It’s hard to catch fresh donuts.
Sure, if you show up to Krispy Kreme or Dunkin Donuts right when they open, you might be able to grab a warm one, but often your donut is room temperature and, more often than not, stale.
That’s never an issue at Duck Donuts though.
The North Carolina-based regional donut chain recently expanded and opened its doors in Knoxville at the corner of Kingston and North Shore. This newest Duck Donuts franchise hosted its grand opening the first weekend of January, but these made-to-order donuts already have reviews calling them the best donuts in town.
Each donut at Duck Donuts starts with the same base: a vanilla cake donut. When a customer places an order, this uncooked dough is then fried in a soy based shortening. Customers can then choose to have their donut’s ride end there and just eat it bare — or they can choose from one of two adventures.
One option is to pick any of the customer favorites such as cinnamon sugar, maple bacon (my personal favorite) or one of the more creative creations such as chocolate, peanuts and salted caramel drizzle or peanut butter and raspberry drizzle. But, if you want more control over your donut creation, you can create your own combination where you pick a coating, a topping and/or a drizzle. (When I tried Duck Donuts for the first time, my donut eating companion created a donut with vanilla coating, coconut topping and blackberry drizzle, and he said it was worth it.)
When we first walked into Duck Donuts, it was a little overwhelming. There were people standing all over the space, and we couldn’t tell if people were waiting to order, waiting for their donuts or just hanging out. Once we got our bearings, however, we found the order forms at the front. I chose a classic cinnamon sugar and a maple bacon to go along with my coffee, and my friend ordered a maple bacon and that vanilla-coconut-blackberry concoction to go along with his.
After we ordered, we were struck by the lack of seating. The only two options are to take your donuts to-go or to hover around one of the five window seats in hopes of nabbing one when someone else leaves. We had planned on eating there (being unaware of the seating situation) and were lucky enough to grab two seats while we were waiting.
Because the donuts are made to order, the wait was a little longer than I had hoped for only two donuts, but I’m sure it was worse than normal because of opening week kinks and the increased business as Knoxvillians rushed to try the new spot.
However, two factors made that wait not even matter. First, the service, and second, those warm, soft-yet-crispy clouds of happy donuts.
Everyone who worked at Duck Donuts was just so nice and friendly and made you feel like they really wanted you there. It’s rare to walk into a place and feel like that, and even though it isn’t set up as a place to “hang out,” the customer service made it feel like they wouldn’t have minded if we’d stayed.
Second, and most important, is the donuts. Cake donuts aren’t my favorite, and I kept questioning how fresh the donuts could really be, but let me tell you, they’re really freaking fresh. Those delicious babies aren’t fried until your order comes through, and once they’re cooked, a team assembles your donut box with all the appropriate toppings before it makes it to your mouth. Yes, the toppings were perfect — not too much, not too little, and the maple bacon donut was topped with real, thick and fatty bacon bits.
But, what really got me was how perfect that base donut was. It was warm and perfectly soft inside while having the right amount of crisp on the outside.
And the best part? Every donut served is that perfect level of fresh.
Four fresh, made to order donuts from Duck Donuts.
