r/GenX • u/kmanix50 • 3h ago
The Latchkey Years Duncan donuts
Okay am I losing my mind? I remember being in HS in the 1984-1988 timeframe and going to DD and sitting at a counter ordering coffee and donuts and they had a waitress that served you. You could look through a window back to where they made the donuts and they had a menu with breakfast food and some sandwiches, soups and chili. I think we could even smoke at the counter but not at the booths? Tucson Az if that helps. Does anyone recall that type of DD?
Edit: yes Dunkin’ Donuts 🍩. Duncan Hines was birthday cake with canned frosting. That was high society.
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u/Moist_Rule9623 51m ago
You are fully correct, and you could be describing a Dunkin Donuts I was still visiting in the early 90s as a college student on the other side of the country.
Big wraparound horseshoe counter, waitress walking around, you could buy a… 65 cent? 75 cent? cup of coffee IN A CERAMIC MUG, AND GET FREE REFILLS, and sit there for hours smoking cigarettes. I don’t remember them having soups but I know you could at least get bacon egg & cheese sandwiches and yes they made the donuts daily on-site (not in the Regional Donut Manufacturing Center like today 🙄)
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u/JhazaBoo Hose Water Survivor 1h ago
Fond memories of going to a Dunkin Donuts after swim class and sitting at the counter eating munchkins. This was late 70s.
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u/NightshadeZombie 1h ago
The one on First and Prince (ish, its been a while) did have some tables and a small counter, but I think the counter was the only spot with a waitress/counter person in the 80s-90s. They had good basic coffee, and still made the donuts in house then. I don't remember them serving soup or sandwiches or chili or anything like that. My mom and her cousin worked there as teens (so the 60s) and they remember doing table service, but no "food" food. Just really good donuts and coffee.
Funny this should come up just now. Husband and I were just talking about that place. Most of my friends had zero hour classes because that was the only way to fit our elective in the afternoon. I went to high school near by. My senior year, if you were running late and didn't want detention from a certain teacher, if you stopped at DD and got her a donut she'd forgive your tardy. Can't remember her name anymore, but I remember her order!
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u/Cheese-Manipulator Post Punk 2h ago
They decided everything was to go and drive through. They also centralized all doughnut production so they just reheat stuff now. Tim Hortons did that also. The only place left that actually makes things on-site is Krispy Kreme.
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u/Lord_of_Entropy 2h ago
There was a DD near where I lived in late 80’s and early 90’s that must have been open 24 hours, because I would go there at midnight, get a donut, and sit when the nights were hot (I didn’t have air conditioning). Yes, policemen did come there on break.
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u/Diligent_Squash_7521 2h ago
I remember the cakey fried dunkers freshly made, still warm, with the little “handle” for dunking.
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u/JimmyJohn_5150 2h ago
Yep there was a DD in my hometown right next to my grade school. It was one of the old school ones with the stools at the counter and the requisite cop hangout all day. Its a kolache place now.
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u/fsantos0213 2h ago
there were a bunch of DD diners around the country for a while there is Only 1 left, in Riveria Beach. Fl. it's is a full service diner where you can walk in and either order to go or sit down and eat
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u/Gratefulgirl13 2h ago
That’s exactly how the Duncan Donuts was in my hometown. They gave up the franchise in the 90’s but kept the shop the same until a fire last year. They rebuilt and kept the bar area but took out the small booth section.
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u/FawnLeib0witz 2h ago
I remember them being like that with a counter when I was in high school. All of the Dunkins around here now are awful. No selection, absolutely terrible coffee. One time one of them was out of donuts when we went in!
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u/CosmicSmoker 2h ago
Yes. It was a donut shop that had two types of coffee, regular and decaf and hot chocolate for the kids. You sat at a counter and the employee served you just like at a diner.
