Dinky Donuts

In the 60's  The Graduate, Benjamin aka Dustin Hoffman, was advised to go into "Plastics."
At the turn of the century I'm sure some little old Greek grandmother told her grandson, "Donuts!"
And with this advice Donut Delight or as we refer to it Dinky Donuts,  was born. A local chain which rivals the big boy, Dunkin', Double D has built an amazing following. Our local shop in on Hope Street in a former bank. The bank never made this much money and I hope for convenience sake the vault was left in the basement because at the rate that they make dough they need an on site repository.

With indoor and outdoor seating and a 24/7 policy the place is seldom empty. On Saturday and Sunday mornings the lines for the drive up stretch for a block and often cause traffic jams as determined caffeine deprived customers wait their turn or try to skip the line. More people are on line for coffee, then for communion.

The place has a sign that requests that people adhere to a 20 minute seating policy. This is a recommendation, seldom adhered to especially by the regulars. There is the Mayor of DD, who arrives every day to hold court and occasionally grant you a seat at his table if the place is especially crowded. Just be prepared for a seasonal discussion of The Yankees, The Patriots and the general dismay he shows for the younger generation. "These kids will never amount to anything, pass me another chocolate frosted"

There is the senior couple who arrive everyday to have a coffee and a..... . Every day the husband reminds the waitperson about senior pricing. While waiting for his coffee he visits the paper rack, gets a copy of the News, Post and local paper, The Advocate, goes to his seat, reads the papers, and then returns them to the paper stand, complete with jelly stains.

The place oozes international as there is a steady flow of Spanish and Greek guests who spend lot and lots of time and very little money chatting I guess,  about the state of the world, in Greek. If one were to do a cost analysis of the money spent vs. the time spent chatting, the place would be in deep financial trouble. But not to worry because the long lines for the drive up surely make up for this.

This is predominately a guy place as recently I went there after the morning rush to get a coffee, and read a book. Naturally the place was full with every seat and table occupied, the Greeks had to sit outside in the cold as there were no tables inside. Too bad they didn't have coffee to keep them warm.
Men outnumber women in this place 4 to 1 and could have easily been mistaken for an exclusive men's club, except for the clientele, the decor, and the menu.

It is a slice of life in a very mixed neighborhood. The staff is very pleasant, the manager extremely hard working, the facility is very clean and there is a sense of civic responsibility as they often place boxes in the place to collect Toys for Tots, and most recently supplies for the victims of Sandy.

On the morning after, the morning after Sandy it was easy to see where the power had not been restored as the lines outside Dinky were even longer with people sharing stories of lost power and limbs, tree limbs.

A hot cup of coffee, the news both local and international, a meeting hall and a sense of community, not bad for a Dinky little donut shop.