Part 1: Doughnuts are more than just a sweet snack—they’re an institution. Here are 10 great places to get your fix.
By Bret Stetka for MSN Local Edition
However you spell it, the doughnut is a traditional American delight.
From their early days feeding World War I soldiers to Homer Simpson chomping a pink frosted on the flat screen, the doughnut has long been an integral piece of American culture. And now with the Atkins Diet obsession behind us, doughnuts are more popular than ever. Classic mom-and-pop shops continue to thrive while adventuresome bakers push doughnuts in a sophisticated new direction. But no amount of confectionary wizardry can hide the fried, sugary, down-to-earth charm that makes the doughnut the ultimate comfort food. As a fanatic of all things doughnut, I've put together a list of the 10 best doughnut shops I've encountered coast to coast.
Frittelli's Doughnuts and Coffee (Beverly Hills, Calif.)
350 N. Canon Drive, #6
(310) 276-1408 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting (310) 276-1408 end_of_the_skype_highlighting
Mmm ... Frittelli's. Where to start? This high-end doughnut and coffee shop on a wealthy commercial Beverly Hills block serves such delicacies as Meyer lemon zest glazed, key lime and plain cake infused with Tahitian vanilla. The shop offers doughnut and coffee pairings and packs their rings in elegant Tiffany-style blue boxes. Hang around long enough, and you're likely to see a celeb cramming her Gucci bag with crullers.
> Find Beverly Hills restaurants
Sweetwater's Donut Mill (Kalamazoo, Mich.)
Multiple locations
Self-proclaimed peddler of "big, gooey" donuts and known for its rustic, local atmosphere, Sweetwater's offers traditional flavors alongside more decadent donut fare like New York Cheesecake and Peanut Butter Cup. But the shop's tendency toward child-like indulgence is best experienced through its obsession with candy bars: check the Heath Crunch, Snickers and Mounds varieties.
Prepare for some big dippers at Randy's Donuts.
Randy's Donuts (Inglewood, Calif.)
805 W. Manchester Ave.
(310) 645-4707 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting (310) 645-4707 end_of_the_skype_highlighting
The doughnuts at Randy's are as immense in stature and flavor as the big-screen personas and SUVs crowding the streets of L.A. These plump rings come in standard sorts like glazed, jelly-filled and devil's food and are eclipsed in size only by the massive 22-foot doughnut on the shop's roof. This sugary megalith has been featured in numerous movies and music videos and can been seen from the sky when touching down at LAX -- a sort of symbolic gateway to the doughnut capital of America. (There are nearly 900 doughnut dealers in L.A. County.)
> Find Inglewood restaurants
Cafe Du Monde (New Orleans)
800 Decatur St.
(504) 525-4544 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting (504) 525-4544 end_of_the_skype_highlighting
Likely the oldest doughnuteria in America, this French Quarter coffee shop has been serving chicory-spiked, New Orleans-style coffee and fresh beignets since 1862. Cafe Du Monde's flagship location on Decatur Street was unscathed by Katrina and continues to fry some of the most flavorful French-style doughnuts around. These puffy squares of airy dough come crisp and warm and support a hearty mountain of powdered sugar -- all while proudly serving as the official state doughnut of Louisiana.
> Find New Orleans restaurants
Top notch dunkers at Top Pot Coffee & Doughnuts.
Top Pot Coffee & Doughnuts (Seattle)
Multiple locations
In a city bursting at the seams with coffee shops, it's no small feat that Top Pot has won over nearly every breed of Seattle-ite. According to the shop's Web site, "tattooed hipsters, soccer moms, the business elite and retirees" all unite under one roof, seeking aromatic java and homemade doughnuts. The downtown location is a must-see: a sleek and modern design with retro accents, floor-to-ceiling bookshelves and a towering glass storefront. Sunlight pours in, illuminating classic doughnuts like glazed, maple and powdered as well as more fabulous varieties like the Pink Feather Boa, a plain cake doughnut topped with bright pink frosting and coconut shavings.
> Find Seattle restaurants
Doughnut Plant (New York)
379 Grand St.
(212) 505-3700 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting (212) 505-3700 end_of_the_skype_highlighting
This artisanal doughnut dealer on Manhattan's grungy-chic Lower East Side was started in 1994 by native North Carolinian Mark Israel and has been heralded ever since by critics and foodies for its high-quality, fresh ingredients -- the dough is made with spring water -- and eclectic flavors like the Elvis-inspired peanut butter glazed with banana cream filling, the rose petal glazed and the coconut cream. Israel recently defeated Iron Chef Bobby Flay in a doughnut-making duel on Flay's Food Network show Throwdown with one of my all-time favorite doughnuts, the Tres Leches -- a rich and creamy cake doughnut made from evaporated, condensed and whole milk modeled after the traditional Mexican cake of the same name.
