Dunkin’ Donuts

So it’s fairly dirty but I came in because I saw plenty of outlets and my phone is dying… But don’t expect any of then to be working.

The only thing different from this establishment compared to any other Dunkin’ I have been to is here they will make you really believe in magic. You’ll forget all about Disney World. I mean the way the customer in front of me handed over their payment and the immediate yell of «NEXT! NEXT! NEXT!!!» from the cashier’s mouth before she could even open her drawer and count the customers change back was enough to make me think I could really walk through people.
Abracadabra, that was a fail.

Awhile ago I swore that I wouldn’t go to Dunkin because I usually have a bad experience but the staff here was pleasant, quick and the manager even gave me a free donut because the woman that ordered after me got her food first. Customer service goes a long way and I only waited for ~3 minutes for my bagel.

I went here last night, to see the note on the door.
. «Because of Ramadam we r close for 10 min.»
I can respect anyone wanting to pray or acknowledge their spiritual practice.
I waited, and waited, and waited, about a half hour.
Other people showed up and also waited and left. Some guy comes to the door, unlocks it, and locks it, and said «We’re closed, go!»
What’s that about?

DO NOT order a birthday cake from this location.
Not to complicate this tale but my wife wanted to order from a Haagen Daz store but Nooooo I wanted for my daughter her fav and mine the Chocolate chip Mint. So we go to the Dunkin by our house and attempt to order a chocolate chip mint Birthday Cake. You would have thought I was Edward Snowdon wanting to check your phone lines. It turned out (per my wife) that I was dealing with the manager and I must have repeated my request which was really complicated… A Chocolate Chip Mint Ice Cream Cake a half doz. times following the fellow to the in store refrigerator twice before I realize he had assumed I wanted it now. I than told him no not for several days. Once again I became Edward Snowdon (who actually is an American Hero but that is for another day) and no can do! Well at this point my patience had chilled. I walked out of the store wondering where I had gone astray. Still no B– Cake. Well there is always the Internet. And, guess what it’s easy to order any cake any favor you want from almost any store. Ha, sounds easy, right! Wrong. But, I don’t want to get ahead of myself or my now quest.
So, I ordered my Donut Shaped Ice Cream Mint Chocolate Chip Cake. Pick-​up Friday at 11:00am from the 395 Hudson st. New York, NY…
DO NOT order a birthday cake from this location.
Not to complicate this tale but my wife wanted to order from a Haagen Daz store but Nooooo I wanted for my daughter her fav and mine the Chocolate chip Mint. So we go to the Dunkin by our house and attempt to order a chocolate chip mint Birthday Cake. You would have thought I was Edward Snowdon wanting to check your phone lines. It turned out (per my wife) that I was dealing with the manager and I must have repeated my request which was really complicated… A Chocolate Chip Mint Ice Cream Cake a half doz. times following the fellow to the in store refrigerator twice before I realize he had assumed I wanted it now. I than told him no not for several days. Once again I became Edward Snowdon (who actually is an American Hero but that is for another day) and no can do! Well at this point my patience had chilled. I walked out of the store wondering where I had gone astray. Still no B– Cake. Well there is always the Internet. And, guess what it’s easy to order any cake any favor you want from almost any store. Ha, sounds easy, right! Wrong. But, I don’t want to get ahead of myself or my now quest.
So, I ordered my Donut Shaped Ice Cream Mint Chocolate Chip Cake. Pick-​up Friday at 11:00am from the 395 Hudson st. New York, NY… my story that I’m about to unfold is based on my 395 Hudson chapter of the not so great Ice Cream Cake Misadventure.
Being an on time kind of guy I show up at the requested time and within about 5 Minutes I am shown the cake. I’m pretty happy at this point the Internet seems to work. Ha, little did I know. Ten, 20, 30,40 did I fall into a time warp. No cake, thank god the fire department seems to coffee break at this spot but add to my aggravation when in response to my «how much longer must I wait» with a I don’t’ know. Ok, I’ll stop turns out they had no box to fit the cake they sell and when they finally bring it to me my wife’s headache has reached epic heights and no thank you I don’t need a free beverage just let our people go!
I will not be returning anytime soon for any cake.

A pretty good Dunkin Donuts, especially given the huge range DD tends to have in NYC.
I still have no idea why Baskin Robbins (which seems perpetually dead, even in the heat of summer) has any space in this thing, as it goes completely unused.
Service is generally quite fast, donuts are pretty fresh. The place can get very messy and they run out of big straws a lot, but they get the job done quick.
Note — Friday mornings tend to be a bit of a challenge as random confused office people have the idea of ordering Donuts for their offices yet have seemingly never ordered donuts before and feel the need to try to understand the exact recipe for every donut ever made by any Dunkin Donuts in the observable universe. Besides that, they’re fine.

