Big Fight Brews For Average Joe

He added, "It's a big country."

Martin Mayorga, founder of a small Rockville coffee chain, said Washington is still comparatively "virgin territory" for the major chains. "The big guys are making their push before small independents pick up the areas they have overlooked," he said.

The recent housing expansion in and around the District, where young, sophisticated, well-paid people are now living, has changed the area's reputation as just a place to do business and conduct the affairs of government. "You see the development in Adams Morgan and Silver Spring," Mayorga said. "You see more community development, meaning more neighborhood-type anchor locations."

One such area is Eastern Market, where the debate was joined yesterday.

"For them to compete against Starbucks would be ridiculous in my mind," Dennis Washington, 29, said as he walked out of the Starbucks at Eighth and D streets SE. "Dunkin' Donuts -- that's part of the name. I wouldn't advertise that as the main thing you're trying to sell."

Ali Fishlinger, a sophomore at George Washington University, stood up for Dunkin' Donuts. "For the people who don't get all the crazy, jazzy drinks, it's better coffee," Fishlinger said, just leaving the store near campus.

Chris Wood, 40, sipped a Dunkin' Donuts iced coffee as she pushed her baby stroller toward Pennsylvania Avenue. "In a very busy location like this, I think they both can make it," she said.

Wood and her husband, who live just a few blocks away on Capitol Hill, have been waiting for this moment for the three years they've been in Washington. Both native New Yorkers and Dunkin' Donuts loyalists, they appreciate the lighter roast and flavor of Dunkin' Donuts coffee. Before the Eastern Market store opened, Wood drove to Virginia every month to pick up a few pounds of the Dunkin' Donuts roast.

As part of the expansion, Dunkin' Donuts is modernizing its stores and increasing its food offerings, with more choices for afternoon eating. The one in Eastern Market is typical of the new approach: an urban, loft-style interior with exposed pipes and ventilation ducts. The second story, enclosed by glass all around, offers a panorama of Pennsylvania Avenue and the Starbucks across the street. There's a red-yellow-and-orange color scheme that looks more inviting than the typical cramped, streetside Dunkin' Donuts stores. Coffee is more prominently displayed than the doughnuts and bagels, with a case full of coffee mugs and pounds of Dunkin' Decaf and Cinnamon & Spice roast greeting customers before they make it to the register.

"This is the new image," said manager Farzad Mogharabi, 61, who mentioned that they hope to attract business crowds and students with a wireless network. "It's about becoming a very beautiful, comfortable, inviting environment."

Staff researcher Richard Drezen contributed to this report.