Tim Hortons has come to town

If they were trying to keep their soft opening a secret, Tim Hortons’ first location in Cayman didn’t stand a chance. Sunday saw a healthy queue inside the branded building, well-located on the corner of the East-West Arterial Road and Shamrock Road, with all parking spaces filled and vehicles lining the lanes nearby.

Despite announcing that it would be officially launching on Saturday, 12 Oct., the popular Canadian café had sent out a subsequent message that it was postponing in order to fine-tune a few processes.

Collective Canucks cried into their coffees … and on Canadian Thanksgiving weekend, to add insult to injury. But all it took was a red flash and blurry shot of what could be a Timbit on social media for curious/hopeful fans to swing by and try their luck. They were rewarded with open doors.

Anyone familiar with Tim Hortons’ fare would instantly recognise the menu of coffees, doughnuts and sandwiches hanging high on the wall behind the full complement of staff hustling to fill requests. A satellite server was a constant presence around the chairs and tables, checking patrons’ receipts and the status of their orders. Considering the rush, it was a pretty well-oiled machine.

Sitting at one of the tables, clutching their newly delivered coffees and box of Timbits, were Filipino ladies Bettina Manalo, Kristine Dimaunahan and Veronica De Vera.

Asked what had drawn them to the place that day, knowing it would probably be particularly busy, Dimaunahan said, “We have Tim Hortons in the Philippines, so we wanted to come and try it.”

They had heard about the postponement of the opening, but they “saw stories on Instagram with local people eating the products”, so thought they’d drive by “just in case”.

It was interesting to note, based on a collection of ‘stamps’ on the back wall, that the Philippines is not the only exotic locale in which Tim Hortons has a presence. There’s the original – Canada, of course – which opened in 1964, but since then it has expanded to Qatar, Oman, Bahrain, Spain, Saudi Arabia, Thailand, Mexico, China, United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, the United States, and now the Cayman Islands.

There will probably have to be a few further small adjustments made to the Cayman location in the coming weeks, as the managers monitor the flow of customers.

On Sunday, the drive-thru was not open, which meant more people inside than might normally be the case.

Also, the entire staff counter is surrounded in fairly high plexiglass, with holes cut out so cashiers can hear the patrons’ orders. The volume of chatter in the café, coupled with quite a few clients having to resort to hoisting themselves up on tippy-toe in order for their mouths to align with the holes, is possibly something that could be looked at in the future.

The prices are, as you would expect, higher than in Canada. A box of Timbits will set you back more than a few toonies, but doughnuts and fritters come in at $1.95 each, and a small decaf coffee at $3.25.

For some, however, you can’t put a price on a taste from home.

My friend Lynne, who grew up in Toronto, raised a cup of steaming liquid to her lips and sipped.

“Ahhhh … Tim’s coffee,” she said, closing her eyes to savour the moment.