July 10, 2009 [4 favorites]


The Nation's Restaurant News article says there are 244 new Dunkin Donuts in New York City? Holy shit thats a lot.

The new franchise owner has Pizza Hut and KFC locations already - do they have exclusives to Pepsi? In Canada, they (and Tim Hortons) carry Pepsi products.
posted by jeffmik at 2:50 PM on July 10, 2009


I've never heard anyone say "hoser" despite it being supposed "Canadian slang"

Yeah, you didn't grow up in a small Canadian town in the 80's.

Toronto - and don't get me wrong, I love Toronto - Toronto isn't Canada on some level. It is Canada, but it's not the Canada where people still say "hoser". And the appeal is in part to do with the way Tim's used to be a fixture in the small-town life where many Canadians grew up, even though they've moved away. A counter, brown stool seats, old guys smoking, getting donuts on the way to or from hockey practice... it's a slice of Canadian life that used to be ubiquitous but that has largely disappeared. Shit, I never even played hockey as a kid and I have those memories.

Times change and while it's a loss in some ways, it's not a net loss. If losing smokey old Tim's outlets is the price for getting an endless array of halal shwarma places and bubble tea shops then I guess it's what we gotta do.
posted by GuyZero at 2:58 PM on July 10, 2009 [2 favorites]


pravit: I don't see you on the party list. Out of town that weekend?
posted by ODiV at 3:00 PM on July 10, 2009


..and I don't understand why anyone would go there for coffee given that Second Cup is nearly as ubiquitous.

Not outside of TO. And hardly anyone in TO was actually born there, so they all got brought up on Tims.
posted by Bovine Love at 3:04 PM on July 10, 2009


For those who are used to Starbucks and may not understand the Canadian sizing system; Tim Horton's coffee comes in "small", "medium", "large" and "extra-large". You'll get used to it after a while.

Please also note that asking for a "regular" (i.e. "I'll have a medium regular") refers to getting one shot of cream and one sugar, and that it does not refer to sizing.
posted by chugg at 3:05 PM on July 10, 2009


Whatever happened to Krispy Kreme?

And yeah, the In-n-Outies will fight you to the death over the brand name "Double Double"... so does Tim Hortons have "Animal Style" coffee?
posted by wendell at 3:08 PM on July 10, 2009


"so does Tim Hortons have 'Animal Style' coffee?"

Yeah, they just replace the cream with mustard.
posted by clorox at 3:12 PM on July 10, 2009 [1 favorite]


There is already a Krispy Kreme, a Cinnabon, 2 Starbucks, 2 bakeries, a Hot & Crusty and at least 3 or 4 Dunkin Donuts stands in Penn Station along the LIRR concourse already, sitting just one story above the most well-fed rat population in the entire city.

We don't need a greater variety of donut and coffee stands. We need a free gym installed for LIRR commuters, so we can work off all those empty calories while we're waiting for our trains.
posted by zarq at 3:15 PM on July 10, 2009


I'm still snagging my free coffee, though.
posted by zarq at 3:18 PM on July 10, 2009


Tim Hortons coffee is vile, worse than McDonalds, and I'm a Canadian saying this. Doubledouble is the only way I can drink it, even though I take my coffee black.

I am delighted by its popularity, though, since there's always lineups a mile long at Timmies when the nearby decent places are all but empty.
posted by jrochest at 3:22 PM on July 10, 2009


I bet the one on 42nd Street, right after you leave GCT and head towards Times Square, is converting. It's one of those weird combination ones; I think there's a KFC in the back.
posted by smackfu at 3:26 PM on July 10, 2009


Mmmmmm, sour cream glazed......ambrosial doughnut perfection!!!
posted by Go Banana at 3:27 PM on July 10, 2009 [1 favorite]


I don't understand why anyone would go there for coffee given that Second Cup is nearly as ubiquitous.

Some people like being able to buy a coffee with coins.
posted by oaf at 3:32 PM on July 10, 2009 [4 favorites]


Tim Horton's doughnuts used to be great, because often you would be getting a donut that was really really fresh. These days Tim Horton's makes all doughnuts in large facilities and trucks them around to the stores. So you're often getting doughnuts that were already 12-24 hours old before going on display. They have lost the fresh quality (obviously) but what's more they've lost the unique texture I used to love about a Tim Horton's doughnut... cakey, crumbly, with natural variation in size and regularity between doughnuts. They're very dense and pastey now. They might as well come in a box on the supermarket shelf.
posted by autodidact at 3:35 PM on July 10, 2009


Sweet.

As Tim Horton's moves units from Ontario into Eastern United States, Robins Donuts will move from Alberta into Western United States.

Attacking with three dice.
posted by Durn Bronzefist at 3:38 PM on July 10, 2009


The Carlyle Group, a private equity investment firm with ties to the bin Laden family, global terrorism and no-bid military contracts, owns Dunkin Donuts outright. I wish Tim Hortons all the success in the world.

