8 Things You Could Find At Dunkin' Donuts In The '70s

We may receive a commission on purchases made from links.

Today, Dunkin' (formerly known as Dunkin' Donuts) is a behemoth. In fact, there are more than 10,000 locations across the U.S. in 45 states and territories, and that means that most Americans are never too far from a Dunkin' when the craving strikes. Nowadays, a trip to Dunkin' usually involves ordering, say, an iced coffee or a breakfast sandwich from the drive-thru and then speeding on with your day. But it hasn't always been this way.

Back in the 1970s, a trip to Dunkin' Donuts meant staying awhile. You could sit at the bar, drink coffee from a mug, and even indulge in Salisbury steak on a Saturday night. After that, you had the difficult job of selecting your dessert from a menu with literally dozens of donut options. In the 1970s, going to Dunkin' Donuts was an experience, not a rushed stop on the way to yet another errand. Feeling nostalgic? Come with us as we take a closer look at what it was really like back then, donuts with a handle and all.

Back in the 1970s, you could head to Dunkin' Donuts for a steaming cup of coffee, a sweet treat, and a hearty bowl of soup. Yep, it might seem a little strange to Dunkin' fans now, but this popular chain actually used to offer quite a few different soup options.

It all started in 1974 with a promotion for all-you-can-eat Souper Soup. Dunkin' Donuts offered several different varieties, including homestyle pea, chili, minestrone, clam chowder, and chicken noodle, in bottomless soup bowls. Well, actually, it called them "Souper Bowls." The hearty bowls of nourishing soup also came with a side of bread and butter, of course, and each serving only cost $0.79. As one Redditor said in r/vintageads: "0.79 cents in 1974 is the equivalent of $5.13 today. Where could you find all you can eat soup for that today?"

Even better, at first, the brand offered coupons that allowed diners free donuts with every order of Souper Soup. Endless soup and free dessert, all for less than $1? What a time to be alive. Dunkin' Donuts stuck with soup for most of the 1970s and into the 1980s. In fact, it even started selling its own soup crocks and thermos flasks. Dunkin's soup days are long gone now, unfortunately, but you can still buy its old soup cups on eBay if you feel so inclined.

If you thought soup was odd, then you might find this fact even stranger: There was a time when you could stop by Dunkin' Donuts on a Thursday at dinnertime for a beef and noodle casserole, baked pork chops, or meatloaf. If you happened to arrive on a Friday, there were various seafood options, including cod fish cakes and lobster salad, while the weekend was reserved for dishes like Salisbury steak and baked half chicken.

Okay, you probably couldn't find these diner-style options in every Dunkin' Donuts location. The chain was heavily franchised in the 1970s, and one of those locations in Stratford, Connecticut, decided to offer its customers several hearty main options on various days of the week in the early 1970s. There were sides, too, including rice pilaf, zucchini squash, and french fries. Donuts were offered for dessert, of course, but customers could also pick other treats like tapioca pudding, Jell-O, and rice pudding.

These days, many people head to Dunkin' Donuts for their daily dose of caffeine. That's partly why in 2018, the chain rebranded, dropping the "Donuts" from its name. It still sells donuts, of course, but it is known for its coffee. It's not surprising, really, considering that the drink has always been a big part of the brand's identity. The "Dunkin'" part of the name refers to literally dunking donuts in coffee.

But the way Dunkin' serves coffee has changed significantly over the years. In the 1970s and 1980s, for example, people used to be able to take their time in Dunkin' Donuts, nursing a coffee in a real ceramic mug and eating their donut off of a real plate. Now, coffee is mostly served in plastic and paper cups, in line with America's fast-paced, to-go culture. 

Many people miss the slower pace that those ceramic mugs used to offer. If you're feeling nostalgic, you can always buy an old-school Dunkin' Donuts mug on eBay. It's not the same, but you can play pretend (and maybe even take it with you on your next Dunkin' trip).

Dunkin' Donuts didn't just serve customers coffee in actual mugs in the 1970s; it also had a real bar with stools where people could sit and chat while they enjoyed diner-style counter service. It was just like a bar that served alcohol, only patrons would pass the time over caffeine instead of booze. In fact, according to some who worked there, they would often serve the same customers day after day. "Just like an alcohol bar we had our regulars," said one former Dunkin' Donuts employee in a Facebook group dedicated to memories of the 1970s. Another nostalgic Facebook user commented, "[I] miss those days sitting at the counter."

