Time to make the doughnut road trip
Make a life-affirming pilgrimage to four old-school Ontario doughnut shops
Ontario is in the midst of a doughnut boom. Cute, artisanal bakeries dot hip downtown streets between apothecaries and craft brewers. The doughnuts they sell are elegant, airy beauties, topped with green tea and rosehip glazes and garnished with lavender and pea flowers.
These designer doughnuts are pretty, and they almost satisfy. But I grew up in Hamilton, down the street from the very first Tim Hortons. I’m old enough to remember when it had a smoking section: a misty glass cube where steelworkers from the nearby plants dunked their nicotine-infused crullers into black coffees. So, to me, doughnuts should only cost about a dollar a piece. They should not have petals. They should land with a thud that echoes warmly all day, a small gift from an ungiving world.
I live in Ottawa now, where designer doughnuts reign, but Ontario still has some glorious classic coffee shops where you can get a traditional sinker. I dream of the day I’ll be able to visit them (and my old friends, of course) again.
First stop: Coffee Way Donuts in Kingston
Coffee Way Donuts is a true classic. It has the warm, community-centre feel of my childhood Tim Hortons. When I was last there in 2019, very late on a summer night, it was almost empty, with just one table occupied by a couple of elderly men and a teenage boy. The men played guitars while the boy sang hymns, and it was such a sweet, wholesome scene that I felt it might melt away and the devil appear in its place.
A few years ago, Coffee Way made headlines when a customer very understandably kicked in the front window after finding them sold out for the night. It’s really that good. You won’t find an elderflower glaze here, but their doughnuts are handmade every day, and the Hawaiian Fruit — a fluffy yeast doughnut fried golden and encrusted with rainbow sprinkles — is about as close to nature as you need to be.
Next stop: Hollywood Donuts in Ajax Hollywood Donuts’ physical location isn’t particularly comforting, but it’s convenient: The café is located in a suburban strip mall just off the 401, at the eastern tip of GTA gridlock. Their classic apple fritter is a perfect knot of sugar-laminated dough, with bonus vitamin content from real apple bits. A few of them will fortify you for the sanity- and relationship-testing final stretch ahead, or, if you’re travelling east, restore your humour and good will for a scenic drive down Highway 7.
Final destination: Grandad’s Donuts in Hamilton
Grandad’s has a special place in my heart. It should be designated a heritage site and never allowed to close or change. I first discovered their doughnuts at the old Delta Bingo downtown, which sold them out of their snack bar. I never won a cent at bingo, but I got something better: the walnut crunch of my dreams — soft and moist on the inside, but with the dense, satisfying outer crust that comes from a long hot dip in the deep fryer. I never leave Hamilton without a box of at least a half dozen, whispering to myself that I’ll share them when I get home. Alas, it’s a long drive.
Bonus stop: Country Fresh Donuts and More in Niagara Falls
Not ready to head home? Hit up downtown Niagara Falls, a county fair writ large, with all the associated horrors and perks. In the latter category (and perhaps the former, too) is its abundance of fried dough. Country Fresh Donuts and More is located just north of the Clifton Hill strip, so it’s possible to get in and out without ever seeing that melodramatic waterfall. The “More” in their name refers to their famous wonton soup, and their doughnuts are indeed country fresh, made from scratch every day. I can’t vouch for the soup, but their stick doughnuts are perfection — beautifully crackled, sugary bricks that could break a window — and the combination of the two sounds like the ideal comfort meal.