Lovers of chain store doughnuts usually fall into one of two camps: you’re either a Krispy Kremer or a Dunker.  Krispy Kreme and Dunkin Donuts have dominated the chain-store doughnut landscape in the US for a long time now, each surviving their own ups and downs and carving out their own niche (KK is dominant in secondary distribution and Dunkin has started to re-brand itself as a coffee roaster that sells the occasional pastry) to survive in today’s slightly more health conscious environment.

I grew up at the counter of the Krispy Kreme in Goldsboro, NC, between my little brother and my grandfather, who used to take us there to get hot, fresh glazed doughnuts right off the line and a cup of milk to dunk them in.  Moving to NoVa meant a dearth of KK shops and I was weaned onto delectable grocery-store bakery delights and reluctantly began to appreciate the more cakey Dunkin Donuts offerings and that they went well with their coffee.  When I moved up to PA we had neither a KK or a DD within what is even remotely a reasonable distance and again I fell in love with the exotic and decadent offerings of local bakeries and small-town grocery stores.  One fasnacht or strawberry/creme filled bullet from these places was enough to make me drop to my knees and swear fidelity, forsaken for all time the cheap, air-filled offerings of the national chains.  I thought I would forever be happy to leave the dried-out KK boxes on the supermarket or gas-station shelf and get something fresh, moist and heavy from the bakery, and for a time, I was.

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Spudnuts has been around for a long time. And by long time, I mean when velociraptors used to hunt small wild pigs and T-Rex’s ruled the United States. In other words, Spudnuts has been open since 1969 at 309 Avon Street. It has kicked so much ass in the last 40 years or so, in fact, that both Krispy Kreme and Dunkin’ Doughnuts left town.

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