No they don't! Bain Capital and THL were (I think) equal investors alongside Carlyle in the investor consortium. Dunkin' Brands also owns Baskin & Robbins.
posted by mullacc at 3:39 PM on July 10, 2009


Tim Horton's coffee is terrible, but their donuts are much better than Dunkin' Donuts, who also have terrible coffee. Dunkin' Donuts donuts are too sweet, and too greasy. I know donuts are all about the sweet and greasy, but there's a delicate balance to be achieved.
posted by jb at 3:40 PM on July 10, 2009


Er, I know Bain and THL were in the consortium, I just don't know if the 3 investors were equal, but that's my understanding.
posted by mullacc at 3:41 PM on July 10, 2009


These days Tim Horton's makes all doughnuts in large facilities and trucks them around to the stores.

Well, not their highway locations. You can still get your chocolate glaze too fresh (they're really better once they've had a chance to solidify) or your cruller just right (nearly just off the rack). Sour cream glazed are good any time.

Their coffee is good if you've had too much real coffee that day and are afraid of upsetting your stomach.
posted by Durn Bronzefist at 3:43 PM on July 10, 2009


I'm excited! I love Tim Horton's coffee. The last time we went "up north" we bought two big cans of it to take home.

I'm not defending it, just offering further proof that I must have the worst taste in the world...
posted by JoanArkham at 3:47 PM on July 10, 2009


I have not done well with the donuts the last few times (on trips back home to Canada) I've gone to Hortons. And I'm definitely disappointed that they stopped carrying BUTTER TARTS - that was a pleasant surprise to walk into the Tim Hortons in Providence, RI, and pick up a delicious fresh butter tart - they don't seem to carry them in Canadian stores any more; presumably not the American ones either. And here in NorCal we don't have either DD or TH.

BTW, let's bring back The Keg and export that to the US of A.
posted by stevil at 3:51 PM on July 10, 2009


I worked at Second Cup as a teenager, when they were just starting to expand in the very early 90s. Our location was at the edge of the food court in the "new" mall. We were directly across a wide aisle from a Tim Horton's. As a kid who had not yet started to drink coffee, it was interesting to see how entwined people's lives were with what to me at the time still seemed a somewhat offensive beverage.

I took massive pride in the stiff, long-lasting cappuccino foam I mastered. It's an art, you can't just shoot steam into Milk and get truly great foam. There was one lady who used to buy an entire extra large cup of just foam, which she would eat like a sundae. Probably a smart diet tactic, considering how nutritious a cup of foamed milk is, compared to say a bowl of ice cream.
posted by autodidact at 4:05 PM on July 10, 2009


Whenever I've had it Tim Horton's coffee hasn't been terrible. I've found it to always have a unique sweetness to it, like it's been dosed with maple syrup flavour.
Nevertheless, I find the fact that this franchise is treated like a shrine by Canadians to be kind of embarrassing... but also, endearing.
My stepfather (a geophysics professor) goes to hang out at his local Tim Horton's every morning at dawn, just about every day. And buys the tins to make their coffee at home!
posted by Flashman at 4:09 PM on July 10, 2009


Sorry.. one thing that was very interesting about working at a Second Cup in such close proximity to a Tim's is some of the weird behaviour you'd see. Such as people who would buy a Tim Horton's coffee and then come buy a cappuccino from us, and they were both to be consumed by the one person. They were double-serving their coffee cravings! A lot of people would also buy donuts at Tim's then come get their coffee from us.

Finally, I still go mental when I remember people coming in and asking "So do you guys have any REAL coffee?"
posted by autodidact at 4:11 PM on July 10, 2009


Their donuts taste like donuts

...that have been trucked in from who-knows-where.
posted by Sys Rq at 4:21 PM on July 10, 2009


Man, for a moment I got my hopes up that Tim Horton's would be taking over some Dunkin's here in Boston. I suspect this marks me as Definitely Not A Bostonian (which I am not, and I hope to be leaving Boston for good next year), but I barely even consider Dunkin to be donuts, much less good or desirable donuts. I've never had Tim Horton's but I've heard people go on about how good they are.

There used to be a Krispy Kreme in Boston. Then it shut down. And all that remains is fuckin' Dunkin. Every time I get a "donut" from Dunkin I am sad, and want to go back home to New Orleans for a real donut from McKenzie's. Except they're gone too.

Oh, how I miss the donuts of my youth. The obscene, sugary, passionate, unrepentant donuts. All I can get in this freezing brown shithole of a town are stale Puritan donuts, the eating of which is a reminder that life is something to be endured, not to be savored.
posted by egypturnash at 4:25 PM on July 10, 2009 [3 favorites]


It has begun...look upon these works, all of ye, and tremble.

there's been a tim horton's in lansing michigan for ages, on cedar st - the donutpocolypse hasn't happened yet
posted by pyramid termite at 4:28 PM on July 10, 2009


Have you seen Lansing lately, pt? You're welcome!
posted by Sys Rq at 4:34 PM on July 10, 2009


The only thing more insulting than Wendy's buying Tim Hortons was when we lost our oldest retailer to the US.
posted by gman at 4:59 PM on July 10, 2009 [1 favorite]


Thank God the Europeans aren't buying our beer companies!
posted by GuyZero at 5:02 PM on July 10, 2009


Is Tim Horton's even actually Canadian anymore? I thought they were bought by an American company. Right around the time they stopped serving butter tarts, a wholly Canadian treat. Omg butter tart... *drool*...

