McDonald’s coffee is pretty good - I get an espresso or double espresso or Americano.
McDonald’s breakfast sandwiches are better than any coffee chain in the UK. I wouldn’t settle for anything less than a hot McDonald’s breakfast sandwich and hash brown if I needed to eat out. It’s a rare treat nowadays.
I like the regular drop coffee at McDonald’s. I don’t enjoy the espresso or cappuccino at Canadian MacDonald’s.
I don’t consider the Starbucks breakfast sandwich to be inferior to an Egg McMuffin.
The 2 sandwiches don’t scratch the same itch for me.
I don’t like the original Egg McMuffin made with ham in Canada. I like the Bacon Egg McMuffin, Sausage Egg McMuffin and Egg McMuffin without meat.
In terms of other chain coffee shop breakfasts, the other major coffee chain selling breakfast sandwiches in Canada is Tim Hortons. I don’t enjoy their breakfast sandwiches as much as McD’s or Starbucks. The English muffin is often a bit stale and the egg can be a bit rubbery. Their current limited time breakfast offer is Ryan Reynolds scrambled egg bowl, which I have not tried. It’s being advertised on billboards around town.
I have never had a Starbucks sandwich - they are quite pricey in the UK. If I want a really nice breakfast sandwich then I’ll make it myself. McDonald’s is a different sort of comfort food - cheap, greasy and satisfying, handed to you by an indifferent teenager who isn’t bothered what your name is (I find Starbucks really annoying because they always ask your name - I used to give a fake name).
I have come across a Tim Horton’s only once in the UK - in Birmingham city centre. I was intrigued because they were advertising their maple syrup flavoured wares (doughnuts or fritters, I think?) and I realised they were a Canadian chain.
In my working days, not too long ago, when breakfast on the run was fairly frequent, i often grabbed a taco or two. Taco Deli stocked loads of coffee shops (and even a lot of gas stations, barbecue joints, etc.) with the Jess Special, the Vaquero, and the black bean and cheese. (They must have concluded the vegetarian selections were safer, or so I figured). I always got the Doña salsa, a blend of roasted jalapeños, olive oil, salt, and garlic, whipped into pale green perfection that looked creamy but kicked like a mule. Their menu says their habanero is hotter, but jalapeños vary a lot in the heat department, and I found that usually the Doña was hotter.
Breakfast Sandwiches have been fairly popular over here for some time, usually costing somewhere between $8 and $14 CAD, some costing closer to $20 (closed to 10 GBP)Some are based on the egg McMuffin but made with fancier ingredients, others are on American style biscuits, sliced bread, or other breads.
I started a thread to track the ones I order in Toronto
Toronto Breakfast Sandwiches, a diary starting Oct 1, 2023
In NYC, coffee carts, some coffee shops, delis, diners, and restaurants serve Bacon Egg and Cheese on a Roll (BEC), which are another quick and affordable breakfast sandwich. A Coffee Cart BEC used to be cheaper than an Egg McMuffin. Not sure about their current prices.
https://www.reddit.com/r/AskFoodHistorians/comments/108bkau/the_history_of_the_bacon_egg_cheese/
As well as a more general cooking thread
Breakfast sandwiches, egg on a roll, etc.
I make variations on fried egg sandwiches and bacon egg cheese sandwiches at home fairly often.
I do order them a lot lately. Probably one a week. The Breakfast Sandwich is easy to order as take out. Before 2020, I usually met friends for brunch on the weekend, and I was eating more Eggs Benedict and Huevos Rancheros before 2020.
I have seen quite a few Tims in Ireland. Their coffee is sold at some SPAR locations.
It’s nostalgic for some Canadians. It’s also about 40 percent cheaper than Starbucks. In many small towns, the Tim Hortons had become the place where locals congregate.
The sandwiches and other hot food at Tim’s are not as good as they once were. If is affordable. Some of the food is a miss, and the quality varies a lot between locations. Tim Hortons is the coffee shop you’ll find inside hospitals and universities. It’s everywhere.
When Tim Hortons opened as a coffee shop, it was known for its coffee and it sold only 2 types of donuts. The Dutchie was a based on Dutch Oliebollen. It was a donut with raisins and cinnamon. Tastes change, and the Dutchie, despite being one of the 2 original donuts that the chain sold, was discontinued years ago. They brought the Dutchie back in 2024 for a limited time, but it didn’t taste quite as good as the ones I remember from the 80s and 90s.
I mostly visit small town Tims and Airport locations. When I’m in a city with more independent coffee shops, I try to choose the independent coffee shops when I can.
Tim Hortons to open first UK branch in Glasgow
Apparently, Grandad’s Donuts in Hamilton, Ontario uses the original Tim Hortons recipes. Maybe I will stop by one of these days.
A breakfast taco is the stuff of my dreams. Wish we had those in New England! An egg sandwich from a diner, doused with hot sauce, will have to do for me.
I make them probably three mornings a week. I use a carbon steel crepe pan with just a wipe of oil. Beat a couple of eggs with a hearty pinch of salt and pour them into the pan. Put a line of Tillamook rustic shredded four cheese Mexican mix down the middle. Flip the sides over the middle to make a cheese stuffed tube. Flip the tube once to ensure the cheese is all melted inside. Lightly char two flour tortillas directly over a gas burner. Put half the egg/cheese tube on each tortilla. Add salsa. I alternate between Herdez Guacamole and Salsa Casera. Sometimes I dice a small microwaved potato and crisp it in oil with Fiesta steak seasoning and toss that in, too. I am not a vegetarian, but vegetarian chorizo is another nice add-in. I like to keep my breakfast tacos pretty simple. Leftover mashed potatoes seasoned with the tiniest bit of cumin and some finely diced green chilis is nice with refried black beans and cotija, topped with a spicy green salsa like Doña. Doña, by the way is simple but tedious. Roast and skin a bunch of jalapeños, add some olive oil, garlic, and salt, and purée it all in a blender. Peeling a lot of jalapeños is slow going. Once roasted, they do not have a lot of flesh. You should be able to get all of these things in New England. If not, there is no shame in resorting to online ordering.
I hail from Boston originally, and my brother lives in Somerville. Peppers ought to be easy to grow in New England summers.
In the summer, I have access to plentiful jalapeños at the CSA farm we buy from. I want to try making that Doña salsa you describe.
P.S. I didn’t know you originally hailed from Boston.
Fun fact!
https://www.thefauxmartha.com/salsa-dona/
I’m also interested in making the Doña salsa mentioned by @Vecchiouomo. I found the above page which mentions two methods - in the ‘boiling’ method the peppers don’t need to be peeled.
I wasn’t in Boston long. My father was at MIT picking up his MS in EE, courtesy of the USN. He was USNA class of 1938. We lived out in Arlington, right by Spy Pond, but I was born at Chelsea Naval Hospital.
