Food & Wine has a sweet slide show with America’s Best Doughnuts from around the country being represented.
The list features 16 shops, with 4 states each getting two spots on the list. So this means that the best doughnut shops in the U.S. are found in 12 states making it a bit easier if you wanted to attempt to visit all of them!
Here is the list:
- The Doughnut Vault– Chicago, IL
- Betty Ann Food Shop– Boston, MA
- Clear Flour Bread Bakery– Brookline, MA
- Primo’s Donuts– Los Angeles, CA
- Doughnut Plant– New York, NY
- Dynamo Donuts– San Francisco, CA
- Top Pot Doughnuts– Seattle, WA
- Voodoo Doughnut– Portland, OR
- Cafe du Monde– New Orleans, LA
- Sublime Doughnuts– Atlanta, GA
- Congdon’s Doughnuts– Wells, ME
- Gourdough’s– Austin, TX
- The Donut Stop– St Louis, MO
- Britt’s Donuts– Carolina Beach, NC
- Peter Pan Donut & Pastry Shop– Brooklyn, NY
- Do-Rite Donuts- Chicago, IL
I’ve had a chance to sample and enjoy doughnuts from 4 shops (in bold above) which made the list.
I visited the Doughnut Vault (photo above from my visit) in October 2012 after running in the Chicago O’Hare Runway Run. While the doughnuts were good, I didn’t find them to be amazing. When I add the experience of getting the doughnuts into the equation it made for a fun & tasty time.
Kim and I have been going to the Doughnut Plant for years and they probably make the best doughnuts that I’ve ever tried. Their variety of flavors are awesome and you can choose from cake, yeast and filled doughnuts. My favorite is the Blackout, a chocolate cake doughnut, filled with chocolate pudding, dipped in chocolate glaze and sprinkled with chocolate cake crumbs. I’m getting hungry thinking about Doughnut Plant.
I visited Cafe du Monde on both of my trips (twice during my second visit) to New Orleans and it was amazing each time . While I wouldn’t really consider beignets a doughnut, I have no problem with them being on this list. I think I described them best- These beignets were perfect- light, fluffy, sweet but not over the top. If you haven’t tried beignets at Cafe du Monde then you are missing out!
Kim and I stopped by Peter Pan Donut Shop a few years back and weren’t so impressed. In their defense, we arrived later in the day and there weren’t many flavors left. I guess we’ll have to go back another time to give it another try.
My Recommendation: One place that we’ve been to many times that we feel deserves a place on this list is Dough in Brooklyn, NY. Dough makes big, amazing yeast doughnuts in a variety of great flavors. I’d place them just behind Doughnut Plant for best doughnuts that I’ve ever had.
How many doughnut shops from the list have you been to? Do you have any that you’d like to recommend for America’s Best Doughnut?
Find out more about each of the doughnut shops on the Food & Wine list HERE.
Mike- You are totally right, but I think that is what’s great about them! Austin has been a place I’ve wanted to visit for quite some time. Thanks for the info about Round Rock, I’ll be sure to check it out when I get to Austin!
Heather or Kasha- Thanks for your feedback.
“Food & Wine: America’s Best Doughnuts | Michael W Travels…” ended up being a very good blog. However, if it included a lot more photos it would definitely be even even better. Thanks -Kasha
Every one of these lists causes folks to write “what about…” some local place, but one I can’t help but mention is Round Rock Doughnuts, which has been on most every travel/food channel at some point. If you’re in Austin, I’d definitely give them a try. Their twist is a yellow/orange color which originally came from the darker tint of farm-fresh egg yolks but is now augmented with a little tint since it’s harder to get the quantity of locally sourced free-range eggs.