Anyway, I wouldn't drink Tim's coffee unless it was to save my life, it's disgusting. But the sour cream glazed & the breakfast sandwich are quite yum!
posted by zarah at 5:03 PM on July 10, 2009


Anyone else find it strange that when you trace a line through all the Tim Horton's locations you get a pentagram?

Okay, not really.

...It's a maple leaf.


ODiV, you WERE NOT SUPPOSED TO REVEAL THAT TO THE WORLD.
posted by orange swan at 5:04 PM on July 10, 2009 [1 favorite]


Oh, on preview, gman answers my question.
posted by zarah at 5:04 PM on July 10, 2009


I can't imagine how bad Dunkin's must be, to make one crave a Timmy's donut, because they are pretty atrociously bad in themselves. Every time I eat a Timmy's donut I wish I was back in high school, because the cafeteria did much better. Bizarrely, the most edible fast food donuts around these days are the ones at Starbucks, but they might be only regionally available (PNW).

Timmy Ho's sandwiches are pretty serviceable for being available 24 hours a day, though. And their breakfast sandwiches are GOOD.
posted by mek at 5:09 PM on July 10, 2009


Is Tim Horton's even actually Canadian anymore?

Timely question.
posted by gman at 5:10 PM on July 10, 2009


ODiV, you WERE NOT SUPPOSED TO REVEAL THAT TO THE WORLD.

Whoops. I didn't read down through the Federally mandated French section of that memo.
posted by ODiV at 5:12 PM on July 10, 2009


TH is the single worst thing about emigrating to Canada. Not only is it absolute shit coffee, fucking shit coffee, motherfucking gas station garbage fucking shit SHIT coffee, but their doughnuts are all pre-baked in HAMILTON so they're good and stale and overpriced when we consume them as if they're manna from heaven in places like Calgary. I could not believe how much better a doughnut one can get at not only indie bakers in the US (which barely exist anymore in Canada thanks to the TH monopoly and the moronic sheep who buy into it) like the incredible Top Pot in Seattle or Voodoo in Portland, but also- Dunkin Doughnuts is just insanely better than TH. No contest.

And whoever said the afterbirth they call "food" at TH, like their sandwiches which taste of nothing but stale bread and miracle whip, or their diarrhea soup with its microscopic chicken ass chunks- are you fucking HIGH? Yes, TH might be a balm to those drunk at 3am but so is eating vaseline. So, please, try the vaseline.

TH is emblematic of the sort of mediocrity that pervades Canadian culture. When we have outstanding coffee roasters like Vancouver's divine 49th Parallel, we export this SWILL?
posted by ethnomethodologist at 5:16 PM on July 10, 2009 [6 favorites]


TH is the single worst thing about emigrating to Canada.

Don't forget to fill out the comment card on your way home.
posted by gman at 5:23 PM on July 10, 2009 [2 favorites]


I'd just like to comment here in favor of the Tim Hortons food. I really enjoy their bagel with cream cheese. My experience with Dunkin Donuts in the US is that they don't even put the cream cheese on the bagel for you!

I also find their meat, cheese, and vegetables in the sandwiches at Tim Hortons is significantly higher quality than most other fast food restaurants. I consider Tim Hortons the healthiest fast food chain that is everywhere in Canada.

I don't mind their coffee, but it is cheaper coffee. If I have a lot of money, I go to a coffee shop and spend $12 for lunch, if I want to go to Tim Hortons, I spend $6.

ethnomethodologist, you are from Vancouver, a place that's too wealthy to really need Tim Hortons!
posted by niccolo at 5:49 PM on July 10, 2009 [1 favorite]


Dunkin Donuts are pure garbage mixed with air & sugar. So there will be no "war".
And has anyone ever had a Dunkin Donut that was not stale?

The Carlyle Group, a private equity investment firm with ties to the bin Laden family, global terrorism and no-bid military contracts AND THE BUSH FAMILY , owns Dunkin Donuts outright.
posted by Zambrano at 5:49 PM on July 10, 2009


Tim Horton's does not sell poutine.
posted by Frasermoo at 5:54 PM on July 10, 2009


As a repatriated expat Canadian, I'm proud of Tim's. Does more business than McDonalds. That's cool.

Irony is: McDonalds' iced coffee is great. Tim's iced coffee sucks moose ass.
posted by Frasermoo at 5:59 PM on July 10, 2009


Starbucks is all over Canada. When there, I have seen an empty Starbucks sitting right next to a Tim Horton's line of at least fifty people, all just buying regular old coffee. No extra-hot venti latte low-fat with a twist... just "large coffee". Be afraid, indeed.

I often walked past the 50-people lineup to get a more expensive Starbucks, just because I didn't want to wait 10 minutes. The best comparison I can think of is what Krispy Kreme did to most other donut chains. One is just donuts, the other is clearly packaged crack cocaine.

