If you have never been and the board looks like a lot, here is a straightforward way in. This is general advice rather than a ranking — taste is personal and every location varies.
Start with the thing the place is known for
For a coffee-and-donut chain, that means brewed coffee and a donut. It sounds obvious, and it is the right answer.
The highest-volume items are the freshest, the most consistently made and the cheapest. They are also what the operation is actually built around. Ordering the most elaborate seasonal drink on a first visit tells you almost nothing about whether you like the place.
A sensible first order
A medium brewed coffee, and say how you want it — black, or with cream and sugar. If you have no idea, one cream and one sugar is a reasonable middle.
One donut, glazed or a filled one. Whatever looks freshest in the case. Ask what came out most recently if you want to be specific.
That is it. It is cheap, it is fast, and it is a fair test.
If you do not drink coffee
Tea is always available and always safe.
Hot chocolate if you want something sweet and warm.
An iced drink if it is hot out — iced tea or a lemonade-type drink rather than a frozen coffee, which is essentially a dessert.
A latte if you want to try coffee in its mildest form. Far more milk than coffee, and much gentler than a brewed cup.
If you are actually hungry
A breakfast sandwich in the morning — egg with bacon or sausage is the standard and the safest choice.
A bagel, toasted, with cream cheese at any time. Cheap, filling, hard to get wrong.
Soup or chili with a bun for something warm later in the day.
Things worth knowing before you speak
- Say the size first. "Medium coffee, black" is the phrasing staff are listening for.
- "Regular" does not mean plain. In this context it usually means one cream, one sugar. If you want nothing in it, say black.
- Timbits come in boxes only. You cannot buy one.
- Combos are an upgrade price, added to the item price, not a total.
What to skip on a first visit
The heavily advertised seasonal drink. Most expensive, sweetest, and least representative of what the place does.
Frozen coffee drinks, unless you specifically want a sweet cold dessert. They are fine; they are just not coffee in any meaningful sense.
A dozen of anything. Find out whether you like it first.
Timing
Morning is when everything is at its best. Bakery items are freshest, coffee turns over fastest, and the full range is actually available.
Late evening is the worst time to form a first impression — limited selection, and whatever is left has been out a while.
If you want one sentence: go in the morning, order a medium brewed coffee and a glazed donut, and decide from there.
After the first visit
Once you know you like the basics, the useful next steps are an americano if you want more intensity, cold brew if you found the coffee harsh, or a bagel if you want the cheapest filling option.
Work outward from the simple things. The menu makes much more sense that way than starting from the promotional board.