# Is your town a donut town?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-your-town-a-donut-town/595547
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [September 7, 2011, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-your-town-a-donut-town/595547 "2011-09-07T22:13:55Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Lamar\_Mundane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamar_Mundane)
#### Post date: [September 7, 2011, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-your-town-a-donut-town/595547/1 "2011-09-07T22:13:55Z")
[In this thread about regional chains](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=622735), there is a lot of talk about donut shop chains, mostly Dunkin Donuts and Tim Hortons.
I once went on a job interview in Toronto, and the companies offices were under some repair, so the interviewer took me to a Tim Horton’s to talk. It was full of working people having coffee and donuts. I didn’t think anything of it at the time, but I did notice that there were a hell of a lot donut shops around when I went back to the airport after the interview.
I didn’t take that job, but I did take one that was based in the Chicago area. Every time I came in to the HQ for meetings, there would be dozens of donuts in the meeting room to start the day.
That doesn’t happen here in Colorado. Meetings often have some pastry and muffins and bagels, and there may be a few donuts among the pastries, but not the big boxes of assorted donuts like there always were in Chicago. (The one exception to this was when Krispy Kreme came to town and everyone went gaga about them before the quickly disappeared.)
I did a little googgling to see if this was a common thing. My conclusion is that some cities are donut cities and others are not. The northeast seems to have the largest concentration of donut cities while the west has fewer. I pulled up Google Maps for some random cities and typed “donut” as a search term. The results:
[Boston](http://maps.google.com/maps?q=donuts&hl=en&ll=42.358544,-71.19072&spn=0.404899,0.878906&sll=42.358431,-71.059773&sspn=0.404899,0.617294&vpsrc=0&gl=us&t=h&z=11). Millions of them.
[Denver](http://maps.google.com/maps?q=chicago&um=1&ie=UTF-8&hq=&hnear=0x880e2c3cd0f4cbed:0xafe0a6ad09c0c000,Chicago,+IL&gl=us&ei=HuVnTuCtOaXkiAKjye3ODQ&sa=X&oi=geocode_result&ct=image&resnum=1&ved=0CDEQ8gEwAA). Not many at all. There are about 2.5 million people in that map coverage and a couple dozen donut shops. If you go northwest to Boulder, there isn’t a single donut shop in a city of 100,000. The map shows one, but if you click on it and read the comments, you’ll see it has been closed for years.
[Richmond, Va](http://maps.google.com/maps?q=donuts&hl=en&ll=37.542944,-77.600555&spn=0.434462,0.878906&sll=37.542944,-77.600555&sspn=0.434462,0.878906&vpsrc=0&gl=us&t=h&z=11). Not a donut town.
[Chicago.](http://maps.google.com/maps?q=donuts&hl=en&ll=41.878253,-87.6297&spn=0.407979,0.878906&sll=41.878253,-87.6297&sspn=0.407979,0.878906&vpsrc=0&gl=us&t=h&z=11) Donut town.
[Dallas.](http://maps.google.com/maps?q=donuts&hl=en&ll=32.809785,-96.769638&spn=0.446102,0.878906&sll=32.802859,-96.769638&sspn=0.460567,0.878906&vpsrc=0&gl=us&t=h&z=11) Donut town.
[Miami.](http://maps.google.com/maps?q=donuts&hl=en&ll=25.785363,-80.226288&spn=0.246692,0.439453&sll=25.785363,-80.226288&sspn=0.246692,0.439453&vpsrc=0&gl=us&t=h&z=12) Not a donut town.
Is your town a donut town?
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### Author:  [@MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MPB_in_Salt_Lake)
#### Post date: [September 7, 2011, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-your-town-a-donut-town/595547/2 "2011-09-07T22:19:53Z")
It’s funny, but I have noticed the same thing on my travels around the country; Some places (Boston especially, but Seattle and San Francisco as well) seem to have a donut joint on every corner, while other places, like right here in Salt Lake City don’t seem to have almost any in the entire metro area of 500,000+
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### Author:  [@Greg\_Charles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Greg_Charles)
#### Post date: [September 7, 2011, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-your-town-a-donut-town/595547/3 "2011-09-07T22:20:45Z")
I’ve heard that in Springfield, NE, donuts are plentiful, but maybe only on Halloween in an alternate timeline.
