Donut Tyme - 24/7 good donuts.

I check the stats when I prepare a new post.  I check it the day after, the next day and the next day.  Then I stop, because not much happens after the third day.  I've been watching the numbers and they have been steadily declining.  The powers that be paid me a visit the other day.  "Your ratings are low.  You need to rekindle interest in the blog, or we're pulling the plug," they said.  They suggested a gimmick - a guest blogger, nude photos or, if I could stomach it, a Kardashian tie-in.  As evidence of the lengths I will go to get people to read this blog, I went to a donut shop and took a few pics.  You see, I have accepted the fact that my content is not particularly unique and is not really "in demand."  I'm okay with that.  I, like Homer Simpson when he joined a counterfeit jean ring, am a person who "saw an overcrowded marketplace and said, "Me too!"

So, enough monologuing.  Let's talk about donuts (I have adopted the marketing spelling, not the British version [doughnuts]).  First off, why am I fascinated by donuts?  Well, my early formative years were spent in rural Wyoming.  Donuts were the grocery store variety (which are donuts by technicality, not by spirit), the hostess variety (which are a doughnut like a zombie is a human) and then the fried biscuit donuts.  My maternal grandmother would make "donuts" by buying a tube of biscuits, punching out a donut hole, and frying it.  Rarely would a maple-y frosting be made, sometimes a cinnamon and sugar mixture would be made and usually we would just dip them in sugar.  They were good, to me.  They were certainly fresh, but they were really scones in the shape of donuts.  

My donut world remained in this trailer park state (which is a comment on the size of the world, not the quality thereof) until middle school.  For 8th grade, we moved from Glendale, AZ, to Powell, WY.  Powell, it turns out, was built in large part by Germans.  There was a bakery downtown that was a sometimes stop when my dad would bring us to school.  We would get a chocolate milk and a donut.  These donuts were my first realization of what a donut could be.  These had texture, some were flaky.  They were fresher tasting. They went stale more quickly.  These donuts were perishable.  

At this point, I knew there could be pretty good donuts.  It wasn't until Kristy Kreme arrived in Tempe, AZ, while I was in college that I experienced a donut at the next level.  With much fanfare, a Kristy Kreme opened in Tempe.  There were absurd lines for these donuts.  We waited too.  I experienced the brilliant marketing of an exceptional product - Krispy Kreme would sometimes deliver fresh glazed donuts to those waiting in line.  Krispy Kreme's most noteworthy donut is the fresh glazed (which, when not fresh can be "revived" in the microwave for 9 seconds or so).  

After a few other interesting, but not amazing donuts, I met Donuts Real, Pink Box, O Face and then Donut Bar.  These shops, along with Voodoo in Portland showed me how high donuts could go. Then, on the way back from a photo shoot with some visitors to Vegas, we went to Donut Tyme.  

Before I talk about the specifics of Donut Tyme, let's discuss the difficulties donuts face.  

First, there is the difficulty of making really good ones.  Donuts are supposed to be inexpensive and plentiful.  These factors make it hard to make innovative and difficult donuts, because it becomes time consuming and expensive.  

Second, there is the issue of timing.  Donuts are traditionally a morning food.  That means in the dark hours of the morning, the donuts must be made.  Thus, they are not as plentiful in the afternoons and are virtually non-existent in the evenings. 

Finally, there is the freshness issue.  A good donut has a very short shelf life.  They are something that has to sold while it is at its peak.  Again, good donuts are hard to find after 10 am.

So, what does Donut Tyme do?  Check out their website. What sets them apart is their 24 hour schedule.  This solves the afternoon and evening donut dilemma, mostly.  We went at about 6 pm.  The selection was not great.  However, at least there was a selection.  The cashier told us fresh donuts would be available at about 8 pm.  The prices were pretty good.  Here's what we got:

 

The buttermilk ones were the best.  This made sense.  This is a Mexican donut shop.  All the donuts had really good texture and good flavor.  The donuts in the upper left were cinnamon crumb.  They were a glazed, raised donut with a cinnamon topping.  These were also noteworthy.  The donut was soft, but not mushy.  It wasn't overpowering and was one of the better balanced donuts I've had.  

But, the most interesting donut, was not a donut.  It was this:

 

Behold the burrito donut.  Donut Tyme takes a tortilla, fills it (raspberry and cream in this case) and bathes it in glaze.  We had to try it.  What was it like?  Well, it was sweet.  Really sweet. I had visions of 130 pound nine year olds munching on these while playing Clash Royale on their iphones, wasting their last two diabetes-free years on Pokémon Go and Vine video compilations.  So, is it good?  If you have become so sugar dependent, that you drink buckets of non-diet soda, if you are so addicted to sweets that you put sugar on Lucky Charms cereal, you will love the donut burrito.  Otherwise, it's just going to make you sleepy.

The final analysis is this.  I liked Donut Tyme.  I don't know if I can overstate how nice it is to get pretty fresh donuts at nearly any time of day.  It is a huge plus. I thought the prices were good.  On the negative, Donut Tyme doesn't have a conveyor belt that is constantly churning out donuts.  As such, there are times when, as I experienced, there is not a lot of selection and, possibly, no donuts.  Overall, though, it is good.  In the top 60% of donut places, for sure.