If you are not a fan of rap and reggae, than steer clear of this place at night. That’s all you’ll hear. If you are, than you’ll be very pleased. Don’t expect too much out of service. You’re lucky if you get a smile out of them when you place your order. If you want real customer service, go there during the day time. The day manager will take good care of you (and with a smile).

Dont bother — I started coming here in an effort to spend less money on my morning coffee at Starbucks. I love DD raspberry iced tea. Not bad for a $ 1.60. However, they can NEVER seem to get it right. I asked for 1 lemon so that the drink doesnt become tart (they added 3). I also ask for liquid sugar, since I dont enjoy sucking up undissolved particles of sugar. They lady at the register took my order and told it to the lady right next to her. She handed me my drink, and said «liquid sugar». I got back to the office — sugar granules. This has happened 3 times. Forget it.

It’s the Dunk. Donuts, coffee, you get the picture. Only been there a handful of times to get my occasional fried sugar dough fix, but the goods were always fresh. And yes, very clean, too.
Why the 5 stars? The crew. Mostly kids, like high schoolers (which would be odd, given that I go there during normal school hours). They’re funny, they’re lively, and they’re friendly. Oh, and bonus if a cop is there. They love to bust each other’s chops. And their customers. Bonus point if you see them doing it to a cop.
Great way to start the day.

This review is only in regard to the Baskin Robbins section of the store. I went to the Baskin Robbins website and ordered a very simple vanilla sheet cake with chocolate ice cream to be picked up 2 days later for a baby shower. Later that same day I was called and told my order could not be filled because they did not have vanilla cake, but they offered me pralines and cream. Umm, what? How do you just not HAVE vanilla? It’s a freaking ice cream cake staple! But the worst part of this is that I just checked my bank account and they already charged me for it! They must have put my credit card through as soon as I placed the order! Now I’m being told I have to wait for the credit to my account to go through, which could be a few days.
In short, shoddy customer service and a complete ripoff. I will never go there again!

It may seem a little silly to review a Dunkin’ Donuts, but this just isn’t any Dunkin’ Donuts.
Well, technically, it’s a Dunkin’ Deli and Baskin Robbins also, but that’s not what I’m talkin’ about right now.
What I’m talkin’ about right now is this crew makes the best Iced Latte with Caramel and Skim Milk I’ve had at any Dunkin’. I don’t know what is it, but they’ve got the formula down pat — not too sweet, and also, not 95% dairy. Of course, this also means they’ve subsequently managed to ruin Iced Lattes at every other Dunkin I’ve since encountered. Not that that’s stopped me, but I display serious disappointment towards inferior Dunkin’s now with just that first sip and a shake of my head.
Anyway. I’m a DD loyalist, for sure. But recently, I realized I had never had a Coolatta. So, on a whim, I ordered one over the Iced Latte. This lead to me ordering Coolattas for the next ten days straight! Where the hell had I been all this time? What kind of dark, disgusting, but seriously delicious downward spiral had this frozen temptress cast upon me? That was some crazy streak (it almost feels an alternative universe away), but I think we can all breathe a sigh of relief as I have switched back to my trusty Iced Lattes for good. Breathe, people, breathe.
So, moving on, even if I do favor the Donuts sector here, this location’s other personalities have come in handy, as well. The Deli is a decent option when you’ve got to grab and go, and offers a few items beyond the typical flatbread sandwiches, while the Baskin Robbins side of the house is our office go-​to for birthday ice cream cakes.
But really, I’m here for my daily dose of chilly caffeine-​y goodness come mid-​afternoon. Have there been off days? Of course. But typically, the staff is at the top of their game — and, not to mention, always super friendly. The Manhattan pricing for this fix is the catch, but then again, with suburban sub-​par results out there beyond Hudson St., I’ll pay the extra buck.

I am now reviewing all DDs based on 2 criteria: service & price. Quality is consistent across all locations. And anyone who knows me is painfully aware that I consider the product 5 STARS! You can take the girl out of Boston, but… you know the rest. I am a die-​hard DD fanatic.
So, anywho, 2 stars for the ridiculously slow service here. Today I counted 6 employees at 10:30am and only one person manning a register, one taking care of hot food items. No Masshole would stand for this crap. Makes me really appreciate how efficient & seamless DD service is at home.
Also they have been steadily increasing the prices here for the past 3 years. Believe a breakfast flatbread/​coffee combo is now up to $ 5.09 before tax. I really regret not having tracked this better so I could report hard data on the YOY per item cost increase. Totally preposterous & in no way reflective of inflation rates.

