Tim Hortons

When I want just an honest-to-goodness, heavy duty, black coffee, Tim Hortons is the 1st place that comes to my mind.  While there are quite a few speckled throughout Columbus, this one is one of my favorites.  For a while, I was going here every morning on my way to work as I was starting at 6.45am that week and this place saved my sanity.

If I'm going in the morning for breakfast, I usually get a ham and cheese combo meal with a coffee and apple.  I love their doughnuts, but I'm trying to be healthy here!  The price of this combo is under $5, which is pretty good, especially at 6.30 in the morning when you don't want to be thinking about money.  Most of the other times, its just coffee.  The doughnuts are a treat, and I don't want to have them so often that they stop becoming so.

What really sets this location apart though is the service.  They aren't particularly fast (I waited quite a while for my coffee and snack wrap today), but they are some of the friendliest staff around.  Even so early in the morning, they sound like they are happy to be at work, happy to see me, and happy to make my day start out on a good note.  The woman today apologized several times for my wait, even though it was because she had to make my order fresh because they had run out.  I still only waited about 5 minutes.  She was chatting and making conversation the entire time all while keeping track of my order AND everyone else in line's orders.  

I'll keep coming back to this location for that reason alone.  Its nice when you feel like the staff is glad you're there.

Possible reasons I love Tim Horton's so much:
We share the same first name
It's not in PA, so I always get way too excited when I'm in Ohio and can go
I like places that are open 24 hours

Ok, I may have lied, apparently there is a Tim Horton's in Erie, PA, but since I have absolutely no reason to go to Erie I won't be going there, plus it's five hours away.  In my opinion their coffee is better than other chains, and the donuts are good too.  I do enjoy the chicken salad sandwich, but I do think it's a bit small for how much you pay for it.  This particular location is half a Tim Horton's and half a Coldstone, and the same staff run both, so if someone is ordering an absurdly complicated and large sundae the line can back up pretty quick.  If that happens just use the drive through, I think the beeping from the drive through is more annoying to staff than standing at the counter giving passive-aggressive loud-sighs, and thus will get you served quicker.