Posted by Michael Stern on February 05, 2007
There are good fancy-pants donuts in Portland, even excellent Goth donuts (at Voodoo Donuts), but for traditional donuts that go with morning coffee (not latte!), Annie's is a treasure. They're made here daily, and the variety is tremendous. Old-fashioned cake donuts have the double-circle shape so popular in the Northwest that provides nearly twice the crunchy exterior of a simple round one. Glazed and maple-frosted OFs are especially satisfying, and although the price is plebeian, the taste and mouth feel are aristocratic. Cream puffs are light and impeccably fresh-flavored, the only way a cream puff ever should be. The wickedest variety we sampled was a raspberry fritter – unctuous, super-sweet, slightly fruity, and monumentally filling.
Annie's has none of the amenities of upscale coffee and donut shops: no art on the walls, no wi-fi, no couches or lounge chairs and, of course, no barristas. You sit in molded plastic booths that look out on the parking lot and are served by a staff with no attitude other than pride in the donuts they make and sell.
Overall: Worth planning a day around
12 out of 13 people found the review helpful. Was it helpful to you?
Reviewers "Must Eats" List
Old Fashioned Donut
($1.00)
"At sixty cents apiece, a trio of old-fashioned donuts makes a fine under-$2 breakfast (plus $1 for a large coffee). Annie's have a wicked crunch to their gnarly skin and rich, cakey insides. Pictured here are glazed, maple, and chocolate."
Michael Stern
"Raspberry fritters are large and substantial with a naughty taste that is hard to resist. The raised, sugar-coated donut on the right is, by comparison, a featherweight."
Michael Stern
"Starbuck's, this place is not! It is an old-style urban donut shop with low-low prices and terrific made-fresh pastries."
Michael Stern
"The sign in the window is no idle boast. Portland is a major donut town, and any serious donut-eating tour must include Annie's."
Michael Stern
"We were skeptical when we ordered a cream puff. At all of 90 cents, we suspected the filling would be unbearably ersatz. While it may not be 40% butterfat Jersey cattle double cream, the white stuff in the tender pastry is fresh and utterly agreeable."
Michael Stern
"There is a counter inside facing the kitchen, but seats in Annie's booths afford a nice view of the parking lot through large glass windows."
Michael Stern
