Dimple Donuts - Batavia, IL

Dimple Donuts - Batavia, IL

 The kids think this looks better and gives more info than a map. So there you go.

A few weeks ago we tried out a place named Dimple Donuts in Naperville. You can refresh your memory of our time there by clicking here. I could not figure out from their websites if these two shops were connected or owned by the same people or not, even though its kind of obvious that they were, so I figured we would just check it out to be sure. This investigative thoroughness on my part had absolutely nothing to do with my wanting to get my hands back on one of their old fashioned buttermilk donuts or anything.

So long story short, they are owned by the same people and this made me ENORMOUSLY happy as I could be happy eating those buttermilk donuts every day for the rest of my life. My six year old suggested I marry them if I love them so much and you know, I just might and won't that just show him!? Also, just like at the Naperville location, they had coffee-mate hazelnut creamer in the fridge and that means they basically can do no wrong with me.

Here are the kid's reviews:

M, age 11: I had the triple chocolate donuts, and I felt like it was OK. But the most memorable part of this store was the fact that it to, had a creepy doll. Also, the banners on both of the Dimples Donuts storefronts are made with Microsoft word and clip-art which is kind-of funny.

L, age 8: I tried a bear claw for the first time. I didn't know that there was a filling in there. And I did not like it. I thought it was just like a donut with no filling in it. I probably won't get any bear claws again at any other places.

K, age 6: It tasted like the other one. The other one was my favorite place so far. So I liked it and it made me happy.

Bottom Line: All thumbs up! Which makes no sense at all by the way, because we gave it a mixed bag at the other location. We are a fickle crew I guess.

I guess its like, company policy or something, that they need to display a creepy Christmas themed doll in each shop. This one is obviously WAY better than that drunk elf on the shelf at the other location, but still creepy and out of place. Again I say, WHY!?

Fresh Donuts - Geneva, IL

Fresh Donuts - Geneva IL

 Three cuties in the window :) 

 Fresh Donuts is located at 1188 E State St. in Geneva, IL. I could not find a website (ummmm is it really 2016?) to link to.  

We have been eating our weight in donuts around here I promise. We just haven't been posting about them so I have a back log of places to get through over the next two weeks!

 To be fair here, the reviews I read online all said the bear claws and apple fritters are the specialty here and we did not try either of those.

On this day, we tried out Fresh Donuts, in Geneva, IL. I LOVE Geneva and was very excited to have a reason to drive out there and walk around and enjoy its quaint little downtown shopping area. Super cute. This place had great Yelp reviews, but I will be honest, it was just okay for me. It had good coffee (I should really do a separate blog rating coffee at every donut place we try, ha!) and enough space for us to actually sit and eat our donuts which was nice, but the donuts were just okay. I had the old fashioned, and then maniacally picked at each kid's donuts while they complained at me about it like usual, so I could get a good idea of what they had to offer. Pretty standard stuff really - nothing that stood out. But worth the pretty drive down rt. 25 I suppose!

Here is what the kids thought:  

M, age 11: When I walked in, the donut case was beautiful. The donuts were decorated very nicely and I felt as though, in the end, I was let down. Their looks deceived me as beautiful but really they tasted artificial. I had the vanilla coconut and the cinnamon twist and they both tasted kind of like puff pastry.

L, age 8:  I had two donuts. I had glazed and maple. they were good. (editor's note: it took me 20 minutes to get this much out of her and a tantrum. I give up today. She won this round.)

K, age 6: Pink frosting is my favorite. So I ate it here. It was pretty good but not the best pink frosting I have ever had. Mommy let us get two!

Bottom Line:  I feel kind of bad, but we all agree to give this place thumbs down. Its not awful, but just nothing special in a world of so many great places to try and enjoy, including one we tried later that day in the same town!

West End Bakery - Mishawaka, IN

West End Bakery - Mishawaka, IN

 Cute little West End Bakery

Technically, this one is just a hair outside of our Chicagoland border for this blog, which is why I am not including a map, but the kids and I recently spent a week with friends in a rental house in the town of Mishawaka, Indiana. Mishawaka is about 20 minutes away from Notre Dame University, and offers absolutely zero lakes to swim in within a one hour radius, which was a little disappointing for our annual lake house trip, but I digress.  It also has a quaint little downtown that time seems to have forgotten, and that is where we happened upon West End Bakery, which is appropriately the bakery that time seems to have forgotten.

West End Bakery was tiny, and a bit run down, which made me question it at first. I brought only L with me and she was in her pajamas, and I was sporting a look that we shall call "on vacation" and we definitely were getting the side eye as we parked and walked past the up an at em' smartly dressed geriatric population of this small town. Apparently, according to a friendly local who chatted me up in line, West End Bakery has been there for about 80 years. So I guess when you have been in business that long, you have had ample time to get those recipes right, and trust me THEY HAVE.

There wasn't a bad one in the lot, but I think my favorite part of these donuts was how darn crispy they were on the bottom, even though the insides were soft and chewy and really perfect. I like to attribute this crispiness to the possibility that since they rock the time warp vibe in that town (and only accept cash, and they have no website for me to link to here), they are probably deep frying their donuts in deliciously banned forms of trans fat, like whale blubber or panda fat or something. And I APPRECIATED that because they were freaking phenomenal.

Here is what the kids thought: 


M, age 11: I thought that the donuts at this place were pretty good, and it was even better to eat them with my friends! I liked the one with the mousse or whatever on top, and I liked the twists. But the apple sauce donuts with caramel frosting were the BEST! Mmmm!!

L, age 8: They had the same amount of flavor as other places. But that's a good thing. It was a yummy place. I liked it. A person lives in a house right next to this bakery. They are lucky because they probably get donuts way more than we do.

K, age 6: I had the glazed. It was good. It was kind of soft on the inside and outside and I don't like soft donuts.

Bottom Line: Another Mixed Bag I guess, on account of K not appreciating their softness (wha!?) but this pains me as this place was really really good!