What's the deal with Dunkin Donuts?

[Yoshi]

I haven't been to Dunkin Donuts in years. I used to live a few minutes away from an independent supermarket that had really great donuts for a few dollars per dozen less than Dunkin Donuts and they were larger as well. Now I go to another local supermarket chain that marks them down to $2 for half a dozen later in the afternoon and they are also better than Dunkin Donuts.

 

[Squirlz]

I haven't been to Dunkin Donuts in years. I used to live a few minutes away from an independent supermarket that had really great donuts for a few dollars per dozen less than Dunkin Donuts and they were larger as well. Now I go to another local supermarket chain that marks them down to $2 for half a dozen later in the afternoon and they are also better than Dunkin Donuts.

My favorite Mom & Pop bakery refuses to do "day olds". They say that opens a huge can of worms!

 

[JJZMgailey]

Dunkin is ALL about the coffee for me - I don't think I've ever had one of their donuts.

 

[klacey1]

I can't stand DD. Those fake egg pattys in the breakfast sandwiches creep me out! And I think the donuts are waxy and artificial tasting. If I do want a donut (a rarity), I'd much rather go to a local place. Donut Crazy is one around here that is terrific.

 

[leebee]

We love Dunks! I am a donut fan, and they used to be better (when they made them in-store, fresh, every 4 hours, but that was back in the 70s) and I sure do miss their crullers! They make good coffee, and terrific iced coffee. My favorite is their pumpkin swirl, only available in the fall. I usually take my coffee with cream only (no sweeteners or sugar) but I love pumpkin swirl! DD is a fan of their breakfast sandwiches (better than Timmy Ho's or McD's, and available all day), and we all agree that they have the best bagels. We are not fans of Tim Horton's at all- the donuts have no flavor to them besides "sweet," and we find Krispy Kreme donuts to be soggy, overly sweet, and just not good. I guess it's all a question of what you grew up with and what you're accustomed to, but we love Dunks!

 

[bcla]

Outside of the generic mom and pop donut shops, there are some high-end donut shops in our area. One is located pretty far away, but they have a food truck that goes to weekly events run by a company called Off the Grid. The $3 price is pretty steep, but it is about twice the size. I'm thinking about trying another place, but $3.50 sounds kind of crazy.

When I'm in San Francisco, I'll get donuts at this place called Bob's Donuts. It looks like a greasy spoon, with a Formica counter. It gets rave reviews, although what they sell is a greasy donut. It looks like a traditional donut shop, and the prices are reasonable (about a dollar each). It's the kind of place with pink boxes, open 24 hours. I think some people stagger in from bars late at night looking to sober up. They do have this special donut. It's free if eaten in 2 minutes, with a free t-shirt. 3 minutes gets only the t-shirt. There is a catch though. They call it the "Big Donut".

 

[jormom1030]

They were so much better when I was a kid. I am assuming they were better when they had the trans fats in them.

 

[Cogswel_Cogs]

Not a huge Dunkin fan but if I wanted a donut would have no idea where to in Queens NY aside from Dunkin or supermarket. I don't know of any other place to get one. No mom and pops round here.
Now when its fall and we go apple picking cider donouts are the best.

 

[MataHari22]

We had DD when I live in NY, and now that I've been in PA, one did open close to us a few years ago. Close is about 12 miles away. (The closest one before that, was about 20 miles away.) It seems to do good business. I am not the biggest DD fan, and I hate their coffee. There have been times I have gone in and gotten a hot tea, a banana, and a donut and used their free wifi for a while.

 

[CarolAnn856]

DD - Not a fan of their doughnuts and their breakfast egg sandwiches are disgusting.
KK - LOVE it! Especially when the light is on.
Tim Horton's - Only tried one here in the States, and it was not good. But, next time I'm in Canada I plan to try one there.
Wawa - I live in the Philadelphia suburbs, where Wawa coffee is very popular. I don't drink it, but my husband prefers it over pretty much every other chain. Their doughnuts are okay, but nothing special.

When I lived in Maryland, I loved Montgomery Doughnuts. Unfortunately, though, I think they closed all of their locations.

 

[Disney_traveler]

What y'all need is a Gordough's fix from Austin, TX.

http://gourdoughs.com/gourdoughs-donuts-trailer

 

[Kathryn Merteuil]

I cannot even remember the last time I have had it, but I really like their coffee. To me though, donuts are donuts wherever they come from. I know aficionados will find that statement blasphemous I like almost never touch donuts though. I don't dislike them at all, I just don't get that excited about them.

 

[superme80]

Was very excited when DD finally came to California. Tried it and was very unimpressed. I will go because my BIL is from the East Coast and loves it. It is easy to all meet there as a halfway point.

 

[Jen414]

I kid you not when I say there are literally 11 Dunks within 3 miles from my house. I was trying to count, but then just checked on my app. I love their iced coffee and so do my girls and my husband. I think part of the reason my girls love it is because when the Pats win, a medium cofee is only .87 (Thanks Gronkowski!!) We don't really ever get food there.

