Mobileâs best donuts: Our top 3
A wave of gentrification may have claimed the cupcake, but thankfully the doughnut remains a low-rent treat for the common man.
Anyway, that’s my story and I’m sticking with it. You may find a doughnut or two in your fancier bake shops, and that’s great. But it seems that if you really want a selection of toroidal treats in the Mobile area, you need to find yourself a humble strip-mall storefront operation.
Here are some go-to spots, for those who can handle the hole truth.
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For Sugar Rush Donuts in Mobile, opening time is serious business but closing time is flexible.Lawrence Specker | [email protected]
3. Sugar Rush Donut Co.
4701 Airport Blvd. (also 13240 N. Wintzell Ave. in Bayou La Batre); www.sugarrushdonutcompany.com
I’m in love with this place just because of the way they list their hours on the shopfront door. They open at 6 a.m. on weekdays (except Mondays) and 7 p.m. weekends, and close at “2:00 ish” daily. Because nobody gets into the donut game to punch a clock, man. You’ve got to be punctual about getting them made, that’s the only deadline that matters. Anyway: You know how sometimes you look at a box of doughnut and decide to cut them all in half, so you don’t die of donut poisoning? These are those donuts. You start out thinking you’ll have half of this one and half of that one before lunch … then you realize you’ve had donuts for lunch.
Order this: The one with crumbled Reese’s cups on it is everything you would hope it would be.
Honeybuns Donuts & Kolaches in Spanish Fort offers a case full of goodies, starting with a full spectrum of donuts and including kolaches and breakfast burritos.Lawrence Specker | [email protected]
2. Honeybun Donuts and Kolaches
6729 Spanish Fort Blvd. Suite H
My first visit to Honeybun fell close to the nominal 2 p.m. closing time, and the place was shuttered. “Sorry!! We are sold out today,” said a sign on the glass. “see y’all in the morning thanks.” No one likes to miss the boat, but that kind of demand is a good sign. Upon return I found a case full of varied doughnuts and other treats, topped by kolaches and breakfast burritos. The shop also offers coffee, boba tea and smoothies. (Warning: The owners are about to shut down for a month while they travel out of the country. They’ll be back at the end of August.)
Order this: No offense to the fancier doughnuts in the mixed half-dozen I sampled, but there’s a lot to be said for a basic glazed doughnut done right. Start there.
The display case at a Lickin Good Donuts shop in Mobile offers a range of kolaches, donuts and other treats — but no raspberry-filled donuts, which apparently were in demand on this particular day.Lawrence Specker | [email protected]
1. Lickin Good Donuts
3242 Dauphin Street; various other locations
Lickin Good is a small chain that seems to have roots in Texas and/or Louisiana, but which has found fertile ground in Mobile and Baldwin counties. I couldn’t find a comprehensive listing of locations, but there are more stores upstate, including ones in Clanton, Alabaster, Childersburg, Fort Payne, Anniston and Oxford. The newest store is apparently the company’s first in Tennessee, and it’s in the city of Soddy-Daisy, which is a real thing. Anyway, they’ve got the goods: A comprehensive selection of doughnuts, plus other pastries, plus breakfast sandwiches and kolaches. I can’t speak for every location, but the ones in Mobile have Conecuh sausage and boudin kolaches.
Order this: The boudin kolache is a personal favorite. So it’s not a doughnut. Sue me.
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