Tim Horton's coffee and food is very simple/basic, but seems pretty high quality to me. Like Niccolo, I have also enjoyed many plain-and-simple bagels and cream cheese in Canadian airports (they all have Tim Horton's, I think) and yes, it's one of the most reliably good things.
posted by rokusan at 6:01 PM on July 10, 2009


let us not forget who Tim Horton was. It's enough to make any Canadian cry.
posted by Frasermoo at 6:08 PM on July 10, 2009


What does it say about Canadians that we identify ourselves by that brand?

i don't. tim hortons is shit. i used to live in esquimalt (near the military base) and there' be a line up of mil guys around the timmy's. i thought then that if i was a terr'ist, i should make notes because tim's is pretty much the corner stone of the canadian armed forces dietary regime.
posted by klanawa at 6:09 PM on July 10, 2009


Have you seen Lansing lately, pt?

yes, a couple of months ago - but if you know the town you know it hasn't been the same since oldsmobile shut down - i was rather surprised to see how far down cedar st's gone

e lansing and okemos seemed to be fine, though
posted by pyramid termite at 6:17 PM on July 10, 2009


ethnomethodologist, you are from Vancouver, a place that's too wealthy to really need Tim Hortons!

TH has lineups out the door in Vancouver, and I wouldn't call the city with the poorest postal code in Canada "too wealthy" for anything.

But I live in Calgary, an extremely wealthy city that has TH out and up the wazoo.
posted by ethnomethodologist at 6:27 PM on July 10, 2009


Is Tim Horton's even actually Canadian anymore?

Timely question.


Preternaturally timely answer.
posted by Lemurrhea at 6:30 PM on July 10, 2009


That's cool. Now I don't have to pay the cable co. extra for the NHL Centre Ice complete game package to see Tim Horton's commercials anymore.
posted by Lukenlogs at 6:45 PM on July 10, 2009


A big barrier for me was actually making myself say "double double." Sometimes you hear about slang that people supposedly use but never do (e.g. I've never heard anyone say "hoser" despite it being supposed "Canadian slang"). Fortunately it seems that term is actually pretty common.
posted by pravit at 5:50 PM on July 10 [+] [!]


I grew up in Toronto, and came of age hanging around coffee shops (Teamasters, Second Cup - this was pre-Starbucks days). And the first time I ever heard the expression "double double" was in 1996 or 1997 when I was working in a non-franchise donut shop in a pre-dominately Somalian neighbourhood. I thought it was a Somali-English expression. It's also the first time I ever heard of a "regular" being one cream, one sugar. (Everyone in my family takes their coffee or tea with two milks, no sugar.)
posted by jb at 6:48 PM on July 10, 2009


the first time I ever heard the expression "double double" was in 1996 or 1997 when I was working in a non-franchise donut shop in a pre-dominately Somalian neighbourhood

Nowadays, the cash registers at Tim Hortons have buttons that say DOUBLE DOUBLE. Also, TRIPLE TRIPLE.
posted by oaf at 7:01 PM on July 10, 2009


Frasermoo: "let us not forget who Tim Horton was. It's enough to make any Canadian cry."

I knew there had to be some kind of connection to hockey.
posted by octothorpe at 7:10 PM on July 10, 2009


I grew up in Hamilton where there were (and may still be, I don't know) Tim Horton's seemingly on every corner. When I visited Toronto as a young lad my sisters and I were surprised that there weren't any Tim Horton's there. Different story these days of course.

For those who haven't been, either in New York or anywhere, prepare yourself for the following situation:

You're second in line at the counter. There seems to be about 20 workers behind the counter or in the back. There is a line up forming behind you maybe 10 persons deep. There is one person serving the customers on the inside, maybe 2, but the second is making a couple of coffees so that'll take about 15 minutes to pour. 3 other people behind the counter are sorting napkins and cups, and the remaining 16 are devoted to serving the drive through customers. 10 minutes pass by, then another 5, and then you'll get to order what you want, and if you don't want coffee, you'll have to order again just to confirm that your order doesn't include coffee (my father used to be a business loans manager at one of our hideous national banks and he said they don't make dough on the dough, but on the coffee).

Strange thing is the service is just as slow at non-drive through locations.
posted by juiceCake at 8:26 PM on July 10, 2009 [1 favorite]


Sadder still is his life story. When in Hamilton I go to the original shop on Ottawa St, seventies style with exposed brick and extrememly verticle windows. All they need is a cigarette machine to recreate my childhood.
posted by saucysault at 8:32 PM on July 10, 2009


Vancouver is the only Canadian city I've spent a lot of time in. Starbucks seems to outnumber Tim Horton's there. In many places there are two Starbucks right across the street from each other.
posted by mike3k at 8:41 PM on July 10, 2009


So, this is how Canada decides to strike, with shit-coffee missiles and maple cream bombs. They've underestimated just how much punishment the American lard-ass can withstand. Bring it on, you double double bastards!
posted by orme at 8:51 PM on July 10, 2009 [2 favorites]


There have been Tim Hortons near where I live in Maine for years now (yeah, I know, basically Canada, etc.). Until this past week, I had never come across the phrase "double double."
posted by anthom at 9:04 PM on July 10, 2009


That is not a "double double".

Also, that is not "coffee".

Yes, I'd like a Flying Dutchman with Sauce and a ristretto doppio, please.
posted by erniepan at 10:01 PM on July 10, 2009


Oh how I loathe TimmyHo's. They replaced the SubStop on campus with a TH and removed the only other nearby coffee option by changing the hours of the "generic" coffee shop for the summer. Fuckers.

