Earlier this year Starbucks jumped into the combo market with its breakfast value packages. Not with that crass wording, of course — they call their $3.95 breakfasts “pairings.” But it did mark the first time the coffee chain has positioned itself in the bargain arena. This was a direct result of customer requests, said Chief Executive Howard Schultz. And it seemed an obvious challenge to the coffee-and-sandwich combos offered by McDonald’s and Dunkin’ Donuts.
We ventured out to each of these spots (it’s scarily easy to find all three in a square mile) to gather coffee-plus-ham-cheese-and-egg-sandwich combos and compare them side by side. Here’s how they panned out.
Dunkin’ Donuts
dunkindonuts.com
Meal: Ham, egg and cheese English muffin with 14-ounce coffee.
Price: $4.09
Calories: 310
Taste: Here the egg patty is scrambled. The sandwich, heated to order, arrives piping hot and tasty, if slightly bland. Coffee has a nice aroma but a weak finish for this drinker, though people have different coffee preferences.
McDonald’s
mcdonalds.com
Meal: Egg McMuffin with 12-ounce coffee.
Price: $4.55
Calories: 300 for the Egg McMuffin without hash browns.
Taste: Nice blend of Canadian bacon, bland American cheese and fried egg on soft, fresh muffin. To me the coffee starts out fine but has no follow-through. The meal does come with hash browns for those who dig them.
Starbucks
starbucks.com
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Meal: Artisan ham sandwich with a 12-ounce coffee.
Price: $3.95
Calories: 370
Taste: Delicious crusty, crispy ciabatta roll, smoky Black Forest ham, tangy Gouda cheese and a Parmesan frittata that tastes like scrambled eggs. Still, the crispy bread factor and the tangy, distinctive flavors set this sandwich apart from the homogenous pack. And the bold, assertive coffee was a great way to wash it down. If you don’t like Starbucks’ coffee, it will be another story, though.