Let me start by saying, these people seem really nice. 3 of the customers I talked to say this is an "institution" in the area, and has been here 20 years. Unfortunately, like so many restaurants and often places, people's perception of a place is skewed by their familiarity.
Let me start by saying, I am not a big donut person..... that being said, I've eaten more donuts than most people on the planet (obsessive and law enforcement/security excluded)
I purposefully came here early in the morning to beat the crowd, and also taste the donut fresh and warm out of the oven, so I could compare to Maxes donuts. (Tried them a few weeks ago, and not a morning goes by where I dont have to fight the urge to stop there on my way to work..... even this morning I almost drove 10 miles each way, rather than .25 miles to this place)....but I digress.
The first thing I noticed in the case were the blueberry muffins. They look amazing. Then I see the Kalachis and of course a decent size donut selection.
The person in front of me ordered one of the sausage type things.....and they got popped in the micro. Hmmmmmm, 6:30 AM, and they need to be heated? Maybe this regular liked his steaming hot. I order a chocolate glazed donut (for a fair comparison to Maxes), and a large sausage roll (kalachi?)
In goes the Kalachi to the micro. The very sweet lady behind the counter threw in a few donut holes with my glazed....bonus.
She hands me the microwaved sausage roll and the donut. Here I go, about to try the donut which will "blow away Max's donuts" according to several reviewers on Max's Yelp page. I open the bag to take a bite of the warm, oooie gooie flaky Nirvana. Smell, wait where is that beautiful aroma??? Touch....hmm it's cold??? Bite, well, it's not Dunkin Donuts, but it's not far off.
It's 6:30AM, and it's cold, not stale, but not seemingly right out of the oven, and the flaky layers and amazing pop of a Max's are no where to be found.
I truly feel betrayed by all the Yelp reviewers who compared Max's to Sunny's. They are the same ones that go to Salt Grass and say how much better it is than Bob's, or Knife. Really people???? I'm not saying that these donuts are bad, but they are what they are... average donuts made by very nice people.
I'm totally OK with romanticizing something that brings you back to your childhood, or glory days, but there is no reason to put down a business which provides an incredibly better product.
I apologize for this rant, perhaps it's the disappointment of the expectation not being met, but let's call this place what it is..... a family owned donut shop, that's been a part of the community for years, and has some very friendly people working there.....
But take away the romance, and I'm left with an average donut, served cold, and a dausage roll, which seems overcooked, a little shriveled and dry. And that beautiful blueberry muffin, well, you got it....average --definitely on the dry side
Food 2 stars.... people 6 stars. But this is Yelp, not "Friends", so I have to go with the food ranking... 2 stars.
Again, I apologize for bringing another establishment into it, but in Max's reviews, there were a lot of haters that kept raving about this place.... arguably more people wrote about how good this place was, than actually have reviewed it......hmmmmm
Coincidentally, this place is about the same price as Max's, but the sausage rolls are 50% more.
If you want something close, go to the Salt Grass level donut shop. If you want an amazing experience for your taste buds....go to Max's. read more