TH coffee licks serious ass, the food is worse, and their service model is so pathetic that one actually has to wait 15 minutes just to get that shitty stuff -- even if there's only a few people in line! Like, holy crap, it's coffee! And I can *see* the big pot of it RIGHT FUCKING THERE! Why do I have to wait? Why do we all have to wait for you to get that guy, then that girl and eventually ME a coffee? Just put it out front with some cups and I'LL get it fer fuck's sake! I'm not buying the illusion of quality just because it takes you 10 fucking minutes to get me a coffee (i.e., pour it in a cup and add some cream and sugar like any fucking moron who has ever gotten themselves a cup of coffee can do, fer fuck's sake it doesn't make you a barista or some shit like that). In fact, any illusion you're trying to construct is completely shattered when I actually RECEIVE the swill and taste that telltale dandelion and mud flavour that is so brutal you've made a brand out of covering it up with enough sugar and cream to choke a fucking dog, and then somehow calling it a national fucking institution, like beavers or toques or Pierre fucking Trudeau. It's fucking coffee, shitty coffee, and you can put it in a bag and give yourselves a fucking enema, nutfucks.

Die Tim Horton's. Choke on your stupid fucking clubhouse sandwiches with honey-fucking-mustard (like seriously, wtf?!) and your productivity-killing line-ups nation-wide. Choke on a bucket of cocks.

*whew*

Sorry about that.
posted by sharpener at 10:26 PM on July 10, 2009 [3 favorites]


Dunkin Donuts are pure garbage mixed with air & sugar. So there will be no "war".

The Dunk is what it is - decent to wretched depending on time of day or pure randomness, but the column of Quincy grantite it's planted on here in New England will not budge were Mr. Horton to attempt an incursion. Krispy Kreme launched here with cries of adulation and lines a mile long... that promptly vanished a few months in and sent the Krispy crawling and whimpering back southward, gooey glazed tucked between legs.

The secret of course is that the Dunk makes all its money on the coffee, and good or bad, that's the one daily routine item people will almost never change, even if better, cheaper coffee were available steps away.
posted by jalexei at 10:36 PM on July 10, 2009


I don't get the Timmy's hate. The sandwiches are decent--though agreed, the soup is vile.

The coffee is good bad coffee. The opposite of Starbucks, which is bad good coffee, and thus worse.

Cold winter morning, XL double double and a sour cream glazed? That's some heaven, right fucking there.

Also I have never had this lineup problem you people are whinging about.
posted by dirtynumbangelboy at 11:57 PM on July 10, 2009 [1 favorite]


...sent the Krispy crawling and whimpering back southward, gooey glazed tucked between legs.

Hey, now. Can we get an NSFW tag in here?
posted by rokusan at 2:23 AM on July 11, 2009


Tim's coffee is to coffee as Starship Troopers is to film.

Starship Troopers: You know it's terrible, poorly acted, poorly written, and bearing only a passing resemblance to its source material. But, whenever it's on TV you watch it joyously, even if you do feel a little guilty about it. You may even own the DVD so you can watch it at 3am, with beer.

Tim's coffee: Burnt, stale, served to you after 10 minutes of inexplicable waiting, and palatable only after adding 1000 calories of cream and sugar. However, whenever it's available you find yourself ponying up the $1.80 or whatever it costs now to get a cup. You drink it with pleasure while you feel it making your insides black.

I guess what I'm saying is that if you're the kind of person who doesn't like Tim's coffee, you probably don't like Casper Van Dien either.

I'm certain there's a statistical correlation there.
posted by generichuman at 3:35 AM on July 11, 2009 [2 favorites]


Tim Horton has been drawn into battle? Scary. Recap, the the best of my recollection; The Doughnut War began with the collapse of the midwestern Mr. Doughnut, which served as a buffer between the Yankee hoard of Dunkin (giant, fried Fruit Loops I heard one southerner describe...) and the ambitious Krispy. But Krispy's foothold into Manhattan proved to be a Gettysburg of sorts, a Battle of the Bulge (literally, for the customers) and they've been beaten into retreat. And now the British Commonwealth is getting involved? Wow.

Someone brought back a can of Tim Horton's coffee to the office. Unpalatable, but I've never been to the restaurant, and we don't keep cream and sugar around our office. At least Dunkin is dark and burnt and horrible, not medium-bodied, burnt and horrible.

Where do the Tim Horton doughnuts fit along the cakey/spongy continuum?
posted by bendybendy at 7:37 AM on July 11, 2009


I think their cakey donuts are quite cakey, but they also offer lots of non-cakey.

Tim Horton's is the best donut place I've been to in the world for sheer variety of donuts, and they are innovative about donut flavours.
posted by jb at 8:50 AM on July 11, 2009


The secret of course is that the Dunk makes all its money on the coffee, and good or bad, that's the one daily routine item people will almost never change, even if better, cheaper coffee were available steps away.

