Picture this: two hungry girls walk into a giant warehouse in Chicago full of bakers. We share a mission: stuff our faces with as many gluttonous donuts as possible to find one donut that reigns supreme. Why were we here? To partake in Donut Fest Chicago 2017, of course – a celebration of one of earth’s greatest fried treasures where donut lovers and vendors gather together to taste and compete for the title of best donut in Chicago.
This may sound like a trip for pleasure, but trust us, we were all business. We intended to try every donut in the building to choose our favorite and this is no easy feat.
Our judgment of the winning donut of Donut Fest was based on four important criteria ranked on a scale from 1 (bad) to 5 (amazing):
1. Creativity: how interesting/outrageous these bakers got with donut flavorings.
2. Presentation: how visually appealing/how well they photographed for the #insta.
3. Taste: the most important criteria – just because it’s pretty, doesn’t mean it tastes good.
4. Eatability: donuts are a handheld food, so you should be able to pick them up without getting overly sticky from frosting or powdery from sugar.
Beaver’s Coffee + Donuts: Mini Donut Assortment (Fruity Pebbles, Cinnamon Sugar, S’mores, Jelly)
Creativity: 5
With this mini donut assortment, we got to try four different donut flavors without getting too full. Beaver’s definitely gave us some crazy flavors like fruity pebbles (a fan favorite) and s’mores (taking the campfire to the breakfast food) while still offering the classic cinnamon sugar and jelly varieties.
Presentation: 4
All of these donuts are visually appealing themselves. But we stacked them to make them look even better.
Taste: 4
The fruity pebbles donut was the shining star of this assortment, with the cinnamon sugar in a close second. The s’mores and jelly were disappointing, but the other two made up for it keeping the taste score up.
Eatability: 5
These bite-sized donuts made eating simple. We could pop them into our mouths and get the full effect without any powdered fruity pebbles or jelly left on our finger tips.
Total Score: 18
DeEtta’s Bakery: Chocolate Glazed Donut
Creativity: 1
As tasty as this donut was, a chocolate glazed donut is just a chocolate glazed donut – a classic treat you can find at any donut shop.
Presentation: 3
This donut scored not so great on presentation because we only got to try a small piece instead of a whole donut. We were not at Donut Fest to save calories.
Taste: 5
Honestly, one of the best chocolate glazed donuts I’ve ever had. And I’ve had a lot. Thick glaze and fluffy chocolate cake. No complaints here.
Eatability: 5
Served on a toothpick, this donut was easy to eat without getting any glaze on your fingers.
Total Score: 14
Donut Vault: Oreo Boston Cream
Creativity: 5
This donut is the love child of two American classic treats: oreos and Boston cream donuts.
Presentation: 5
Served in a full size with a flag displaying the Donut Vault name, this donut swept the competition.
Taste: 4
I’m not a cream-filled-donut kind of girl, and this one really won my heart over. The cookies and cream filling was an amazing improvement on the classic cream filling.
Eatability: 3
This donut was too gooey and oozey for my liking.
Total Score: 17
Gurnee Donuts: Buko Pandan Donut (A Filipino-inspired coconut donut)
Creativity: 5
This flavor was extremely unique, taking inspiration from Filipino culture.
Presentation: 3
This presentation could be good or bad – depending on how you look at it. The bright green color was a bit of a turnoff for me, but I could see it being a draw-in factor for other people at Donut Fest.
Taste: 4
The flavor of this donut was good, but it didn’t taste as unique as it looked or sounded. It resembled a vanilla glazed donut with a tiny hint of coconut.
Eatability: 4
Not messy, but not exciting to eat either.
Total Score: 16
B’s Sweet Bites: Vanilla Glazed Donut
Creativity: 1
See our comment about the chocolate glazed donut. Not a novel concept.
Presentation: 1
This donut was all chopped up and frankly not that appealing.
Taste: 1
Too eggy. Something went wrong.
Eatability: 4
No difficulty in eating. Just a little bit too much glaze left on the fingers.
Total Score: 7
Longmen and Eagle: Pineapple Upside Down Cake Donut
Creativity: 5
Putting a pineapple upside down cake in donut form is a very exciting quest. A+ for imaginativeness.
Presentation: 4
The donut hole shape was the only one I saw all day. Definitely a nice touch.
Taste: 3
A hint of pineapple flavor, but not much else. A bit of a let down for sure.
Eatability: 5
The donut hole was the perfect instant bite. Easiest donut to eat all day.
Total Score: 17
Glazed and Infused: Sriracha Donut
Creativity: 5
I have never seen anything like this, and I’m not sure I want to again. But damn, if it’s anything, it is creative.
Presentation: 5
This was such a cool donut to look at. It looked like a cross between a sesame bagel and a hamburger bun.
Taste: 2
This donut was a fun one to look at from a distance, but not as fun to eat. Sort of a funny beginning taste and also a funny aftertaste. Really weird eating experience all throughout.
Eatability: 1
This was impossible to eat without getting Sriracha icing on your fingers, and that’s not necessarily a good thing. Definitely a spicy sting left on the fingers.
Total Score: 13
Bad Day Donuts: Vegan Jelly Donut
Creativity: 4
While a jelly donut is not creative, a vegan jelly donut deserves some praise.
Presentation: 4
Just your average jelly donut, it’s what’s on the inside that counts.
Taste: 5
Okay, we were surprised. This donut was out-of-this-world good. And it was vegan. Come on. Best jelly filling we’ve ever had.
Eatability: 4
Consuming a jelly donut is never an easy task, but somehow this wasn’t as messy as usual.
Total Score: 17
Cochon Volant: Chocolate Frosted Donut with Sprinkles
Creativity: 1
Chocolate frosted with sprinkles is my favorite type of donut. I can get it anywhere. Not creative.
Presentation: 3
Rainbow sprinkles always add a little bit to a donut, but not enough to save this one.
Taste: 1
Honestly, not only was this donut smushed by the time we got to it, but it also tasted stale. Not great.
Eatability: 1
I am giving a low score for this donut’s eatability not because it was messy, but because I just did not want to finish it. Too hard to eat.
Total Score: 6
Stan’s Donuts: Butterfingers Stuffed Donuts
Creativity: 5
They took a candy bar and stuffed in inside a donut. Groundbreaking.
Presentation: 4
Not the prettiest donut, but looks like a butterfingers bar. So still great presentation.
Taste: 5
Peanut-buttery and chocolate-ly from the candy bar and fluffy from the donut. ‘Nuff said.
Eatability: 4
It’s called Butterfingers, not sticky-fingers. A little too sticky for our liking.
Total Score: 18
Top Donut of 2017:
Tied for first: Donut Assortment from Beaver’s Coffee + Donuts and Butterfingers Stuffed Donut from Stan’s Donuts.
Honestly, we couldn’t choose. These donuts tied on all scores and were too different in flavor to choose a favorite. Definitely worth trying either one.
We’re stuffed, but we’d do Donut Fest all over again. For the sake of journalism, of course.