I want to give this Dunkin Donuts a 5 star review really bad like! After all, the place is huge compared to other Dunkins, it’s always clean, they hardly ever screw up an order, and the staff are some of the friendliest around. So why only 4 stars?
The Price.
C’mon guys, I know the neighborhood is expensive, but why are you charging so much more than your other location just 4 blocks away? And that’s just Manhattan! Don’t get me started on the price difference between here and Queens! I understand property location/​rent/​etc in New York is crazy, but that doesn’t mean I should be paying over $ 2 more here for the same exact thing I can get in Queens for $ 2 less.
Still, I sure do love the people that work here. You’re treated more like a regular than any other Dunkin. And if you read my review of the neighboring store on Varick Street, you’ll understand why I’d rather fork over a little bit more than deal with that location.
Oh! And did I mention that this is a Dunkin DELI? They serve sandwiches! Cuban pressed things, and flatbreads. Pretty good, but again, expensive.

One of the not-​so-​common DD’d that has a «Dunkin Deli» which is basically a Togo sandwich shop.
Had a pumpkin coffee coolata today that was simply amazing, i wish they would keep this flavor year-​round.
Or course the prices are inflated, the small coolata was 4 bucks.
The place is well kept and the staff is mostly efficient, they have the New york flavor with NY1 on the TV and the CBS-​FM 101.1 oldies radio station pumping through the speakers.
I like it here but wish they would lower the prices about %5 they act like they are in Midtown.

last week i got the grossest soup ever from this dunkin donuts. i wrote a crappy Unilocal review, and sent an email to dunkin’ donuts as well. this morning i received an email from the franchisee owner apologizing and offering me a $ 25 gift certificate. ok, starting to repair some bridges. i was sincerely appreciative. i gave him my work address, and later this afternoon a fella came over with the actual gift card.
out of sheer curiosity, i checked the balance, and it was $ 10. now, i’m not one to complain about free stuff. $ 10 is $ 10. and i certainly appreciate the effort and attention. but please, please, please don’t tell me it’s gonna be $ 25. an extra $ 15 at dunkin’ donuts is a crap load of iced coffees (bought at the location by my apt, not the dump next to work). it’s just the principle of the matter. sigh… never, ever going back.

Dunkin’ … Deli?
That’s right… It’s the strange result of Dunkin’ Donuts owning the Togo’s chain of sandwich shops, which has free-​standing locations on the West Coast. Here in the East, Togo’s apparently was dual– or triple-​branded with Dunkin’ Donuts and Baskin-​Robins. In the late 1990s the name «Dunkin’ Deli» replaced Togo’s in these locations.
Dunkin’ Donuts acknowledges the Deli brand’s existence in the nutritional information section of its website, but otherwise makes no mention in its store locator or brand history sections.
Strange history aside, Dunkin’ Deli’s are extremely rare in New York City. Since not searchable on Dunkin’ Donuts’ site it’s anyone’s guess to how many of these locations exist in New York City. I’ve personally been to over 50 Dunkin’ Donuts in this city, however, and I know of only this one.
From the outside, apart from some Dunkin’ Deli labeling, this looks like an average Dunkin’ Donuts. On the inside, for the most part, this still looks like an average Dunkin’ Donuts. However, the menu board is extended to include the deli sandwiches, with selections such as a Chicken Bruschetta Sandwich and a Turkey and Bacon Club Sandwich.
There are multiple bread selections, such as white, wheat, and flat. Toasting appears to be the norm as do onions on sandwiches where you might expect someone to want them. Unlike Subway and Quiznos, personalization of toppings is not encouraged, with order reception taking place at the coffee counter, fulfillment in a separate area separated off on many sides by a solid wall, and delivery occurring from a window labeled «Sandwich Pickup».
I’ve had both the chicken bruschetta and turkey/​bacon club sandwiches. Both had the hot toasted taste of Quiznos, and both were loaded with onions. The tomatoes on my recent turkey/​bacon club had no flavor.
One important last item of discussion is price. Dunkin’ Deli is not particularly competitive priced, with the small sandwiches priced around $ 4.99 and the large around $ 7.99. The small sandwiches come nowhere near in size to Subway’s five-​dollar footlongs, so lunch here is certainly not economical.
While not inexpensive, an occasion meal from Dunkin’ Deli provides a welcome, more flavorful alternative to the suite of subs from Subway.

There’s this girl behind the counter who doesn’t seem to understand what sugar is meant for … because she has consistently messed up my order of a medium caramel coffee … light & SWEET. It ruins my whole morning when I have to fix the order that someone consistently messes up.
Furthermore, why do they think mayo is supposed to be on a Philly Cheese steak sandwich???