Even Starbucks hasn't made much progress in New England. Sure there are a lot in NYC proper, but here in CT, they can be pretty sparse. The closest one is maybe 10 miles away, and CT isn't that big a state. In that same range, there are probably 20 DD's.
posted by smackfu at 9:07 AM on July 11, 2009


The coffee is good bad coffee. The opposite of Starbucks, which is bad good coffee, and thus worse.

Hilariously true. Tim's might not have the best coffee, but I'll be damned if they're not consistent.
posted by futureisunwritten at 10:13 AM on July 11, 2009


Oh, and anyone who claims that Timmy Ho's coffee is burnt while drinking a Starbucks with a straight face needs a tastebud transplant, or at least needs to recognise that they are addicted to the brand identity and not the burnt dirty beanwater at SB.
posted by dirtynumbangelboy at 10:57 AM on July 11, 2009 [1 favorite]


Also I have never had this lineup problem you people are whinging about.

Agreed—I've never had to wait very long to get anything there, and I've been to Tim Hortons in three states and four provinces.
posted by oaf at 11:24 AM on July 11, 2009


I'm from the heartland of Krispy Kreme. How the rest of you numb-tongues can eat doughnuts that aren't Hot & Now®, made on a Krispy Kreme Dream Machine right before your eyes, is beyond me.

Hmmm... wait, I don't drink coffee either. Maybe that's it? Is hot caffeine water and non-dairy paste really that bad for one's palate?
posted by infinitewindow at 12:32 PM on July 11, 2009


I am at a loss to know what this Tim Hortons donut place is. Like at least one mefite above, I grew up in Hamilton, where these places were ubiquitous (inluding store #1 at the corner of Ottawa and Dunsmure).

However, a decade ago, a rebranding got rid of the donuts. Seriously: the word donuts came off the signs and the donuts themselves largely disappeared from the stores. (This was, by the way, the same time the apostrophe got removed from Tim Horton's.) Now so far as I can tell, you have to go at least four clicks deep into their website to even find donuts mentioned.

This is startling, as if you were to ask a hundred people who grew up in Canada to name a donut restaurant, 97 would say Tim Hortons.

Twenty-five years ago, you could walk into one and find forty or fifty kinds of donuts available. These days it seems like a dozen or so, but the oddest part of all is that it seems that the forty or fifty types that used to be there still exist, but just not in the same stores. There are maybe five or six types that appear to be stocked everywhere (honey cruller, glazed, maybe the double chocolate) but the rest of the selection seems to be drawn more or less at random from the old catalogue. Well, not randomly: the same stores seem to have the same types all the time, but whether or not any given flavour is on the menu at any given store seems a crapshoot. As a result, if there is a particular kind you like, you have to hunt for it. In Hamilton, if you REALLY like chocolate with coconut, you have to go up to Clappison's Corners.

I wonder if any other chain restaurant has ever done this. I know that across national borders the menus will change within a chain -- I recall Burger King restaurants in England serving veggie burgers twenty years ago, when they did not do this in North America -- but within a country or a city? I figured standardization of product was the whole point of a chain. Would Starbucks function if all their outlets served Americano but only one-fifth of them, selected at random, had cappuccino and these were not the same ones that had espresso?
posted by ricochet biscuit at 12:54 PM on July 11, 2009 [1 favorite]


I'm from the heartland of Krispy Kreme. How the rest of you numb-tongues can eat doughnuts that aren't Hot & Now®, made on a Krispy Kreme Dream Machine right before your eyes, is beyond me.

Perhaps because most of the time we prefer to eat doughnuts that a) taste of something other than pure sugar, and b) have a texture a little more robust than a good chili fart?


Don't get me wrong, I do enjoy like eat crave jones for KK from time to time. But let's be honest here: they're a textureless vehicle for warm sugar delivery.
posted by dirtynumbangelboy at 12:56 PM on July 11, 2009


I figured standardization of product was the whole point of a chain.

In the QSR business, regional specialisation is a good thing. I would venture to guess that Timmy Hobags looked at which doughnuts (come on, we're Canadian, wtf is a 'donut'??) sold best where, and stock the stores accordingly.

Also, some stores do still bake on-premises. The one at Bloor and Bedford (across from Varsity Stadium), for example.

Also also, the reason most TH stores don't take plastic is to save you time, which makes me wonder more where all this lineup whining is coming from.
posted by dirtynumbangelboy at 1:00 PM on July 11, 2009


Well, in my experience, the Tim Hortons in Scotia Plaza has a huge triple-snaked queue from 8:30-9:00 and around lunchtime. Ditto for most other Tim Hortons PATH locations.

The one on the north side of Bloor at Spadina has a line almost out the door around lunchtime.

Thanks for sharing those stories though. I feel like I understand the Canadian love for TH better.
posted by pravit at 1:08 PM on July 11, 2009


Also I have never had this lineup problem you people are whinging about.

Agreed—I've never had to wait very long to get anything there, and I've been to Tim Hortons in three states and four provinces.


I'm not sure that one's personal experience, even if similar to the personal experiences of others is something that one can agree or disagree with. At no point was it implied that my or anyone else's experience at Tim Hortons was and is universal nor is it whinging to not like long line ups. It's a running joke among my friends, family, and people I work with that if any of us go to Tim Hortons', and go inside rather than the drive-through, there will be great periods of time where one of more of us will be away from the table ordering another beverage, muffin, or donut. Experience, obviously can, and does, differ. The last time I was there it took 10 minutes to get a muffin and I was third in line. Obviously this didn't occur for some others.

