I'm no fan of coffee chains. I prefer the Sugar Bowl on Dot Ave, however the Dunkin' Donuts at the apex of the Polish Triangle offers one thing the Sugar Bowl doesn't. The Dunkin' Donuts next to Andrew Station is open round the clock every day of the week.
I've bemoaned the lack of late night activity before, ad nauseum really, and I am not going to say that an all night Dunkin' Donuts is anything to crow about. I'm still a big fan of Boston Bowl, but they don't serve coffee or food except out of machines. There's the Tedeschi's in Field's Corner, but the vibe there is more for picking up a snack, though there is plenty of chitchat on the shop floor.
What makes the Dunkin' Donuts in Andrew special, aside from the fact that it's open, is the characters that inhabit it. There's a seemingly homeless looking guy that no one seems to like who stands in a corner eating potato chips or McDonalds' sandwiches while reading the newspaper. There's the guy who hawks the Herald while opening the door for entering and exiting customers. He never has an unkind word and he is willing to strike up a short-lived conversation regardless of whether you want a copy of the Herald or not. He gets the day's first editions, by the way; if you have a yen to read the Herald at 3AM, head to Andrew Square. It's hot off the press.
There are regular customers. Transit police, barflies, night crews of all professions, insomniacs, truck drivers, taxi drivers, beat cops and homeward-bound bartenders stop in. The ladies behind the counter know most and they are cordial and efficient for everyone, familiar or stranger. Oddly, only women work the graveyard shift at this Dunkin' Donuts. Nice women. One of them is named Trixie. It's true. She's nice too.
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