I stopped at this Dunkin' to the store with my child, thinking it would be a quick, simple stop for my usual order. The store itself was nearly empty when I walked in, which normally feels like a good sign -- no rush, no chaos, plenty of time to get the order right. Apparently that was far too optimistic of me.
I ordered a medium iced coffee, light and sweet (4 cream, 4 sugar) and a bacon, egg, and cheese on a croissant. My total came to $10.15, which at this point I'm sadly used to paying, so I didn't think much of it. I grabbed my food and drink and went back to my car, ready to head out.
That's when the experience truly unraveled.
First, the coffee. I took one sip and nearly gagged. It tasted like someone brewed the coffee using the tears of overworked baristas and then forgot every ingredient that makes it drinkable. The "light and sweet" part of the order was apparently treated as more of a vague suggestion than an actual instruction. Instead of the usual creamy, sweet Dunkin iced coffee, I was handed a cup of what tasted like straight bitter coffee concentrate -- as if the cream and sugar were merely whispered to from across the room.
Then I opened my bacon, egg, and cheese.
Calling it a "sandwich" feels generous. The croissant had clearly gone through some sort of traumatic event during assembly. The bacon was sliding off to one side, the egg was halfway hanging out of the bread, and the cheese... oh, the cheese. The cheese was a cold, stiff, perfectly square slice, sitting on top like it had just come directly from the refrigerator and had never even seen heat. This is supposed to be a hot breakfast sandwich, yet somehow the cheese remained completely unmelted, like it was protesting the entire operation.
But the real moment that sealed the deal happened while I was still inside.
A kind EMS worker came in and picked up coffees for himself and his partner. He waited patiently while the employee finished making my food. Once she was done, he politely said, "Excuse me, do you have any napkins?" -- genuinely one of the most normal and reasonable requests a person could make in a coffee shop.
The employee looked at him as if he had personally insulted her entire family lineage and snapped, "Well I don't have napkins." The tone was so unnecessarily rude that the poor guy looked completely caught off guard. It was one of those moments where everyone around silently thinks, ...what is your problem?
This man was nothing but polite, and the response he got was pure attitude.
All in all, this was a surprisingly terrible experience. Dunkin is usually my go-to -- I've had great coffee and food from countless other locations. But between the coffee that tasted like liquid regret, the breakfast sandwich that looked like it was assembled during an earthquake, and the incredibly rude customer service, this location managed to turn a simple coffee run into a full-blown disaster.
Needless to say, I will absolutely be driving the extra few minutes to literally any other Dunkin next time. read more