I seldom even bother going anymore unless I have nothing to do that day. Going there is like driving through construction or an accident scene, it will affect the rest of your day. These are merely my local ones in Toronto, Scarborough, Etobicoke, Vaughn, Misssissauga, Oakville, Woodbridge, and Markham.
posted by juiceCake at 1:34 PM on July 11, 2009


Oh, and anyone who claims that Timmy Ho's coffee is burnt while drinking a Starbucks with a straight face needs a tastebud transplant, or at least needs to recognise that they are addicted to the brand identity and not the burnt dirty beanwater at SB.
posted by dirtynumbangelboy


People don't go to starbucks for coffee, they go for milkshakes with caffeine on the side. I don't know what is more idiotic, the constant harping on starbucks 'burnt' coffee, as if they've discovered something new and must let everyone know, or the previous misconception.

And Hortons coffee is vile, burned crap. That you have to comically point to starbucks for comparison to claim it's not THAT burnt shows just how god awful it is.
posted by Dennis Murphy at 2:14 PM on July 11, 2009


Actually, I'm pointing out that it's not burnt at all, but thanks for misunderstanding.
posted by dirtynumbangelboy at 3:22 PM on July 11, 2009


I really don't understand all the Tim Horton's love. I've been hearing about it for quite some time now, so when I went to visit Canada a few months ago, I was really excited to learn that the route I would have to walk to the conference that I was attending took me by (no kidding) three Tim Horton's.

All excited, I went in there in the morning, and, mindful of the fact that I was going to be fed for the rest of the day, tried to order six TimBits.

The lady behind the counter decided that I must be one of those crazy tourists and that what I was really trying to do was order six donuts. I went with it, because again, I kept hearing how great Tim Horton's was.

This was more than even my mighty American sized frame could handle, but I did take a bite out of each one of them ... and they weren't anything special. It wasn't like they were head and shoulders above Dunkin Donuts. They were just donuts.
posted by Comrade_robot at 4:21 PM on July 11, 2009


The last time I was there it took 10 minutes to get a muffin and I was third in line. Obviously this didn't occur for some others.

Well, as I mentioned above, it seems to be a chain without standardization. There are some TH donuts I like, but I know it's mere luck if I walk into an unfamiliar store whether or not they will have them.

The sole universal to TH that I can find is dismal customer service. I probably go into one once every month or so. With no exaggeration, for the last ten years I have had to repeat and explain my order at least 80% of the time, a mare usque ad mare. I am not sure how badly I stutter that "a carrot muffin and an apple juice, please" is construed as "large double-double."
posted by ricochet biscuit at 4:23 PM on July 11, 2009


I'm starting to wonder whether you guys go to alternate-universe Timmy's. I can't recall ever having to repeat an order, wait an inordinate amount of time, or get anything other than service with a smile (or at least the usual customer-service drone flat affect).
posted by dirtynumbangelboy at 4:34 PM on July 11, 2009


I'm starting to wonder whether you guys go to alternate-universe Timmy's. I can't recall ever not having to repeat an order, not having to wait an inordinate amount of time, or not get anything other than service without a smile (or at bare minimum the usual customer-service drone flat affect).

That said, I like their donuts. I don't drink coffee so I couldn't say a word about that but Tim's is no doubt a the top of my list for awful customer service. They are the model I always use in business meetings and the example works every time.
posted by juiceCake at 5:05 PM on July 11, 2009


I always look forward to stopping at Tim Hortons pour un double-double on I-71 when crossing the never-ending rural wasteland between Cleveland and Cincinnati.
posted by vkxmai at 5:27 PM on July 11, 2009


You would have thought Tim Hortons has the Canadian coffee and doughnut market cornered, but Coffee Time franchises seem fairly popular in some parts of the GTA. I've never tried them myself.
posted by pravit at 5:46 PM on July 11, 2009


dirtynumbangelboy they don't refuse plastic "to save you time" they refuse plastic to avoid having to pay the merchant service fees. For what its worth, I sold one franchise owner in Leduc a point of sales system a few years ago that added $0.25 cents to every transaction and it sped up his lines so fast that he switched to a system that charged it to him instead of the customer. It actually saved the business money because it was faster in the drive through.
posted by jeffmik at 7:35 PM on July 11, 2009


Coffee Time franchises seem fairly popular in some parts of the GTA. I've never tried them myself.

The running joke is the local illegal pharmaceutical vendors and creative "business men" convene at Coffee Time because the cops are always at Tim Hortons. Some jokes are half true. This is one of them. If you venture into a Coffee Time don't go to the one at Dupont and Landsdowne. Stand across the street from it and observe the buzz of activity. When the cops go there, they don't go for the donuts.
posted by juiceCake at 8:24 PM on July 11, 2009


My Coffee Time aka Crack Time comment got lost, huh. Try the one at Queen and Sherbourne at night sometime. Bad coffee, bad doughnuts, bad transsexual hookers, bad heroin dealers.
posted by GuyZero at 9:08 PM on July 11, 2009


Coffee, doughnuts, transsexual hookers and heroin dealers?