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### Author:  [@Chicken\_Fingers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chicken_Fingers)
#### Post date: [September 7, 2011, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-your-town-a-donut-town/595547/4 "2011-09-07T22:25:48Z")
I’m in the D.C. suburbs. Not a donut town. My roots are in New England. I miss donuts, especially the spicy cake donuts you can get at mom & pop diners.
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### Author:  [@Laggard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Laggard)
#### Post date: [September 7, 2011, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-your-town-a-donut-town/595547/5 "2011-09-07T22:54:08Z")
Mpls, not a donut town.
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### Author:  [@carlb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carlb)
#### Post date: [September 7, 2011, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-your-town-a-donut-town/595547/6 "2011-09-07T23:02:21Z")
And that Google map doesn’t even hint at the delicious donut-ness of Chicago, because the best ones won’t be found at “donut shops.” They’ll be found at ethnic bakeries:
[ul]
[Pączki](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P%C4%85czki) from Polish bakeries,
[li]a good [Bismark](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bismarks) from a [German bakery](http://www.dinkels.com/), or,[/li][li]If you want to stretch the definition of a donut some, fresh [churros](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Churro) from the truck at the [Maxwell Street Market](http://abclocal.go.com/wls/story?section=resources/lifestyle_community/food/restaurants&id=8197868)[/ul][/li]They are all things of beauty.
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### Author:  [@sitchensis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sitchensis)
#### Post date: [September 7, 2011, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-your-town-a-donut-town/595547/7 "2011-09-07T23:14:01Z")
A question I have is, do people actually eat doughnuts and coffee for breakfast in a doughnut town?
I like doughnuts and I like coffee, but eating them together first thing in the morning makes my stomach do flip flops.
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### Author:  [@lazybratsche](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lazybratsche)
#### Post date: [September 7, 2011, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-your-town-a-donut-town/595547/8 "2011-09-07T23:46:23Z")
> [@sitchensis](#):
>
> A question I have is, do people actually eat doughnuts and coffee for breakfast in a doughnut town?
>
> I like doughnuts and I like coffee, but eating them together first thing in the morning makes my stomach do flip flops.
Sometimes, but mostly other things. Even in a Dunkin Donuts, most people don’t order donuts. They all get coffee but most will get muffins or bagels or an egg sandwich for breakfast.
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### Author:  [@AClockworkMelon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AClockworkMelon)
#### Post date: [September 8, 2011, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-your-town-a-donut-town/595547/9 "2011-09-08T00:20:36Z")
Sadly, Phoenix is not a donut town. I only know the locations of two places.
Btw, am I the only one who fucking loves the makeover Dunkin’ Donuts has received? DONUT DRIVETHROUGH. Genius.
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### Author:  [@Lacunae\_Matata](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lacunae_Matata)
#### Post date: [September 8, 2011, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-your-town-a-donut-town/595547/10 "2011-09-08T00:38:12Z")
Working in my industry, I learned two things: Savannah, Georgia is not a doughnut town. And tourists are often shocked that doughnuts aren’t on every street corner of every town. Especially the tourists from New England and Canada, IME. And even more especially when said tourists were traveling along I95 toward Florida, and wanted to know how to find the next Dunkin’ Donuts on their route…
(Those instructions began with “Are you going as far south as Brunswick or Jacksonville?” - 60 and 120 miles south of Savannah. People were HORRIFIED that DD was so remote!)
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### Author:  [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)
#### Post date: [September 8, 2011, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-your-town-a-donut-town/595547/11 "2011-09-08T00:45:45Z")
> [@Lamar\_Mundane](#):
>
> [[URL=“http://maps.google.com/maps?q=donuts&hl=en&ll=42.358544,-71.19072&spn=0.404899,0.878906&sll=42.358431,-71.059773&sspn=0.404899,0.617294&vpsrc=0&gl=us&t=h&z=11”]Boston](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=622735). Millions of them.
Yeah, but they are all Dunkin Donuts.
Los Angeles is a donut town. Not many chains, but put-near a mom and pop donut shop on every other corner.
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### Author:  [@Lamar\_Mundane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamar_Mundane)
#### Post date: [September 8, 2011, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-your-town-a-donut-town/595547/12 "2011-09-08T00:51:41Z")
> [@spooje](#):
>
> Yeah, but they are all Dunkin Donuts.
