The Donut Man

Even after a day filled with snacks and sweets, and more recently topped by the dynamic duo of fried chicken and waffles, we couldn't pass up the opportunity to travel twenty minutes to Route 66 for this Glendora institution...

It's open 24 hours and fresh donuts are constantly available, much to our delight, heh heh. TC fell asleep while on the way so Bert stayed with her in the car while I waited in line...

for about twenty minutes. I was behind a quartet of young college guys who were joking among themselves being "losers" because here they were, solo on Valentine's night getting donuts, haha.

The crowd was mixed and no one seemed to mind the wait.

Of course, we had to try one of these:

Jim Nakano, the owner of Donut Man, is the creator of this "iconic" strawberry donut. They are currently in season and will continue to be sold until strawberry season is over.

The man below was frosting red velvet cake donuts...

Cathy recommended the Tiger Tail - a super long  glazed twist with a delectable ribbon of chocolate...

In fact, you may check out this video of how Tiger Tails are made here:

Meanwhile, one of the other workers was turning over freshly fried donuts...

Lots of choices...


Even though there is a "Donut Man" special which included a dozen of the most popular donuts (excluding the Strawberry Donut), I opted to pass on that since there was no way us three could polish off a dozen that night or even in the morning. I stuck to just four donuts, one of which was the famed srawberry donut. You can see the beautiful glazed berries nestled into their glazed donut clamshell.

You even get a fork to eat these babies.

Their menu board:

More donuts around the corner...these were more Tiger Tails and powdered red velvet cake donuts.

I just realized, the strawberry donut's opening can't be seen, but rest assured, there was a ton of glazed strawberriesin that thing! The other three donuts were the Tiger Tail (which the worker had to bend to make it fit in the box), a chocolate frosted cake donut and a cream cheese frosted red velvet cake donut.

The man who helped me was kind enough to let me snap a shot before he taped the box shut. I'm sure he's used to it.

I love the 70's font for their logo.

One last look before heading back to the hotel...



Back at the hotel...the donuts once again:

Of the four, I liked the Tiger Tail the best. It was so light and airy. Second was the strawberry donut. I normally don't like glazed fruit because often, they are unripe and bland tasting. The fruit  was so sweet and ripe that the glaze seemed secondary. I was amazed at how sweet the fruit was. The donut itself wasn't too exciting, but it was nice to see that the Donut Man did not skimp on quality ingredients. As for the chocolate frosted? It was eh.  The worst was the red velvet. It was so dry and gross. I regretted getting this. I think I meant to order the glazed but my mouth said something else and this is what I ended up with. That'll learn me.

We barely made a dent in the strawberry donut and had a few bites the next morning. One thing's for sure, these strawberry donut and the Tiger Tail taste better fresh rather than the next day. I didn't feel bad tossing out the two cake donuts but felt a bit of sadness and regret that the Tiger Tail and its fruit filled friend were deep sixed.

Who else went to the Donut Man?
LA food bloggers' posts include:  the Gastronomer (she had the strawberry), along with Nastassia of Let Them Eat Cake, who had the peach donut (and wasn't impressed)
Local SD food bloggers Darlene and Cathy were also recent visitors to the Donut Man.

I noticed in all the blog photos, the strawberry window sign had different designs and in the second article (linked below), changes to "peach" during peach season.  I want to go back when the  peach donuts are offered...another excuse to return!

The Donut Man
915 E. Route 66
Glendora, CA 91740
(626) 335-9111

www.thedonutmanca.com & their Facebook page (filled with major donut porn)

Articles:
Glendora's Donut Man Keeps it Fresh" The Huffington Post (9/2011)
Donut Alert - Glendora's Donut Man now serving fresh peach" LAist (8/2012)

And here is someone's video from '09:


That was Day One.

Here is a recap of our whirlwind Valentine's Day:
The Highlights

plus the full fledged posts:
That's how we roll - First stop: Cream Pan
De Cafe Baristas
Cuteness overload - The shops at Atlantic Time Square
Daw Yee Myanmar Cafe
Macchiato
Beard Papa's
Ganache Patisserie Cafe
The Old Grape Vine and Mission San Gabriel Arcangel
Hop on in! The Bunny Museum
Who says romance is dead? Valentine's dinner at Roscoe's, Pasadena
and of course, this last post...

The next day would be just as fab as we made our way out of Pasadena and into L.A. for more food adventures and sightseeing...