Choosing between Starbucks and Dunkin comes down to a decision between the budget, consumption, and health factors. Their menus do focus significantly on both in the morning rush.

​ Refreshers

Refreshers are a staple for individuals who crave caffeine but don’t enjoy the coffee flavor. For refreshers, Dunkin likes to target the people who have a sweet tooth, and for Starbucks, they like to have more of the health benefits for the refreshers. For the calories of a Starbucks refresher, it is around 100 calories for a medium; for a Dunkin refresher, there are about 99-100 calories in most of the medium refreshers.

​For the ingredients in the Starbucks refreshers, they usually focus on using a juice base and having real fruit pieces in the refreshers. For Dunkin’ refreshers, they usually focus on using a concentration mix with green tea. An example of that is “Starbucks is better than Dunkin because they put fruit in their refreshers, unlike Dunkin.”… Said student at Oakmont Regional High School, Cecelia Sears,11th grade, stated she prefers Starbucks over Dunkin because of the better quality of the refreshers.

Dunkin vs. Starbucks is based on what people prefer, and also considering the order they like to have on a regular basis. This article aims to show what students and staff at Oakmont Regional High School prefer: Dunkin’ or Starbucks. Also, considering their thoughts and opinions, as well as what they order when they visit each of the places.

energy drinks

​They both have energy drinks that they sell, and both of the places have good energy drinks that people enjoy drinking. From Starbucks.com, their name for their Starbucks energy drinks is called the Starbucks iced energy, which were released in 2025 and they are 12-ounce cans with the flavors of tropical peach, watermelon twist, and blueberry lemonade, which have 5 calories and zero sugar.

​For the Dunkin energy drinks, they are called SPARKD energy, which were released in early 2024. They are available with ice, flavored syrups, and the flavors are peach sunshine and berry burst. They come with 192 mg of caffeine in each drink, with vitamins and minerals. Information about the ingredients, what is provided in the drinks from Dunkin, is coming from https://reverelantern.com/, showing and explaining what is in each energy drink from Dunkin.

​ coffee

The most famous thing from both Starbucks and Dunkin is the coffee that they have at both places. Most people from Oakmont go to Dunkin, pick Dunkin over Starbucks because they say Starbucks is pricier, and we don’t have one close to us locally.

 “Dunks-hot coffee with milk and sugar, whatever the standard amount is,” said Oakmont Science teacher Daniel Dufour.

​At Starbucks, he would normally get his usual. “If I’m at Barnes and Noble and it’s only to treat myself with a White Chocolate Mocha,” said Dufour. 

When people from Oakmont get Starbucks, they usually just get it for a treat for themselves every once in a while and don’t choose to go there frequently.

​Price

People feel that Starbucks is much pricer for its items on the menu than the items on the Dunkin menu, which is another reason why people only treat themselves to Starbucks every once in a while. “Starbucks is more pricey,” said music teacher at Oakmont Regional High School Kris DeMoura.

​People normally lean toward having Dunkin’ more than they do Starbucks. People from Oakmont reviews on Dunkin vs Starbucks are that Starbucks is pricer, they like Dunkin better, and only get Starbucks occasionally.

As stated, “Which one has a pricer menu? Starbucks is more pricer,what has a better menu. I believe that Starbucks has a better menu. What menu has a wider variety? Dunkin offers more variety as they sell donuts

, but which one is better for your health? My order from Dunkin is healthier than Starbucks,due to the sugar content.” … Said Mr.Demoura​

Most people would agree with Demoura and the statements that he had made about how he gets Dunkin usually and how Starbucks is more pricer for example, of it being priced a medium iced latte from Dunkin is approximately around $4.19, and a medium iced latte from Starbucks is approximately around $5.25. Which shows and backs up their statement on how it is pricer from Starbucks than from Dunkin.

​Food

Each of the places sells food and pastries. The difference, though, is that Dunkin has donuts, but that is not something that Starbucks provides. Starbucks food and pastries are fresher than Dunkins and they sell them to you fresh, whereas Dunkin they don’t sell or store the items to be as fresh as Starbucks food items.

​The most popular food item from Starbucks is the sous vide egg bites states https://burgerbeast.com/, according to be the food item people reach for the most. For Dunkin’s most famous food item, people get a glazed donut, which is something that Starbucks does not sell, so that could be part of the reason why people reach for Dunkin’s more than they do Starbucks.

​Based on an expert’s opinion, they say that “Starbucks is generally considered the healthier choice compared to Dunkin.” Explaining how Starbucks is considered to be healthier than Dunkin mainly because the ingredients they use, and what they sell is mainly fresh, fresher than what Dunkin uses, and what they sell to their customers. According to https://www.mashed.com/, it is considered better for your health than what Dunkin sells.

​For students’ opinions on Dunkin vs Starbucks, they mainly lead to Dunkin more than they do Starbucks. “I like Dunkin way more than Starbucks. This is because the drink I get from Dunkin’s is the mango pineapple refresher with green tea, which Starbucks does not have.”… Said Student at AWRSD, Javian Aquino,10th grade, sophomore, stated that Dunkin is the better alternative for their order.

The majority prefer Dunkin over Starbucks because they enjoy their orders more from Dunkin and think they have better items for sale than Starbucks.  Not everyone enjoys Dunkin over Starbucks. An example of that is “Starbucks is better than Dunkin because they put fruit in their refreshers, unlike Dunkin.”… Said student at Oakmont Regional High School, Cecelia Sears,11th grade, stated she prefers Starbucks over Dunkin because of the better quality of the refreshers.

Choosing between Starbucks and Dunkin is really dependent on what you enjoy getting and ordering on a day-to-day basis, and the value of the food and drinks that you enjoy drinking and eating.  As well as the customer service and the consistency of Dunkin or Starbucks, and which one is more consistent with the service, as well as the orders and the drinks and food they sell,which is usually good, and you don’t have to worry about if you order if it will be made well or not.