Tim Hortons

I’ve made it up to Canada several times and I always make a visit to the local Tim Hortons. This location sits off busy 17 freeways in downtown Victoria. Here they sport a fast drink queue Monday through Friday so people can grab their coffee and run during rush hour times. I basically came here just to grab a muffin and something to warm me up since it was rather cold outside. For some reason it seems Tim’s has changed their muffin recipe or something because I remember their pastries tasting way better. The lemon poppyseed muffin (
) was quite dry and lacked lemon flavor. You couldn’t really taste the poppy seeds inside of it at all, quite the disappointment. At least it wasn’t overly sugary and did go decent with my coffee. I’ve never had Tim’s dark roast coffee (
) and I personally like it way better than the original stuff. You can’t go wrong with this place for coffee; it’s really cheap and always is fresh. This location was perhaps the dirtiest location I visited on my trip, the floors looked dirty and the tables had opened sugar packets all over them. The quality on Tim Horton’s pastries has definitely slipped since I first tried them back in 2006, too bad.

Rudeness. My wife & I (tourists) heard about Tim Horton’s & wanted to try it. Walking in my wife went to the counter and waited to order while I made for the bathroom first. The door latch said ‘vacant’ but it wouldn’t open. I asked the lady employee if a key was needed. Here she was so blatantly rude that it set me back on my heels. Turn the handle, open the door (in a tone as though she thought me unequivocally unwelcome). I was stunned and speechless, and at that point could only think of collecting my wife before she had a chance to order anything and to leave. She was still waiting behind another customer. We left.
I have no idea what prompted the rude event. If she thought I just came off the street to use the bathroom and leave, this was wrong. We walked for blocks to find this business. It was recommended to us. We stopped a few times to ask others for directions. We wanted to order coffee and a sweet treat. It was to be a new experience.

Wow, what a major disappointment. I’m from America so when we came into British Columbia from our Alaskan cruise, we looked for the closest Tim Hortons because I was craving an ice capp. We found one within 10 minutes walking distance and upon our arrival, we were greeted with a huge «We’re Sorry, Our Ice Capp Machine Is Broken» sign. WHAAAAAA? ARE YOU SERIOUS? To make matters worse, I ordered a vanilla bean ice frapp just to try and salvage the trip, and it was horrible. I never throw drinks out because I want to get my money’s worth, but this was the rare occasion where I did. It was like drinking watered down water (is that even possible?).
I felt like a kid on Christmas morning who waited weeks to open the giant gift under the tree, only to find out it contained nothing but rocks on Christmas morning. I wanted so bad to give a 1-​star review, but I understand machines break down. Just wish it didn’t happen the 1 day I visited Canada.
My tummy gives this Tim Hortons…2 Stars!

Each time I visit the Great White North, this pilgrim walks the Camino de Hortonago to Tim’s. This one was the closest to where Gayle and I were staying in Downtown Victoria.
An early morning doughnut and coffee are my favourites, but the bagels and lunch items are pretty good too. Some might find Starbucks coffee or Dunkin Donuts to be better, but what I like most is the consistency of enjoying what I expect.
Plus I own a few shares of Tim Hortons compostela. Sorry I mean stock.