Dunkin ' just addedavocado toast to its menu.- The dish is surprisingly delicious and definitely worth the $3 price tag.
- It could use just a touch less lemon juice for a better flavor balance.
Avocado toast, arguably the most popular brunch staple of the decade, has long been accused of burning a hole in millennials' pockets. But Dunkin's version might just be a solution for that.
On Wednesday, the coffee chain added avocado toast to its menu - about five years after the trend first peaked as an Instagram and brunch-menu favorite. According to a press release, the new menu item consists of an avocado spread, seasoned with black pepper, lemon juice, and sea salt, resting on a base of sourdough bread.
Dunkin's modest version is priced well below the avocado toasts you'd find on menus at popular brunch restaurants in most major cities, which can sometimes cost close to $20 for a single order. Avocados themselves can be expensive - in 2019, a single Hass avocado cost $2.10 on average across the US, Andy Ash previously reported for Insider.
Obvious jokes involving avocados-on-donuts aside, many Twitter users seemed excited to try the new menu item, with some posting shots of the toast after they'd ordered it.
—Joseph M. (He/Him) (@JMagsPlays) February 24, 2021
"That is delicious," one user said in a video
—salmon cannon (@oliviasedran) February 24, 2021
Given the response online and my general love for avocado toast, I decided to try it out for myself
I used the Dunkin' app to find a store with avocado toast on the menu. I placed an order for pick up at a location that was about a 15-minute walk from where I live.
While the chain's press release says the new avocado toast costs $2.99, I paid $3.49 for it, as that was the price listed on the app. Dunkin' told Insider that they make recommendations to franchises for suggested retail prices, but the individual stores ultimately set the price. As a result, while the suggested price for the new avocado toast is $2.99, the store I went to charged $3.49.
The store had the order ready to go in a lightweight cardboard box by the time I arrived. Since we're still in a pandemic, I decided to taste-test the avocado toast back at home instead of eating it at the store.
On the walk back, I was worried about the dish moving around inside the box too much and maybe getting a little soggy. But thankfully, if you hold the box carefully, the avocado toast travels well.
Once I was back home, I took a peek inside the box and was pleasantly surprised to see that the product looks exactly as advertised on the website and the app - it's got the same bread shape, the same hue of the spread, and the same toppings.
The avocado toast's flavors were pretty good but could use a little less lemon
I tried some of the avocado mash on its own before taking a bite of it with the toast and was pleasantly surprised by the flavors, though it was immediately obvious that the lemon juice was doing a lot of the heavy lifting.
While I missed the red pepper flakes I usually prefer on the avocado toast I get at restaurants, this certainly wasn't bland.
The choice of bread (sourdough) was a good one too. The bread had a bold, tangy flavor that I enjoyed and also provided a sturdy base for the creamy avocado mixture. Dunkin' didn't skimp either: The dish had a decent toast-to-spread ratio.
However, the tangy sourdough bread paired with the extremely lemony avocado is a little more acidic than I prefer my flavor profiles. Less lemon juice might help bring better balance to the dish.
That being said, it was surprisingly delicious and made me a bit nostalgic about eating brunch in a crowded restaurant pre-pandemic, for about one-tenth the cost.
Overall, for only $3, this was a solid take on avocado toast - though of course, the pricier versions I've eaten before have less lemon, and a little more variation in flavors.