REVIEW: FONUTS

WHERE: 8104 W. 3rd St., Los Angeles, CA 90048
OPEN: M-F: 7-6; WKND: 8-5; Closed on Tues.
PAY: Cash or Charge

Packed with care!

If you triangulate a position equidistant from all 19 Phantom Menace 3D billboards in between Mid-Wilshire and Hollywood, you will find a bus stop. And tucked away behind said bus stop, just off the corner of 3rd and Crescent Heights, you'll find yourself in strictly gourmet territory.

Extremely limited seating, large waiting/line area. Plenty of beverage choices. And lots of variety.

Seriously, this place has tons of different kinds of donuts. From what I could tell, all are available full-sized, and a select few are available as "minis." RE: The minis, you can mix and match, but they can only be purchased in increments of 6 and 12. For the purposes of reviewing, it proved more cost-effective to simply buy a full-sized donut of each of the flavors available in mini form.

Having slept in, I have no idea how many were available when the doors opened this morning, but there were at least ten types still available in quantity by the time I rolled in just after 10am. Currently, the "holiday" flavor availble is Red Velvet. 

Fonuts also has vegan/gluten-free options.  As a first in my donut diving (immediately regret saying that as I continue typing, unabated), I was intrigued. More intriguing?

All of Fonuts donuts are BAKED.

Valuation time! Baked donuts. Brave new territory. All WILD CARDS: 

GLAZED - Challenges my notion of the "standard" donut, as it's ICED with SPRINKLES. Appearances aside, it tasted... okay. A bit dry, and the icing and the glaze fight each other, texturally. If you've ever had the good fortune of eating a Mardi Gras King Cake, you aren't that far off from experiencing what this particular glazed donut is like.

CINNAMON SUGAR - More moisture than the Glazed, and a delightful amount of crystallization in the sugar coating. Very bready. One can only assume that it's the baking as opposed to the frying of the dough, but (and not in a bad way) this one almost most-closely reminds one of eating a muffin.

BANANA - Vegan. On the whole, all three of the vegan donuts sampled were great, moisture-wise. Great, cakey consistency which some may love, but others may not want in their donuts. To each their own. Very banana bread, this donut.
 

CHOCOLATE COCONUT - I'm a hard sell on anything coconut. I've always loved the smell, but I rarely love the taste. And I always hate the texture. This doesn't wasn't bad, but it was very COCONUT. So, if you love the coconut, this one's for you! Vegan. Gluten-free.
 

LEMON - Vegan. Gluten-free. Immediately evoked a memory from an earlier time in life... I worked for quite a while at a Borders book store, and the cafe sold Lemon Loaf slices (cakey lemon bread with innocuous icing up top). So for that, I tip my hat to both sense memory and this donut. Tastes just like Starbucks/Seatlle's best lemon loaf, with the added bonus of being vegan and gluten-free.

BLUEBERRY/EARL GREY - Then there's YOU, Blueberry/Earl Grey. Holy crap, Gang. Aces. Freaking Aces, all around. Blueberries on it, blueberries in it, Earl Grey tea taste as the finish. Made it worth the trip. This is a donut human beings need to eat. 

OVERALL - Should you go nuts for Fonuts?

Though there are plenty of other flavors I'm still interested in trying (I'll be coming back for YOU, Salted Caramel - you've been warned), the experience (thus far) doesn't quite merit the price. The SIX donuts surveyed cost a total of $20. Fonuts was on the upside of "good", but not awesome. Worth a shot if you're in the neighborhood.