Portland Donut Pilgrimage
As promised in my recent post—I know you've all been on the edge of your seats—I will now report on the two top contenders for donut patronage in Portland, USA: Blue Star and Voodoo Doughnuts.
First, Blue Star donuts.
I have know about Blue Star donuts for probably five years. It was the reason that I decided I wanted to visit Portland, all those years ago. There's a ton of fuss around another staple of the Portland donut scene, Voodoo Douhgnuts, which has franchised into Austin and elsewhere. Blue Star, on the other hand, is a little more reserved. A little more uppity. It's sleek and minimalist. Their slogan is "doughnuts for grown-ups," which I told to Anne's eleven-year-old daughter and she couldn't stop laughing (Anne was my Oregon shadow, I'll post about her next!). To give you an understanding of how ridiculously intense they take the donut game, here's the first sentence on their website:
“Blue Star Donuts is a gourmet donut concept founded in Portland, OR.”
A concept. Blue Star donuts is not a store. It's not a business. It's a concept. You catching their vibe now?
At 6:58 on Saturday morning, then, I walked into Blue Star donuts and selected three donuts from one of the nation's premiere donut shops. Hooray!
I'd give Blue Star a 9/10. They did their thing super well. Even if it wasn't my thing ($3 for a donut? ehhh), That raspberry buttermilk old fashioned was top of the line. But the chocolate frosting was weird, hence the 9 instead of 10.
Having taken only two bites out of each donut, I walked to Voodoo. I had planned to stop by Powell's City of Books between (the biggest independent book store in the world!), because I don't usually eat sugar in the morning, much less sugar from two different donut shops. But of course the bookstore is not open at 7:10 am. So I went ahead and walked to Voodoo, like the pilgrim I am. Ha.
Voodoo is pink and loud and weird and they have so many types of donuts and they display them all on this spinning tower by the cash register.
I'd give it a 10/10. Even though my chocolate old-fashioned donut could not have been sadder (it was like no one even bothered to frost it! Such a travesty, and I always say an old-fashioned donut is the measure of a shop) even though that was the case, I give it a 10/10.
The donuts were inexpensive and yummy. The store had a complete, developed branding strategy, even if it's voodoo themed. You can buy a "homemade coffin full of three dozen voodoo donuts," so that's funky. And there were parents with little kids there, which wasn't the case at Blue Star.
Another cool thing about Voodoo that Tucker told me about is that if you take a 5 gallon bucket and go at changeover time, they'll fill it with the old (probably not even a day, let's be real) doughnuts for only $8! I saw someone there with a bucket when I was there. Also, as I walked around town, I noticed that a fair number of homeless people had 5 gallon buckets, which was cool.
That's the scoop! I'd recommend either. And Heavenly Donuts, from my other Portland post, which isn't in downtown but was still delicious and fun. When you make it up to Portland, check out these stops!
PS Donut Disclaimer: One time, I was home from college and ran into a person from church. I guess she kept up with me on Facebook, but she said, "You aren't eating a donut!"
So just let me clarify—yes, I love donuts. I love them because they make people happy and they're sweet and sugary and not that expensive for a present. But I don't actually eat donuts that much. Almost ever, except when I travel. They just aren't that . . . nourishing. Ha. So it's really gotta be worth it. But I just wanted to make sure you, like that sweet friend, didn't think I eat donuts every hour or something. K thanks bye.