I like to think of myself as a woman of and for the people. I don’t have the time or money to always be stopping at local coffee shops, and in those moments I often turn to the coffee chains. In Buffalo, two coffee franchises reign supreme: Tim Horton’s and Dunkin’ Donuts. And by that, I mean Tim Horton’s reigns and Dunkin’ Donuts exists.
On a recent visit, I walked to my nearest Tim Horton’s before work and stood in a long line of customers waiting for their morning cup of Joe, when I heard one of the cashiers say that she was only taking cash. Suddenly my heart began palpitating, my sweat glands opened up like a leaky dam, and my face began to contort into the look of a tortured animal. You may think I’m exaggerating, but a stranger in line nearby saw my physical reaction to the announcement and kindly leaned over, clarifying that there was still a register accepting credit cards. My cup of Tim Horton’s before work is not something to joke about.
It’s rare to find a Western New Yorker who doesn’t strongly prefer Tim Horton’s to Dunkin’. The sweet nectar of the Iced Capp and the chances of winning big during Roll Up the Rim to Win season make Tim Horton’s a huge favorite. Walking along the side of the road at my farmhouse, the only litter more prominent than emptied boxes of Franzia is the sprinkling of Tim Horton cups, rims unrolled to reveal a “Play Again L.” In fact, I once stooped so low as to crawl into the ditch just to check a cup I’d noticed, hoping for a Charlie and the Chocolate Factory type of scenario. In reality, no local would be stupid enough to throw out their cup without checking their rim. America may run on Dunkin’, but Buffalo runs on Tim Horton’s.
Every other corner seems to have a Tim Horton’s and every Tim Horton’s seems to have a backed up drive-thru line. Visiting the two establishments located next to each other, I ordered comparable items from both stores. Between the two stores, large orange cones had been set up to prevent customers from moving freely between the two parking lots (ridiculous).
Here were the findings:
Bagels: Everything Bagel with Cream Cheese
TH ($2.29) v. DD ($2.29)
Comparison: Dunkin’ Donuts has better bagels. Tim Horton’s bagels taste like you just bought a bag of Lender’s or Thomas’s bagels from the grocery store and then put some panini grill marks on it to not make it seem like a garbage bagel.
Donuts: Cruller and Filled Donut
TH ($.99) v. DD ($.99)
Comparison: Tim Horton’s provides a tastier donut. Dunkin’ Donut’s jelly filling is extremely unappetizing and shouldn’t even be called “jelly”. However, my brother and I preferred the cruller at Dunkin Donut’s, given that it was less sweet and fluffier. Meanwhile, my parents much preferred the sweeter, lardier Tim Horton’s cruller. Rule of thumb: only order a Tim Horton’s cruller if you were born circa 1950 or before.
Muffins: Fruity
TH ($1.59) v. DD ($1.59)
Comparison: Tim Horton’s had already run out of berry muffins. Their muffins have changed over the years and are not very good. The strawberry cheesecake muffin we received tasted weirdly light and almost like cake batter. The reduced-fat blueberry muffin from Dunkin’ was a better muffin overall, but after we’d sampled both, I just threw out both muffins. Not worth eating.
Breakfast Sandwiches: Sausage, Egg, and Cheese
TH ($3.23) v. DD ($3.49)
Comparison: This was difficult. Dunkin’ does not have the warm butter-y biscuit option for breakfast sandwiches, but they do have a ciabatta roll that was surprisingly delicious. Beside the difference in bread, both sandwiches were ordered with sausage, egg, and cheese. The cheese is exactly the same, but the sausage on Tim Horton’s is well-seasoned while Dunkin’ has a maple-like sausage. The egg component at Tim Horton’s is a pre-scrambled type of yellow block, while Dunkin serves something that resembles a real egg. The favorite vote was inconclusive. I preferred the less seasoned Dunkin sandwich, my brother stood by Tim Horton’s, and my parents were undecided.
Coffee: Black and Double-Double
TH ($1.78) v. DD ($1.79)
Comparison: Very comparable, though Dunkin’ Donuts was more watery and thus plays second fiddle. When served with double-double (2 cream, 2 sugar), Tim Horton’s machine is much more generous and creates a very sweet beverage, which is something to keep in mind if you’re diabetic, watching your weight, or generally enjoy actually being able to taste your coffee.
Cups: Tim Horton’s cups do not come with a sleeve unless requested, so you’re likely to be burned. Meanwhile, Dunkin Donuts serves coffee beverages in styrofoam cups that make them easy to hold.
Franchise Information: I was only too horrified to realize that Tim Horton’s is in fact owned by the same franchise as Burger King. It is based out of Canada, so you can feel international going there. It all began with Tim Horton, a Canadian hockey player who started the franchise with a business partner in 1964. In 2014, Burger King purchased the company for $11.4 billion. As of 2016, Tim Horton’s had 683 U.S. locations and an annual revenue of $3 billion.
Dunkin Donuts began in 1950 by a man named William Rosenburg and is based out of Canton, Massachusetts. The chain has over 12,000 restaurants in 36 countries.
Pricing: Almost exactly the same, but Timmy Ho’s was cheaper in the coffee and breakfast sandwich categories by a meager amount.
Overall, Tim Horton’s remained the leader, but Dunkin’ did win in some categories and there is a much smaller difference than suspected. One also must question Dunkin’ after news like this law suit by a customer (who sounds very Polish) who is currently suing after years of being served MARGERINE or BUTTER ALTERNATIVES, despite asking for butter. No one wants to be served deceit each morning, and so Jan took a stand.
The bottom line? Fast food muffins are gross, while breakfast sandwiches are always good. The coffees were comparable, but if it is Roll Up the Rim season, there isn’t a chance I’d choose Dunkin’ over Tim Horton’s.
I really enjoyed reading this comparison of the two coffee chain shops! Will definitely go for the DD bagel next time I have a hankering for bagels! Thank you for the time you took to compare the two.