 

[Cogswel_Cogs]

I kid you not when I say there are literally 11 Dunks within 3 miles from my house. I was trying to count, but then just checked on my app. I love their iced coffee and so do my girls and my husband. I think part of the reason my girls love it is because when the Pats win, a medium cofee is only .87 (Thanks Gronkowski!!) We don't really ever get food there.

Pretty sure there are 13 by me 3 miles or closer. Probabbly why there aint no one else.

 

[KBoopaloo]

I am a DD coffee fan for sure (I also love that 87 cent coffee after a Pats win!) but almost never eat the donuts. My dad I were in DD one night after a Red Sox game and a very well dressed couple were in there after having dinner somewhere in the Back Bay. They said they were from out of town and knew they needed to try Dunkin Donuts before leaving Boston and they asked us for a recommendation for the best donut...and we laughed and said "none of them." LOL I have a small mom and pop donut shop near my house that has made some of those "Top Ten" lists for donuts nationwide so all donuts besides there are a let down to me.

 

[clori]

My dd16 just told me there are 18 DD within a 5 minute drive. I think we have 10 alone in my small city (5 square miles).

 

[scrapquitler]

My kid was asking about it, so we went out to one of the ones that recently opened in our area. It's not that close to home, but we could mix it in with shopping. It was in an otherwise nondescript strip mall with mostly independent businesses. My kid got a candy cane sprinkled donut, I got a frosted one, and my wife (who hadn't eaten) got a breakfast sandwich. I had the coffee too. The donut was a donut. The coffee seemed like a pretty standard fast food coffee - a little bit bland bland compared to specialty coffee, but easy enough to drink black. My kid was also asking about the lip balm that looks like small coffee cups (I think my kid saw something about it on YouTube). The lip balm was $4, but all I can find online are third party sellers asking at least $10.

In California, donuts are dominated by mom and pop donut shops, which are mostly operated by Asian (especially Cambodian) immigrants. Our biggest regional chain (Winchell's) mostly went away locally. Krispy Kreme has a few locations, although the closest one is small, with little seating. There used to be a bigger one nearby, but I guess the demand couldn't justify the rent.

It was a decent enough donut. I heard when it first opened, there was a long wait to get in. It was a bit expensive, but each donut was pretty good sized, and they had lots of unique options like the candy cane one. I guess the last one around here closed in the 80s, but they're hoping to get back starting with a few shops. Is there really anything that special about them other than being ubiquitous in certain parts of the country?

I live in New England. Dunkin is EVERYWHERE. On the main state road thru my town, we have about 6 of them within a 4 mile stretch. They are like that everywhere around here. The main thing is that the coffee is much better than the standard convenience store coffee, the price is way better than Starbucks (which there aren't many of -- my town of 50K doesn't even have a Starbucks, but one is opening next month) and they are always open. The donuts are decent, though nowhere near as good as the local Mom and Pop places -- in my town the absolute best donuts are from a place called Neils. Krispy Kreme was so unpopular here that the couple we had closed down after a couple of years. A few years ago we got a bunch of Tim Horton's popping up in the area, and they suddenly closed. I don't know if they were unpopular or if the investors left the area or what.

 

[dclpluto]

Dunkin' Donuts is just a average donut. But does very good in the USA because us Americans love calories and food that is loaded with fat.

 

[Cannot_Wait_4Disney]

My kid was asking about it, so we went out to one of the ones that recently opened in our area. It's not that close to home, but we could mix it in with shopping. It was in an otherwise nondescript strip mall with mostly independent businesses. My kid got a candy cane sprinkled donut, I got a frosted one, and my wife (who hadn't eaten) got a breakfast sandwich. I had the coffee too. The donut was a donut. The coffee seemed like a pretty standard fast food coffee - a little bit bland bland compared to specialty coffee, but easy enough to drink black. My kid was also asking about the lip balm that looks like small coffee cups (I think my kid saw something about it on YouTube). The lip balm was $4, but all I can find online are third party sellers asking at least $10.

In California, donuts are dominated by mom and pop donut shops, which are mostly operated by Asian (especially Cambodian) immigrants. Our biggest regional chain (Winchell's) mostly went away locally. Krispy Kreme has a few locations, although the closest one is small, with little seating. There used to be a bigger one nearby, but I guess the demand couldn't justify the rent.

It was a decent enough donut. I heard when it first opened, there was a long wait to get in. It was a bit expensive, but each donut was pretty good sized, and they had lots of unique options like the candy cane one. I guess the last one around here closed in the 80s, but they're hoping to get back starting with a few shops. Is there really anything that special about them other than being ubiquitous in certain parts of the country?

There is really nothing special about Dunkin Donuts. They remind me a lot of Winchell's. Nondescript corporate slop.