To paraphrase a certain yelp-elitist's words about Dunkin', I'm not sure what I'd do without one being near.
Thanks to my chicky, I'm a lot more "well-traveled" over the past 4 years, and I have to say that out of all of the Dunkin' Donuts I've attempted, this is by far my favorite one. Well-lit, with a handful of (usually) clean tables for the groupings of teens and elderly men that gather, and mostly looking like a no-frills newspaper stand cafe you might walk into at the mall.
Nowadays, outside of this immediate area, they build them more like Starbucks clones (minus the hipsters and beanbags... oh, and minus the wifi, sadly) in an effort to and catch up with the cafe industry that said-mermaid logo helped become mainstream. Semi-lit, valet lines to stand in, three people to process your order with a separate section soley for the distribution of your goods, and attitude. But not ours, no sir, thanks anyway. You just go ahead and you can keep all of that.
Dunkin's menu has done the same catch-up now that they serve more than just the faux-fresh dozen or so standard cake donut flavors and that black coffee that had been their trademarked staples since the company opened in 1950.
Now for food they even serve bagels--delicious ones might I add, egg-white [from a carton] omelet sandwiches, and toaster oven cooked flatbread melts, to name a few additions.
Their main draw these days is their drinks however, which seem to center around flavor customization (which I assume is syrup-based), if you want your black coffee to taste like mocha, caramel or toasted almond, well now you can. They've now added these "crazy" things called lattes, cappuccinos, dunkaccinos (half capp, half hot chocolate--which their hot chocolates and hot white chocolates are amazing, even if they're not made from scratch), "iced" varieties of everything I just mentioned, an ultra-slushie style of drink they call a coolatta, and over a dozen standard styles of tea. O' how the times, they are a'changin'.
I'm not any kind of coffee connoisseur, I generally like my coffee to taste like an onset of Type-2 Diabetes, but I believe I can safely say that their coffee--when not left to burn in the pot by these late-adolescents, these post-teens that work there--is a few steps up from the mild coffee taste you get from ordering coffee at a chain diner. Not incredibly bold--or flavor-rich--but not exactly mild either. As I said, your mileage may vary since I always request at least a couple of sugars and never get it unflavored. ('Hey, hey now! Who put all of this coffee-flavor in my coffee, damnit!')
Back in previous decades, it used to be that every-other Dunkin' made their own donuts fresh on-location and then shipped them out to the poor shlubs in the neighboring area that didn't have their own micro-bakery attached. Now however, there's generally one "central" Dunkin' that ships out to other, far-stretching counties, and this Dunkin' is not one of those. The Johnstown, Gloversville, and all other Dunkins in any kind of close-vicinity to this area get their "fresh" baked goods from the Albany area, forty-five miles away. They still manage to arrive fresh-tasting however, and they get huge shipments every day, or at least every other, to keep up with demand; rarely is there any left to actually get thrown out by the time the next shipment comes. Other locations in the area seem to absolutely never have the donut or bagel you want but the Johnstown location is good for having actual product in stock, maybe that helps them turn a profit? Crazy thing that is.
All in all, I love Dunkin', and especially this one.They're one of only a few 24-hour shops throughout the entire chain, which is a big bonus, something I never knew I could miss so much. And if that wasn't enough, they have a drive-thru window which is another feature that they've stopped adding for most newer locations. read more