Tim Hortons is building in Brainerd

Dunkin' Donuts' loss may be Tims' gain.

After expectations were raised and then dashed for a new coffee and doughnut shop in Brainerd with the exit of a planned Dunkin' Donuts, Tim Hortons, or Tims for short, is bringing its menu to west Brainerd.

Residents and visitors will have another option for breakfast, coffee and doughnuts, as well as sandwiches and soups. Earth is currently being moved for the Tim Hortons, which is moving into the vacant lot next to Wendy's restaurant on Washington Street. Close-Converse represented Tim Hortons in its pursuit of a location in the lakes area. The city of Brainerd reported the construction, by Nor-Son, is on a fast track.

If Tim Hortons isn't a familiar name, that may be understandable in the Lower 48. In June, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reported the Canadian-based company, and Canada's biggest and most popular fast-food chain, was making a push into Minnesota after its parent company, Restaurant Development Partners, was seeking franchise owners. The restaurant chain bears the name of its founder, Tim Horton, a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame. The restaurant chain launched in the U.S. in 1986.

"As of Sept. 28, 2014, Tim Hortons has 4,590 restaurants systemwide: 3,665 in Canada, 869 in the United States," according to the corporate website. "In the United States, there are Tim Hortons restaurants as far north as Madawaska, Maine, as far south as Ashland, Ky., as far west as Grand Forks, N.D., and as far east as Houlton, Maine."

The restaurant, which started in the coffee and doughnut business in 1964, reports it serves 2 billion cups of coffee each year and about 15 percent of Canadians, or 5.3 million people, visit Tims daily.

The restaurant's menu includes breakfast sandwiches, grilled panini and other sandwiches, wraps, along with hot bowls of macaroni and cheese, soup and chili, yogurt and berries, Cold Stone Creamery ice cream, baked goods, coffee, specialty beverages and, of course, doughnuts, but perhaps even more appealing Timbits, basically doughnut holes in a variety of flavors.

The Dispatch will have more information about the new restaurant in Brainerd in Friday's paper.

1/3: A Tim Hortons restaurant provides an idea of what the restaurant chains look like, from media images with TimHortons.com. A Tim Hortons is under construction now in Brainerd.

2/3: 

3/3: The Tim Hortons restaurant in St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada, from the company's media photos on its website.