Grant Avenue commuters who want a morning cup of coffee without exiting their vehicle enjoy five options: Burger King, Drive Thru Joe, Dunkin' Donuts, McDonald's and Tim Horton's.

This writer traveled the drive-through lanes of each establishment during the morning rush hour (about 8:30 a.m.) and ordered a medium cup of coffee. To help readers decide which drive-thru meets their caffeine and commuting needs most, each was evaluated in five categories: Time, price, temperature, friendliness and lane layout.

Time (from the second my front tires left Grant Avenue to the second they returned to it)

Burger King: 2:49

Drive Thru Joe: 1:30

Dunkin' Donuts: 4:47

McDonald's: 1:34

Tim Horton's: 1:55

Price

Burger King: $1.40

Drive Thru Joe: $1.65

Dunkin' Donuts: $1.83

McDonald's: $1.57

Tim Horton's: $1.58

Coffee temperature (degrees Fahrenheit)

Burger King: 171

Drive Thru Joe: 160

Dunkin' Donuts: 166

McDonald's: 162

Tim Horton's: 153

Friendliness (on a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being the least friendly and 10 the most)

Burger King : 7. Friendly, but not overly warm.

Drive Thru Joe: 5. Neither friendly nor cold.

Dunkin' Donuts: 3. The window attendant handed me my card and receipt without saying “goodbye” or “thank you.”

McDonald's: 9. McDonald's has three attendants at three separate windows: One to take your order, the next to take your money and the third to give drivers their order. Each employee was friendly.

Tim Horton's: 7. Friendly, but not overly warm.

Lane layout (on a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being the easiest to navigate and 10 the most difficult)

Burger King: 7. Fetching coffee at Burger King means entering Auburn Plaza, but navigating the plaza adds negligible time. If The Citizen conducted this evaluation at this time last year, the plaza's warzone of potholes would have spelled disaster for Burger King's grade. But the plaza's parking lot has been paved recently, so the ride is easy and smooth. The Burger King lane is spacious enough until drivers pass by the final window, where most will encounter a pothole that was apparently missed by the paving crew. The tight angle of the lane makes it a challenge to avoid the pothole, so drivers should be sure they're gripping their coffee tightly. Motorists looking to turn left out of the plaza can make use of McDonald's traffic light to minimize their wait to return to Grant Avenue.

Drive Thru Joe: 9. The absence of curbs eases passage by this stand in the middle of Grant Avenue Plaza's parking lot. There are no tight turns, but drivers will encounter minor bumpiness in the lot's beat-up pavement. There are neither stop signs nor lanes, so motorists should be wary of traffic entering and exiting the lot as they grab their cup in the morning hours. At this point on Grant Avenue, the thinner traffic makes a Drive Thru Joe stop almost equally convenient for drivers heading north and those going south along Grant Avenue.

Dunkin' Donuts: To enter Dunkin' Donuts' drive-through lane, motorists must turn off Grant Avenue and enter from Standart Avenue, which is tricky because to legally enter the drive-through, cars must turn right off Standart. The lane is hilly and slightly tight, so it's no stroll. After they've retrieved their order,

drivers can only make a right turn back onto Grant.This layout lends itself solely to drivers heading southwest into Auburn along Route 5.

McDonald's: 10. With a traffic light at its entrance, McDonald's enjoys a position inviting to drivers traveling both ways along Grant Avenue. Drivers should also encounter no challenge navigating the easy turns and loose curbs of the lane itself.

Tim Horton's: 8. The Tim Horton's lane is slightly curvaceous to drive through, but far from inconvenient. Motorists turning left back onto Grant Avenue may also drive through the parking lot of Walgreen's, then turn onto North Seward Avenue and use the traffic light at its intersection with Grant Avenue to get back on the morning commute with minimal interruption.

Conclusion

No clear-cut best coffee option emerged from a single trip to each of the five drive-through options on Grant Avenue. Readers will rank each option according to their own priorities.

Commuters traveling northeast on Route 5 may be more likely to grab their coffee at the servers on their right side: Tim Horton's, McDonald's or Drive Through Joe. Because of the Auburn Plaza