Doughnut help!

[mod*betty]

For some time, I've wanted to check out the donuts in Norristown.  What is

Suzy-Jo's like?  Any standouts or suggestions?  Thanks!

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the glazed buttermilk earthquakes are my fave!

Here's a link to their selection

http://www.kingofprussia.com/suzyjodonuts/...t_selection.asp

[BarbaraKMarshall]

Best donuts I've tried since I was a little girl... Achenbach's. They are PA dutch style so they do have the rich creamy aftertaste of having lard in the recipe but man are they good. If you're going to eat a donut, you're not on a diet or you're cheating, so you might as well eat one that tastes great.

Unfortunately, they're located deep in lancaster county in Leola, PA. There's nothing like them fresh but even day old they're much better than the dunkin variety.

[Andrew Fenton]

The hot donuts at Federal Donuts(Indian cinnamon, vanilla lavender, and Prince's squeeze, Apollonia) are insanely good; crispy, sweet and light. I haven't tried their fancy donuts- or the fried chicken- but look forward to giving those a go when I get the chance.

[Holly Moore]

The fancies are just as good. My favorite is the key lime. That said, my favorite donut place is still Frangelli's.

The fried chicken is soaked in brine overnight and then double fried, Korean Style. Super crunchy coating, super moist meat. Excellent chicken. Available either sprinkled with a spice mix or tossed in a chili hot sauce or a honey ginger sauce. My favorite, by far, so far, is the za-atar seasoning.

Here's the ringer. Their chicken is currently available for about an hour, give or take 15 minutes, starting at 11:45 AM. They are sold out every day by 1 PM. Their rational - they have limited refrigeration and have to brine overnight. Their capacity is 60 orders of chicken - each order being a half chicken. When they are gone, they are gone.

The process: Get to Federal Donuts as close to 11;45 as possible. They will give you a plastic number. Each number entitles you to order half a chicken. If you want a whole chicken you need to take two numbers. Once sixty numbers are passed out, that's it.

I talked to one of the owners and he doesn't seem all that concerned about running out of chicken so early. "Ideal from a business point of view." They were in the middle of their rush so didn't seem like a good time to discuss business philosophy. But it drives me crazy that there isn't a sense of urgency to figure out how to sell more than 60 orders of chicken a day.

Edited November 1, 2011 by Holly Moore (log)

[Andrew Fenton]

Yes, the limited chicken production (and the limited hours) are maddening. I suppose if I have the day off work sometime, I'll get to try it; I don't know whether I'll have the opportunity otherwise. But if their goal is to build buzz, then limiting the amount of chicken is definitely doing the trick.

[janeer]

. When they are gone, they are gone.

I talked to one of the owners and he doesn't seem all that concerned about running out of chicken so early. "Ideal from a business point of view." They were in the middle of their rush so didn't seem like a good time to discuss business philosophy. But it drives me crazy that there isn't a sense of urgency to figure out how to sell more than 60 orders of chicken a day.

Funny to read this, because that is my experience with doughnuts in New England. Butler's in Westport, MA (now closed) used to be open until the doughnuts "were gone." This was particularly true of their cream doughnut; you really had to get their when they opened if you hoped to get any. But it was true generally, and sometimes that place was shut down by 11 a.m.

[Holly Moore]

... But if their goal is to build buzz, then limiting the amount of chicken is definitely doing the trick.

Then again, as Yogi Berra once said, "The place is so busy nobody goes there anymore." Federal Donuts does tweet when they run out of chicken to save a futile trip to way-south 2nd Street.

[cinghiale]

Word has made its way up I-95, it seems:

Till the Last Doughnut and Drumstick