Finally -- a Dunkin' Donuts in San Diego...

[bizzwriter]

...County. Camp Pendleton to be exact. The very first in California. Although a military ID card is apparently not necessary to go check it out, I won't be abandoning Mary's anytime soon.

http://lajolla.patch.com/articles/dun...

[davidnaimark]

I went to school in Boston, so probably a nostalgia thing but. . .I loved the plain Dunkins as well as a split, buttered, toasted corn muffin (which is the way they will serve it, if asked). The coffee was never a big deal in the 80s--you just got it to dunk the donuts or muffins.

Spencer liked the corn muffins too. . .for those of you that liked the detective series.

[pine time]

Yup, I think it's a "love what's not available" thing. Back east, Mr. Pine and I once drove 100 miles to find a DD. Here in S.D., we drive to Yuma for Cracker Barrel. Neither are exactly the epitome of good stuff, but when a craving hits...

[DiningDiva]

:-D...I have an employee whos' family also drives to Yuma to go to Cracker Barrel and he said the same thing. It's not that the food is so good so much as it is you're just trying to satisfy a craving.

[mattstolz]

prepare for about 100 more of them within a few months.

all selling the same crappy donuts and meh coffee

[DiningDiva]

Meh coffee is right. What's the deal with their coffee supposing to be so wonderful? That's what they brew in my office suite and I just don't get it.

[Pedr0]

"Meh"? Don't sell it short. DD coffee is foul.

[DiningDiva]

Or is that fowl ;-)

[mattstolz]

at least being fowl would explain the taste...

[Rodzilla]

Matt Stolz stalking the SD boards? Is this a sign?!

East Coast transplants that aren't coffee snobs will love this.

[Beach Chick]

Who doesn't LOVE Matt...hope he stalks the SD board more often!

[mattstolz]

haha sorry yall... i saw someone singing dunkin donuts praises on new discussions and had to clear it up.

*back to stalking*

*unstalking*
PS- just signed a new lease on a place ON miami beach. so, ya know, if ya ever wanna make a cross country trip...

[RB Hound]

Dunkin Donuts is a "gateway" coffee, for people moving up from unidentified swill to coffees that actually have a taste.

[DiningDiva]

RBH, personally I think the Dunkin' coffe *is* swill. I actually stop at Starbucks on the way to work so I won't have to drink what's in the pot in my office ;-D

[RB Hound]

I tried it once when it first came out, just to see what the big deal was. Got the whole bean. Wasn't bad, but it hardly was going to supplant TJ's Columbian as my baseline.

[DiningDiva]

I think we all need to ask the question...What would cgfan say? :-)

[Stiflers_Mom]

What Dunkin Donuts is to coffee, In-N-Out is to hamburgers.

[honkman]

Agree - both are way overrated and serve mainly crap

[cstr]

Both places have their nitch and customer base, look at how they sell each day. It's just not my nitch! I'll stay with Bird Rock Coffee Roasters.

[Cathy]

There were at least two in the county- on Spring Street near the 125 (now a Sunny's) and on Convoy (where "A Cafe" is now located, the mall with Crab Hut, O'Brien's, Tofu House, Tapioca Heaven, etc...). Back East, Dunkin is a big deal. Apparently no local bakeries.

Mary's is walking distance from my house(a long walk, which totally justifies buying one donut a week). Dunkin doesn't make crullers...

[Idyllwild]

I lived "Back East" for a long time, and nobody I knew ever considered Dunkin Donuts a big deal.

[Cathy]

My husband was raised in Quincy, Mass, where Dunkin was founded in 1950. It did and does seem to be a big deal in that large Boston area.

Since the company is nationwide, and the coffee beans have been sold at Costco for more than three years now, it seems that enough people do purchase their products -either because they like the taste or for nostalgia- to keep the company viable and expanding.

[cstr]

Back on the other side, DD is a huge competitor for Starbucks and they have stores just on about every corner. They discontinued crullers cause the size was not efficient for boxing with their other round products, donuts, bagels etc. I'm not a fan of their stuff, except maybe an iced coffee now and then, but like other fast food conglomorartes they'll do well at the expense of the mom and pop shops not Starbucks. I hope my favorite Mom & Pop shop survives.

[Idyllwild]

I know DD is a big chain, I think everyplace I lived in the East was within a five minute drive of one. I just had never heard anyone get excited about it before this thread, even having lived 30 years in states where DD was common. Maybe it's mostly a Massachusetts thing.

[mattstolz]

I'd say its a big deal in the same way mcdonalds is a big deal.

people like hamburgers, but dont always have time to make their own. so they get a crappy one instead.

[RB Hound]

There were a handful in California (including one in San Diego - maybe one of the "Sunny Donut" locations?) in the mid 90s, but they shut them all down.

[cstr]

They went public and have eyed expansion in many US markets, will probably see them on more corners soon. Their main product lines are coffee and coffee drinks supported by sandwiches, not donuts.