Update: Tim Hortons opened at The Place in Beijing today! A steady stream of customers flowed in during the two hours I spent there. A “double double” is rmb18 (CA$3.50) with a size upgrade for rmb3 (CA$0.60), pretty reasonable by Beijing standards. And for the opening, there was a two-for-one deal, so I enjoyed a coffee there and took one for the walk home.
You can see the menus below, laden with Tim’s staples as well as some more unique fare, like salted egg yolk Timbits and tang hulu (candied hawthorn) Timbits.
Anyway, nice to have this so close to my apartment — The Place is about 15 minutes by foot. The only downside is that it is loud af and could use some soft materials woven into the decor to soak up that noise, maybe some beaver pelts or Roots sweaters or discarded Don Cherry sports coats.
I posted last Monday that Canadian coffee shop chain Tim Hortons finally brought its double double power to Beijing, although that particular shop stands out in the boonies. (Thanks to P Yin for the heads up.) Now, unless a half-dozen people are pulling a huge practical joke on me, we’re getting our first shop downtown tomorrow.
This comes 16 months after Tim Hortons launched in Shanghai as part of an ambitious plan to open 1500 locations under the name Tims Coffee House in China. There are already dozens of outlets in Shanghai and others popping up around China — hello Dalian!
Fun fact: Tim Hortons was opened by a Canadian hockey player named… Tim Horton! He spent most of his 17-year career with the Toronto Maple Leafs, at a time when they actually won stuff, and opened his first coffee shop in 1964.
It’s safe to say he is well remembered, given you can find a Tim Hortons in Canada pretty much everywhere:
This newest Tim Hortons will be in The Place, close to Uniqlo. Along with the classics like double doubles and maple dip doughnuts, expect some unique fare like… salted egg yolk Timbits? I’ll update soon.
(It’s good timing, too, eh? The supplies I brought from Canada are dwindling.)
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