A Glazed & Amused thread
Shops you have to time right.
Check before you travel
Some of the best donuts in America are not available most of the year. These shops close for the season, or peak so sharply that visiting at the wrong time means missing the thing entirely.
Plan accordingly.
Turn up in the wrong month and there is nothing to turn up to.
City-level positions. A thread held together by the calendar, not the road.
Rolling out the map…
Carolina Beach, NC
On the boardwalk since 1939, selling one thing only: a hot glazed donut from a recipe the family has never shared.
Cash only and seasonal, closing in the fall and reopening in spring, with a line down the boardwalk on opening day.
Known for: One hot glazed donut, and nothing else
Oak Bluffs, MA
Summer only, on Martha's Vineyard, and reachable only by ferry.
The purple door opens at 7pm.
Waterbury Center, VT
Founded in 1974 on Route 100 between Waterbury and Stowe.
Presses cider on a rack-and-cloth press built in the 1920s, and fries around 800 dozen cider donuts a day in peak season.
Known for: Cider donuts, best in cider season
Penn Yan, NY
The mill has pressed cider since 1928. The Wager family bought it in 1977, and the third generation, Geoff and Kaylee Wager, runs it now.
The cider donuts come off a mid-century donut machine. Open mid-August through December, then it's done until next year.
Known for: Cider donuts, hot off the machine
Rochester, NY
In Rochester, the fall donut is a fried cake: dense inside, with a crusty, uneven outside. CITY Magazine traces the name to the olie-koeken of New York's Dutch settlers.
Farm markets fry them from about mid-September through Halloween. Schutt's Apple Mill in Webster, Green Acre in Greece and McPherson Orchards all make them. Ask locals which one is best and settle in.
Known for: Cinnamon-sugar fried cakes with fresh cider
Written about, not listed. These are farm markets first, so they live on this trail rather than in the listings.
The whole point is that you can't get it whenever you want. Which means knowing what's near you, and when. Start here.
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