>
> Los Angeles is a donut town. Not many chains, but put-near a mom and pop donut shop on every other corner.
[Damn, you ain’t kidding.](http://maps.google.com/maps?q=donuts&hl=en&ll=33.953043,-118.105774&spn=0.454516,0.878906&sll=34.052234,-118.243685&sspn=1.815893,2.469177&vpsrc=6&gl=us&t=h&fll=33.805397,-117.971878&fspn=0.455303,0.878906&z=11)
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### Author:  [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)
#### Post date: [September 8, 2011, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-your-town-a-donut-town/595547/13 "2011-09-08T00:54:59Z")
With Homer Simpson living here, Springfield would have to be a donut town!
Actually, we don’t have huge numbers of donut shops here, but we care enough about donuts that, a few years back when Krispy Kreme was all the rage, there were many heated arguments pitting Krispy Kreme against local chain [Mel-O-Cream](http://www.mel-o-cream.com/index.html).
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### Author:  [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)
#### Post date: [September 8, 2011, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-your-town-a-donut-town/595547/14 "2011-09-08T01:51:54Z")
> [@Lamar\_Mundane](#):
>
> [Damn, you ain’t kidding.](http://maps.google.com/maps?q=donuts&hl=en&ll=33.953043,-118.105774&spn=0.454516,0.878906&sll=34.052234,-118.243685&sspn=1.815893,2.469177&vpsrc=6&gl=us&t=h&fll=33.805397,-117.971878&fspn=0.455303,0.878906&z=11)
Having worked in LA the past year plus, I was blown away by how many independent donut shops there are here. No Tim Horton’s or Dunkin’ Donuts, that I know of though. The other weird thing is that people here all seem so fit and trim and it’s kind of rare to see anyone eating an actual donut or even going in these places. I suspect that it’s all an elaborate Cheech and Chong sketch.
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### Author:  [@congodwarf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/congodwarf)
#### Post date: [September 8, 2011, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-your-town-a-donut-town/595547/15 "2011-09-08T01:53:12Z")
As far as I’m aware, my town only has 4 or 5 DD’s and no other donut shops.
Then again, my town only has about 17k residents.
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### Author:  [@infinitii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/infinitii)
#### Post date: [September 8, 2011, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-your-town-a-donut-town/595547/16 "2011-09-08T01:55:36Z")
New Orleans is NOT a donut town, unless you count beignets of course (which I don’t, but I guess most people would).
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### Author:  [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)
#### Post date: [September 8, 2011, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-your-town-a-donut-town/595547/17 "2011-09-08T02:24:38Z")
> [@ShibbOleth](#):
>
> Having worked in LA the past year plus, I was blown away by how many independent donut shops there are here. No Tim Horton’s or Dunkin’ Donuts, that I know of though. The other weird thing is that people here all seem so fit and trim and it’s kind of rare to see anyone eating an actual donut or even going in these places.
All us pudgy folks are in the Valley.
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### Author:  [@GythaOgg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GythaOgg)
#### Post date: [September 8, 2011, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-your-town-a-donut-town/595547/18 "2011-09-08T02:38:03Z")
St. Louis is a doughnut town. Alton Brown even featured several of the best mom-and-pop places on ‘Feasting on Asphalt’. My personal favorite is[Donut Drive In](http://www.missouri66.org/donut_drive_in.html), but there are others just as good, and the local bakeries (like Lubely’s and Federhofer’s) make them too. Yummy!
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### Author:  [@butler1850](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/butler1850)
#### Post date: [September 8, 2011, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-your-town-a-donut-town/595547/19 "2011-09-08T14:22:25Z")
[quote=Chicken Fingers;14229953My roots are in New England. I miss donuts, especially the spicy cake donuts you can get at mom & pop diners.[/quote]
The roots were dug up, and ground into Dunkin’s coffee. The small local joints, for the most part, are gone. There are a few around, but you have to live in a city, or be lucky if they are in your immediate area.
Dunks was ok 20 years ago, but it’s gone way down hill in the quality department, IMO.
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### Author:  [@chrisk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chrisk)
#### Post date: [September 8, 2011, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-your-town-a-donut-town/595547/20 "2011-09-08T14:51:35Z")
My home city is the place where the Tim Hortons chain was founded. You’d better believe it’s a donut town! 😃
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