> Find New York restaurants
That voodoo that Voodoo Doughnut does so well.
Voodoo Doughnut
(Portland, Ore.)
22 S.W. Third Ave.
(503) 241-4704 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting (503) 241-4704 end_of_the_skype_highlighting
Voodoo Doughnut operates in its own twisted world fueled by animosity toward convention: Here, doughnuts are decorated with toppings like Fruit Loops, Tang and -- yes! -- bacon. This hipster-friendly hole-in-the-wall in downtown Portland tests sensory limits with super-sweet (and often adult-themed) creations, bright colors and guilty childhood pleasures -- just try getting through the Captain Crunch doughnut without succumbing to sugar shock. The shop also serves as a concert venue and wedding chapel -- on our first anniversary, my wife surprised me with a vow-renewal ceremony performed by co-founder Tres Shannon. (Both Tres and his partner, Kenneth "Cat Daddy" Pogson, were legally ordained online.) We were rewed beneath a velvet portrait of Isaac Hayes and presented with a custom-made doughnut resembling our rotund cat. But all eccentricity, perversion and cereal aside, the bottom line is that Voodoo's doughnuts are undeniably addictive. And did I mention they offer Swahili lessons every Monday night?
> Find Portland restaurants
Round Rock Donuts (Round Rock, Texas)
106 W. Liberty
(512) 255-3629 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting (512) 255-3629 end_of_the_skype_highlighting
With its stone walls and chunky wooden beams, this local favorite just outside of Austin looks more like a Texas roadhouse than a doughnut shop. But in lieu of grilled rattlesnake and tequila shots, Round Rock's menu is considerably sweeter, bearing cakes, cookies and a wide selection of doughnuts. The shop is best-known for their plain glazed (its curious orange-hued coating is a result of using local, farm-fresh eggs) but also offers such notables as the monstrous Texas doughnut and -- thanks to the large Eastern European population in central Texas -- a selection of kolaches, a type of Czech pastry filled with cheese or fruit.
> Find Round Rock restaurants
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Kane's Donuts (Saugus, Mass.)
120 Lincoln Ave.
(781) 233-8499 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting (781) 233-8499 end_of_the_skype_highlighting
Thanks to an overly generous sister-in-law, I recently spent a gluttonous Saturday touring the doughnut shops of greater Boston. Our resounding favorite: Kane's. Like so many passersby before, we were steered off the residential streets of Saugus and into this cozy house-cum-doughnut dealer by an enormous neon arrow. The place feels timeless as locals nibble both cake and raised doughnuts, slurp steaming black coffee and draw their "A's" out nice and long. I'd keep it simple and go for the Honey Dip (glazed) or the marble cake, but for those with more elaborate taste, try the Bismark, a traditional German doughnut split down the middle and filled with jelly and cream.
> Find Saugus restaurants
Coffee An' Donut Shop (Westport, Conn.)
343 Main St.
(203) 227-3808 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting (203) 227-3808 end_of_the_skype_highlighting
Westport may no longer be home to Martha Stewart, but this affluent New England town houses one of the finest doughnut shops on the East Coast. A favorite of political heavyweights like Bill Clinton, Al Gore and Joseph Lieberman, Coffee An's classic homemade doughnuts are as perfect as the storefront's quaint surroundings. Locals and travelers alike line up daily for freshly fried, hand-cut varieties like glazed, cinnamon and coffee rolls. On a steamy Saturday in July, I met with owner George Vladis -- a Greek immigrant who took over the shop 15 years ago (and who might be the nicest man in the world). Vladis kindly showed me around the kitchen while he and his staff prepared to close for the day. "Dunkin Donuts wouldn't last around here" he said. "People just like our doughnuts too much. Mr. Clinton called them the best in the world."
> Find Westport restaurants
> Check out part 2 of America's Best Doughnuts
Bret Stetka is a science, medical and food writer based in Brooklyn, N.Y. He recently authored the Eat Manhattan iPhone app, a guide to essential Manhattan dining. He also founded and operates Blognut, a blog dedicated to covering all things "donut".
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