Saturday, January 31, 2009

Minnesota runs on Dunkin

Well, Minnesota is ABOUT to run on Dunkin.

I believe all the Krispy Kreme donut shops in Minnesota have closed (we still have them in Seattle), but now Dunkin Donuts is about to make major inroads into the North Star State, opening more than 100 locations in MN and Wisconsin.


Rob and I tried a couple DDs when we were in Boston, and I really think you need to be an East Coaster and to have grown up with their donuts and coffee to think they are anything special. People especially rave about the coffee, but it tastes oily and office-percolator to me. Sorry, DD fans. Still, I'd give it another shot, because they are one pop-culturey place, what with the pink and orange fat-fonted logo and all.

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

I was born and raised in New England and I agreeDunkin' Donuts is nothing special, Tim Horton's on the other hand...

Nilliem said...

Heh, if you think DD is oily, there are other, local chains where its much worse! And Starbucks is having a heck of a time opening other than the super urban places because its generally agreed(informally, of course)that its too bitter, and strong.

I brew my Eight O'clock coffee at home after I grind it. I only buy iced coffee cuz that is darn near impossible to make well, at home.

To each area, their own poison! :)

Carlos said...

Are any donuts anything special? There's only so much you can do with fried dough. Krispy Kreme is way overrated.

Anonymous said...

Yes you should try Timmy's nothing else even compares. I'm not sure though if you guys have them in the states or not. Either way its the best coffee out there.

Anonymous said...

I'm a midwesterner transplanted to Boston and have learned to love my Dunkin. (If you're an iced coffee fan, there's no other place to go -- the large is like the Big Gulp of iced coffee and they'll make it flavored for free.)

Perfesser Slaughter said...

Heretic.

DD coffee is smooth, friendly, and deep, like Oprah. She gets oily sometimes too, but on balance I'd rather have her than not. If they allowed me to add my own cream rather than flooding my beloved coffee with a dairy vat, I'd be in heaven.

As for the doughnuts, they have substance, resisting the teeth just enough before yielding. There's a Puritan rigor to them, coupled with a comforting hug of rich flavor and small-town companionability. Far weightier than the cloying mush peddled by Krispy Kreme and so popular in the South, where every food, whether dessert or entree, should be sweet to the point of instant cavities and collapsing on the plate.

Eagle Archambeault said...

As a former New England resident, I just wanted to enter my two cents - Dunkin Donuts used to be much better. I think a lot of the problem is they reformulated a number of years back, and the donuts are pretty much ruined now. I still eat the jelly ones though, yum sugar bombs :-)

Anonymous said...

Tim's....no other.

Anonymous said...

D&D used to be good, but now it always tastes watered down. It's like hot brown water. And I'm born & raised right here in Connecticut. If you buy the beans at the store & brew it at home it's decent.

The donuts are pretty good, but you have to be in the mood to eat their rubberized egg sandwiches.

Anonymous said...

I also grew up around Dunkin' and I also don't think they're anything special (ditto Tim Horton).

But they're better than most others. Donuts (to me) range from pretty good to not so good, and Dunkin' Donuts are pretty good.