Are you sure that's not Vancouver?
posted by rokusan at 2:20 AM on July 12, 2009


Nthing the idea that Timmies has more caffeine than your average American cup.


I have a theory, nerd culture aside most Americans don't really like caffeine (I mean, we have coke, c'mon) and prefer heavily-watered down milky-sugary cupcake drinks. Asking for a Red Eye is enough to get you the stink eye in some places. Whatever, that's fine if it floats your foam, but whenever I'm in Our Neighbor To the North (Montreal especially) I notice how motherfucking STRONG the coffee is. It's like rocket fuel compared to the double-choco-mint-caramel-haf-cafs back home. Add to this the observation that every convenience store has an entire caffine-pill *section* and I like you Canadians are just using politeness to mask a genteel speed addiction.
posted by The Whelk at 5:30 AM on July 12, 2009


If there's going to be Tim Horton lineups (Heee! That's a Canadianism, all right!) then I'll expect to see the pig in NYC, too.
posted by droplet at 6:23 AM on July 12, 2009


I don't drink coffee so I couldn't say a word about that but Tim's is no doubt a the top of my list for awful customer service. They are the model I always use in business meetings and the example works every time.

And there we have it: I am also a coffee-free zone, and this is why it is so clear to me that Tim Hortons has zip-a-dee-doo-dah to do with donuts and is purely a coffee chain. Servers are so attuned to coffee orders that ordering anything else seems to leave them baffled. Probably one time in ten I am there, when I do not order a coffee, the server simply looks at me as if I had just ordered lobster thermidor, then shrugs and bellows "Next, please!" Eventually someone else will sell me a donut or a muffin or a bagel, but the customer service -- if you are not there to order a coffee -- is comically inept.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 7:31 AM on July 12, 2009


Tim Hortons sucks moose balls.

They used to make doughnuts in-store. The donuts are now made in a factory and shipped frozen to the stores. The doughnuts used to be good. Now they are disgusting shit, and no one should eat them.

Tim Hortons coffee is swill. It's nearly inconceivable, but it is worse than McDonald's coffee. No one should drink Tim Hortins disgusting coffee.

It is embarrassing that so many dumbfuck Canucks go to Tim Hortons when there are endless GOOD coffee shops in most towns.

Or in short, fuck Tim Hortons. Stay away from that place.
posted by five fresh fish at 8:51 AM on July 12, 2009 [2 favorites]


And there we have it: I am also a coffee-free zone, and this is why it is so clear to me that Tim Hortons has zip-a-dee-doo-dah to do with donuts and is purely a coffee chain.

Yes, which is exactly why I said:

...then you'll get to order what you want, and if you don't want coffee, you'll have to order again just to confirm that your order doesn't include coffee...
posted by juiceCake at 9:56 AM on July 12, 2009


GUYS IT IS A DONUT SHOP. STOP TALKING ABOUT THE FREAKING COFFEE!

*loves Tim Hortons*

omg their glazed... *drool*
posted by Eideteker at 11:20 AM on July 12, 2009


Yeah, never had to wait - service at the local Timmies (and by local I mean the one in the major underground location downtown) is fantastic. Fast, efficient, and despite 100s (1000s?) of customers they remember you even if you visit once a week.

Ditto to most of the above - not great coffee, but something addictive and oddly soothing and energizing about it. Perfect for long days - get a "large double double", and chug it as you go through the day.

Empty calories ahoy though...
posted by olya at 10:33 PM on July 12, 2009


Sitting here at the Horton's,
so you know this is important.
If not here, then where?
If not now then when?
When a feather's an immovable force?
When the stampede's an obstacle course?
When Ancient Train has hit Ol' Transient Horse?
When we're a Vancouver divorce?


Even Gord Downie knows how much we Canucks love our Hortons.
posted by bwg at 1:22 AM on July 13, 2009


GUYS IT IS A DONUT SHOP.

Question: How much do the donuts cost? They don't even have them listed on the big board!
posted by Sys Rq at 10:01 AM on July 13, 2009


There's a Tim Hortons in Providence... yeah, most people in PVD don't know that either. I mean, hell, the PVD Civic Center is "The Dunkin' Donuts Center" (which implies that rather than seeing a concert or the circus, you should be wandering into a black hole, but whatevs). In Rhode Island, you can never include the phrase "Turn at the Dunkin' Donuts" when giving directions because that DOESN'T NARROW IT DOWN.

I know many a New Englander who goes through Dunk withdrawals when moving out of range of its heroin-infested coffee.

But mainly, I'm commenting here to say that the Tim Hortons to Dunkin' Donuts translation of "Double Double" would be "Extra Extra." To the point where Dunk'-ers would enter the non-Dunk coffee shop where I used to work and ask for coffee "Extra Extra." Also at the Dunk, you have to ask for it black - coffee regular is one cream, one sugar.

Also, I would like to have a box of Tim Hortons maple cremes and this berry creme thingum I got at DD one time so that I can die of a diabetic coma for SCIENCE while I try and find out which one is tastier.
posted by grapefruitmoon at 12:24 PM on July 13, 2009 [1 favorite]


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