The Breakfast District?

On one certain stretch of Delaware Avenue near Hertel Avenue in North Buffalo, a 30-second drive will present five different restaurant choices. Not unusual, I admit, especially in a region becoming known for its dining choices, but these have a unifying theme, a common trend that ties them all together. In any of the five, you can get some sort of breakfast: Denny’s, IHOP, Tim Horton’s, Dunkin’ Donuts, and Starbucks. The Starbucks is a bit further down the street, but I still consider it close enough to be part of this chain. I wouldn’t be surprised if a new location opened in the vacant building next to Tim Horton’s, actually, given Starbucks’ propensity for multiplying like rabbits. All things considered, it’s a breakfast takeover.

After the immediate success of the Tim Horton’s location that opened last year, often so popular that the drive-thru line stretches around the building and the cars turning into the parking lot clog the street, Dunkin’ Donuts apparently wanted a piece of the action and built a new location directly around the corner on Hertel Avenue. It adds to the redevelopment of the plaza on the corner of Delaware and Hertel (which, sadly, despite its renovations, will be losing New World Record). I’m interested to see how this will work. The only other DD locations I know of are far away amidst the retail jungle of the Sheridan/Niagara Falls Blvd area, so this foray into a crowded North Buffalo neighborhood could prove quite profitable.

Buffalo is widely known for its love of Tim Horton’s because of its proximity to Canada. Fun fact: there are more Tim Horton’s locations per square mile in Canada than there are McDonald’s locations in the US and Buffalo is close enough to share a piece of this market. In other cities I’ve visited, I’ve noticed a definite Dunkin’ Donuts presence. Boston, for example, has at least seventeen on every street. No joke. I guess it’s not competition if all the money goes back to the same place, huh? Maybe the DD higher-ups are trying to edge their way into the Buffalo market, we’ll see. But until then, I’m content with waiting in the drive-thru line at Tim Horton’s for as long as it takes to get my medium coffee with cream.

Image courtesy this guy.

Posted by on 01/29 at 04:15 PM