District Donuts

Shop: I visited the Magazine Street location which was the original District Donut location. There was plenty of parking in the gravel lot next to the store and there was also a handful of street parking in front of the store. The store has an open kitchen concept and you can watch them make the dough and decorate the donuts at the back of the store. I didn’t catch the chef’s name but he was very kind and extremely friendly and we made small talk as he made the doughnuts of the day. The store was clean, and the decor was that of instagram dreams. The store interior walls are exposed brick and the kitchen had a dark wooden counter top that allowed patrons to watch over their food and drinks being made (including a chocolate milk tap!) There were also several booths to accommodate larger parties.There was also a cute outdoor seating area with 2 seater tables and christmas lights strung up overhead.

Donut Selection: The store offers 7 different donut flavors each day and they have over 100 different flavors to date. They always have 3 staple flavors offered: glazed, chocolate glazed and cinnamon sugar. These donuts are huge, and look to-die-for. They also have an extensive food menu offering anything from other pastries (I’m looking at you Bruleed Cinnamon Roll) to Cheeseburgers to Breakfast Tacos.

Taste:  I wanted so much to like these donuts. The staff was incredibly friendly and the donut looked like it would be amazing, but it left a lot to be desired. I anxiously waited to tuck into my donut for the entire 2 hour drive home. As I plopped down onto my couch, I took a big ol’ bite of the donut and was stunned at the lack of flavor. The cake itself was so thick and not particularly sweet. The glaze was good, but would be hard to identify as “cookie butter” and seemed to have a vaguely tart almost lemony flavor.  The only part of the donut I did enjoy were the chunks of chocolate chip cookie that topped the donut itself. Confession: I only ate about a 1/3 of the donut. It really wasn’t enjoyable and I ended up throwing the remainder away.  I think had I chosen one of the donuts will a filling that may have broken up the taste of the donut. With the donuts being so large, the relatively savory cake left a lot to be desired in the dessert department without having any sort of flavorful filling to break up the monotony of the dough.
Cost: My donut was considered “fancy” (gourmet flavor) so it set me back $2.50. They also have “simple” donuts (glazed or cinnamon sugar) available for $1.50 and “extra fancy” (filled) for $3.50
Overall Score: 4/10

If I lived in the New Orleans area this would no doubt be a favorite coffee shop of mine, the vanilla latte was one of the best drinks I’ve ever had. However, this is my donut diary and I can’t in good conscience recommend any donuts from here after the lackluster donut I had. Given their fantastic ratings online I’d like to believe I may have had a dud donut. Next time I’m back in the city I will be sure to give their donuts another go.