Now, most Dunkin' stores are optimized for grab and go. This escalated with its 2018 rebrand, which introduced more pick-up areas for mobile orders and bigger drive-thru lanes. Today, drive-thru, a far cry from that old-school counter-style service, is a huge part of Dunkin's modern business strategy. But it all started in the 1970s, as this was the decade when the very first Dunkin' Donuts drive-thru opened. Yep, while many people were fondly whiling away their time, sitting on a bar stool, and chatting to their server over a ceramic mug of coffee on the counter, they didn't realize the writing was already on the wall.

Remember the fact we told you earlier? That Dunkin' Donuts got its name because people liked to dunk their donuts in their coffee? Well, it turns out, the chain took this quirky habit really seriously at first. In fact, back in the 1950s, Dunkin's founder Bill Rosenberg came up with the idea of a literal dunking donut with a handle. If you're wondering what on Earth that looks like, it's basically a Q-shaped donut.

These donuts stuck around for decades, and many remember eating them in the 1970s. "I remember sitting at the counter, drinking coffee in those glorious, stoneware mugs and dunking those [handle donuts]," said one Facebook user in a 1970s memories group. Another added, "They were much better then — miss those handled donuts."

Unfortunately for fans, the handle donuts were removed from the menu in 2003. This was for a few reasons; apparently, the Q shape had waned in popularity, plus it wasn't easy to manufacture via automated machines.

The donuts with a handle aren't the only style of donut that people feel nostalgic about. In 1979, Dunkin' Donuts launched its Easter Egg Dipped Donut Pastries, which were basically egg-shaped donuts covered in sprinkles and chocolate, served in fun, egg carton-style packaging. If that sounds appealing, wait until you hear the price: $1.49 for a dozen. 

"My Nan & Gramps would take me every weekend before the [cartoons] came on," said one Facebook user in a group for foodies in Batavia, New York. "They made little donuts shaped like Easter eggs, and sold them in cartons for $1.49. Even in 1979, $1.49 for a dozen donuts seems like a steal." The Easter egg donuts stuck around for a while, but the price creeped up. In 1981, for example, they had jumped to $2.49 for a dozen (which is about $9 in today's money).

Dunkin' still regularly offers special promotions for Easter (in 2025, for example, it launched a Munchkins Easter bunny bucket), but we're yet to see anything quite like the 1979 Easter Egg Dipped Donut Pastries. Still, never say never.

When Dunkin' Donuts first opened in the 1950s, it didn't skimp on donut flavors. In fact, from the start, it offered an impressive 52 different flavors. It kept up this emphasis on variety for decades. For example, one menu from the 1970s still shows 52 different types, including the one with a handle, as well as several flavors of cake donuts, bismarcks, lemonaires, frosted donuts, and crullers. The idea, heavily promoted in Dunkin' Donuts' advertising, was that diners could indulge in a different flavor of donut every week for an entire year.

As we mentioned earlier, though, things are a little different now. Dunkin' still sells donuts, but they're not the main event. In fact, in 2017, in preparation for its beverage-centric rebrand, it reduced the number of donuts it offered in stores from 30 to 18. The focus on drinks is still going strong; in the summer of 2026, our taste-tester revealed the nine best new items at Dunkin' for the year so far, and only one of them was a donut.

If you wanted something a little different from a donut in the 1970s, but still equally as indulgent, you could also opt for an éclair. Yep, several advertisements and menus from this decade show the French, cream-filled, oblong-shaped pastry as an option.

One 1977 poster for several locations in Connecticut advertises a special éclair promotion, called the Éclair Fair. For one day only in April of that year, diners could purchase eclairs for just $0.10. The promotion wasn't exclusive to Connecticut. Other locations in Ohio and Kentucky offered a similar deal on éclairs and donuts in 1976.

Many people miss the days of éclairs at Dunkin' Donuts. "I want a Dunkin eclair to go with my coffee (did that as a kid)," reads one Facebook post in the Dunkin' World group. One commenter added, "They were better in the 70s and 80s with variety and selection made locally. Not factory stale donuts."