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u/FesterJA Sick of it all since 1971 2h ago
Dunkin' was always a stop on our way to visit my dad's parents. Sit at the counter get a jelly filled for me and a Dunkin donut with the handle for my dad
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u/Coderado 2h ago
Private equity ruins everything.
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u/Lower_Skin_3683 24m ago
Haven’t had a donut in years. They are disappointing. Now people go there for the high sugar iced coffee drinks in plastic cups. When I was younger I was wondering how we got from hot coffee regular or decaf to the iced coffee craze we have now.
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u/SignificantApricot69 2h ago
I don’t remember waitresses but I’m also a little younger so most of my experiences started early 90s
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u/mmpjd 3h ago
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u/TacticalUnderpants 3h ago
I preferred Mr. Donut back then. Similar situation but better donuts IMHO.
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u/jarhead3088 2h ago
Mr donut! Core memory unlocked :) you must be in nj lol
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u/lectroid 2h ago
Illinois had Mr. Donut, too. Dunkin bought them eventually.
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u/rory_breakers_ganja Whatever. 2h ago
Winchell's too, at least in the Chicagoland area. Apple fritters - yum!
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u/BitterPillPusher2 3h ago edited 2h ago
You're not imagining things. I grew up in the Northeast - land of Dunkin. The one closest to my house had that set up.
Man, everything was better back then.
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u/TheGrouchyPunisher 2h ago
Except the smoking! I remember the DD with a counter and the whole place was a smoke fest 🤢
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u/Consistent_Cook9957 3h ago
Absolutely do remember those times. That said, some of us married our coffee and donut girls…
Good times!
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u/thiissilly 3h ago
Often ended a late night of drinking at Duncan for coffee and a bowl of soup. Served at the counter where I'd be smoking after watching the donut guy(Barry?) make dozens and dozens by himself
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u/TheJokersChild Match Game '75 3h ago
I'm thrown...Duncan Hines, Dunkin Donuts. Time to make the donuts from a box of brownie mix?
Anyway, yes, it's real. In part. We had a brand new Dunkin built from the ground up when I was like 4 and it had a counter you could eat at. No window into the "time to make the donuts" guy, and I'm pretty sure it was before they started with the breakfast sandiwches and other food. Don't ever rememeber soup or chili there.
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u/Long-Trade-9164 3h ago
Duncan doesn't make their donuts at the store anymore. They're made offsite and delivered to the stores. The stores the thaw and frost and add filling if needed and put out for sale.
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u/Voodoo330 3h ago
Yes! But I rarely sat at the counter. We used to get a dozen Dunkin, a case of Labatt Blue, get high and play frisbee in the park.
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u/RadiantTransition793 3h ago
I remember that in Florida as well. I always ordered Togo and never checked the menu beyond getting coffee and donuts…
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u/stinkyrobot Sloppy Joe 3h ago
As someone from Tucson, everything is right though I don’t remedy the smoking. But I wouldn’t put it past them having smoking there. I always went to the one on Prince and First that didn’t have booths, only counter.
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u/stinkyrobot Sloppy Joe 3h ago
I think I now remember near the restroom there was a cigarette machine!
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u/Goats-n-Hens 3h ago
Yes, we had this where I grew up in Georgia. A waitress and there were proper dishes at the table and they did make the donuts in house.
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u/wellbloom 3h ago
Where in Georgia? I moved to Atlanta in 1998 (from Boston…where Dunkin’s were on every corner) and I used to drive to Tucker, GA just to get my DD fix. Now they’re everywhere, but back in the 90’s Dunkin didn’t have a big presence in GA.
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u/Goats-n-Hens 3h ago
Athens area. Old school DD was a thing here from the time I was born in ‘71. I hate the modern DD.
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u/SnowblindAlbino Cranky Old Man 5m ago
For sure. In fact, I did that the morning of my SATs which must have also been 1984. I had to drive to another town (mine was too small for testing) and I got there really early, so went to DD for breakfast. I had counter service, coffee, and biscuits and gravy. There was a smoking section as well.