Tim Horton's is a cultural institution in Canada. Besides the Mounties, Canadian Tire (aka Igloo Sears, ask about their Sandy McTire currency), those wacky NFB movies if you attend film school, The Trailer Park Boys and CBC's Hockey Night In Canada, Timmies is one of their better known national traits. Considering that Tim Horton (the namesake Hockey player) died in a car crash driving from Toronto to Buffalo (he was playing for the Sabres at the time and suspected of driving drunk) he was a well regarded figure south of the border in Western New York. The coffee-and-donut chain was also a bit of a treat during my UB undergrad days and us denizens of "sub-tropical Ontario" enjoyed their "roll up the rim to win" promotions as much as our Canadian compatriots up in The Six.
Tim Horton's widow sold her half of the chain to her husband's business partner for a quick payout - then she regretted the decision and tried for years to get that half back - well, she somehow still got her foot through the door - her daughter is married to the partner's son, so there is a bit of family control even though no one up high is named Horton (well, at least it's not a Loblaw). The chain itself grew by leaps and bounds in Canada to the point where long distance road trips (something like Windsor, Ontario to Montreal, Quebec) is dictated by how many Timmies are on the Ontario 400 highways until you reach Autoroute 20 in Quebec, in which case you might stick with Timmies or hit either a Couche-Tard (French Canadian 7-Eleven clone), La Belle Province, (great poutine) or an Amir (Lebanese joint great for Koftes and Mint tea). Oh well, once you get to the ON/QC border you are only an hour from Montreal anyways - much greater things await. Timmies merged in 2014 with Burger King (which in itself are owned by a Brazilian venture capital fund), so you tend to see BK located close to Timmies in the Northeast - that's normal. That being said, they are not in New England (Dunkin donut's home territory)...and if you are in Maine with a hankering for Timbits you have to drive to Bangor for that. Downeasters typically gun for their own potato donuts.
So, what's with Timmies in the Big Apple? Well, there's actually 2 kinds of Timmies - the ones that were formerly Dunkin Donuts held by the Reise Organization (they run tourist trap mini-food courts in midtown and I suspect the location upstairs at Airtrain Jamaica terminal), and the standalone stores (like the one downstairs on the ground level of the terminal) . The Reise ones, well, suck, and with the exception of the one at Madison Square Park/Penn Station, all of them have closed down. The standalone locations are the better ones, both in terms of turnover, management and menu choices. In fact, the reviews featuring rude / indifferent management and terrible coffee are typically from the upstairs location. The one upstairs is also priced for Airport tourists while the one downstairs is priced for local folks - so take the escalator down if you want to save a few bucks.
So, let's set expectations straight here - Timmies is a Canadian Donut chain, so if you are expecting something more healthy lay off the crackpipe and walk south on Sutphin Blvd - there's at least 2 joints with juices and better food (Yah Suh AYCE, G's joint and Tony/Armando's Jamaican Deli comes to mind) within 2 blocks of this location, so if you are local and choose to bitch about the situation - that's on you. But if you are on the LIRR or heading to JFK, head downstairs - service is slightly better as is the food quality. Quality is arguably better than Dunkin, and you got some of the more interesting Mountie kibbie like the Maple donuts or Cream Filled Rings. As for drinks - the cold brew is a little odd (mine was warm off the cup and a bit sour), but on a hot day, the Ice Capps (Cappuccinos) are a must. AFAIK this is the only subway friendly Timmies in Queens - there are a few further away but they are part of the Bolla Markets attached to service stations. The other standalone Timmies are located across from Burger Kings in Staten Island.
Huh, and if you want to be a punk, there is a Dunkin Donuts on the other side of Sutphin Blvd near the Urine scented underpass. Welcome to flavor country, pilgrim. read more