Coffee in Worcester: Honey Dew Donuts

This week, we talk about the downtown Honey Dew Donuts, and the end of Java Hut.

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Bruce: I’m Bruce Russell, aka The Snow Ghost, and we’re doing a coffee interview about the new Honey Dew Donuts, formerly a Dunkin Donuts. And my experience was that it’s not like the other Honey Dew Donuts. It’s a small place as opposed to the other ones I’ve gone to. This one wasn’t as busy.

Pie and Coffee: Well, we went there on a Saturday morning. I have to say, I thought it was a pretty comparable experience to Dunkin Donuts, except that I got a positive vibe from the staff.

B: I got the same thing.

P: I always feel about Dunkin Donuts, “Why should I get coffee there?” Seth Godin said that the opposite of Dunkin Donuts was not going out for coffee. Like, Dunkin Donuts is the completely generic experience of going out for coffee. And this place was not completely generic; it had a little bit of flavor to it; it had a little bit of color.

Who would you suggest should go to this Honey Dew Donuts?

B: Anybody. I mean, if anybody wants to try the Honey Dew and experience Honey Dew a few times. But there’s other coffee shops around that are pretty good, like Boston Donuts on Park Avenue.

P: I know you’re a big booster of Boston Donuts. Did you hear that Java Hut is closing?

B: Really?

P: Let the record note that there was stunned silence after I told Bruce that.

Yeah, apparently they staff just found out like on Saturday, just this past weekend. I was there last night, they had sort of a going away open mic-jam-punk-spoken word thing. And I guess it’s going to be closing this weekend.

B: Really?

P: Yeah, it’s a drag.

B: Why are they closing?

P: I think that it’s just a financial thing.

B: Ah.

P: When I lived at the Catholic Worker, Sunday is a day when everyone is just hanging around there, and hanging around with a bunch of people is the last thing I needed to do then, so Sunday afternoon I would always go down to the Java Hut, and have a coffee and sit on the couch, and whatever. Listen to the random gay guys come in and talk about how hungover they were and their escapades of the night before. It was always a nice, relaxing thing. Not very crowded on a Sunday. The last couple months it’s gotten very crowded on a Sunday morning, but for the past couple years it wasn’t.

So Java Hut has pretty much been my favorite coffee place in Worcester, because they have ceramic cups and a couch. I know that you’ve always liked Java Hut.

B: Yeah.

P: Mostly because you thought that the waitresses were cute.

B: Right.

P: But they’re too young for you man.

B: Just because they’re too young for me, doesn’t mean I’m dead.

P: Very true. Speaking of the sad passage of time, we just watched a movie with Anthony Hopkins that turns out to be one of your favorite movies.

B: “Remains of the Day.”

P: Or, as you like to call it . . .

B: “Remains of the Day.”

P: “The Day Remains the Same.” It’s interesting that it’s one of your favorite movies. I don’t associate you with Merchant-Ivory.

B: Plus it’s an English film, is another reason why I’m into it.

P: You know, I’ve learned that a good friend of ours, a doctor, is also into this movie. Which was surprising to me. Besides it being a British film, what appeals to you about “Remains of the Day”?

B: I decided to watch it one time, I think it was on HBO2, and it turned out to be sad, not really depressing, but I thought overall it was pretty good.

P: I thought it was fantastic. I’d never seen it before, and I was impressed.

Let the record show that I’m now going to tip a cup of coffee in memory of Java Hut. Any last words?

B: No, that’s it.

One thought on “Coffee in Worcester: Honey Dew Donuts”

  1. That new Honey Dew smells like a pet store.
    The Dunkin’s that moved across the street is beautiful and smells like coffe. That’s my reason.

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