DUTCH GIRL DONUTS is gracing 100 Places in the D!!!!
After several years of fantasizing about tasting the Detroit-based donut shop’s much-lauded wares, I resolved to finally make the dream a reality last Friday morning and planned a pre-work visit.
Part of the reason I’d put off visiting Dutch Girl Donuts for so long was the parking situation. The bakery doesn’t have its own lot; street parking is required. And if you’ve been reading this blog for a while, you likely know that I legit have a phobia around street parking in city settings and generally avoid it at all costs. Thusly, the idea of parallel parking along oft-hectic Woodward Avenue in order to visit Dutch Girl Donuts was not tickling me.
And then there was the whole bullet-proof glass thing. Some online reviewers had mentioned the fact that Dutch Girl Donuts had bullet-proof glass separating the bakery employees from patrons, leading me to speculate on why such protection was needed. Was it wise to visit Dutch Girl Donuts on my own?
These worries around parking and security swirled in my head as I contemplated making the visit. In the end, I decided to go for it and trust my gut. If I got to the donut shop and didn’t like the look of parking options or of the neighborhood itself, I could just drive on by and find another bakery to visit.
It turned out – as is generally the case – that my fears were unfounded. The stretch of Woodward Avenue near Seven Mile that Dutch Girl Donuts is located on felt totally safe to me. Given that the donut shop is open 24 hours, perhaps the bullet-proof glass serves more as a necessary security precaution in the evening hours, or perhaps it’s a relic of the past. Either way, I felt comfortable in the area in and around the bakery – as I did parking along Woodward.
I was easily able to procure a parking spot near the donut shop, parking behind a few other cars. There was enough space to maneuver so that parallel parking wasn’t a traumatic experience, and traffic along Woodward was more sparse than I expected, so I didn’t feel like I was walking out into an onslaught of oncoming traffic when I exited the car.
(Interesting parking-related tidbit: there is a fire hydrant right at the curb near Dutch Girl Donuts, which people were flagrantly disregarding and parking right in front of; park if you dare in that premium zone).
Dutch Girl Donuts had a decent amount of traffic coming in and out of it when I walked up – mostly pleasant-looking older folks. I joined the line formed in the donut shop’s tiny interior and watched the goods get made while waiting to be helped. Freshly fried twisted donuts being plopped into a pool of glaze caught my eye. Glorious!
I only had to wait a few minutes before it was my turn to order. I decided on a half-dozen donuts, which were $4.50. I got one plain cake donut, two cake donuts with chocolate frosting, a sour cream, a glazed chocolate-cake stick, and a twisted glazed. I paid in cash; it’s worth noting here that Dutch Girl Donuts accepts credit cards but requires a maximum purchase of $5 when paying with them.
I practically skipped out of the donut shop with excitement. Cruising along I-75 en route to work, I knew I couldn’t wait until I got there to sample the procured goodies; I grabbed one of the cake donuts with chocolate frosting out of the bag and took a bite. The donut was delicious, incredibly soft and fresh-tasting.
And then there was the sour cream donut.
When I got to work, I decided I wanted to sample another donut before I walked in. I went with the sour cream, and O.M.G.
Perfectly soft on the inside and crispy on the outside, dunked in an irresistible glaze, ridiculously fresh, this sour cream donut was quite easily the best donut I have ever had. I instantly wished I had gotten a half-dozen of them.
That’s not to say the other donuts I got from Dutch Girl Donuts weren’t wonderful. The glazed chocolate-cake stick donut ranked right up there with the sour cream, with that perfect crisp and glazing on the outside and pillowy softness on the inside. The plain cake and twisted glazed donuts were also very good; as with the others, they were obviously very freshly made.
This premium on freshness is huge; so much of what makes a donut wonderful is how recently it was made. So thank you, Dutch Girl Donuts, for doing the work and producing AMAZING donuts 24-7. Perhaps I’ll skip the cider mills this fall and do a revisit to your delightful donut shop in the D instead!
19000 Woodward Ave.
Detroit, MI 48203
(Open 24 hours Mondays through Fridays;
closes at 6 p.m. Saturdays and reopens at 1 a.m. Monday mornings)
100 Places in the D 
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