Solana Donuts, Solana Beach

Solana Donuts has the distinction of being “some other donut shop” in the area; as many of us know, VG Donuts and Bakery is the donut shop in North County along the coast. (North County inland from the coast is another matter, though.) Yes, I know I haven’t reviewed VG’s yet, but that day will come sooner rather than later. Today, though, my Sunday long run brought me near Solana Beach, so I paid their local donut shop a visit.

It’s a nice enough place from the outside, tucked away in a strip mall near the Coaster station on Lomas Santa Fe at Cedros. A few tables, chairs, and a bench outside, and a couple more tables inside. But really, who wants to sit inside in a place like Solana Beach?

When you need a donut on your way
to catch the train . . . 

Solana Donuts has a nice variety on their racks—even crullers! And there were a couple of massive raised donuts for anyone who is really hungry. All the staples were on hand, save for the filled types such as Boston crèmes and jelly donuts. I spotted an apple fritter, and next to it was a “dirty” fritter coated with cinnamon crumb mixture, so I snapped that up, along with a vanilla cruller and a blueberry cake.

No fluffiness at all. 

So much promise before the first bite.

The crumb-coated fritter was full of flavor, but did not meet expectations because it was amazingly compressed, not light and fluffy. As you can see from the picture here, the layers are all squashed together like the strata of a rock formation. It didn’t taste like a rock, but the heaviness was a black eye on a donut that had a lot of potential.

If it ain't got yellow,
it ain't fit for this fellow.

The vanilla cruller had a nice layer of icing, but the donut itself had zero egginess to it—as any cruller fan will know, a good cruller should have a bit of yolky egg taste to it, and this one actually tasted as if it had been made with All Whites egg substitute.

The cake donuts, although light and airy, lacked much taste. The blueberry cake seems to have been made with tiny dried blueberries, the kind you find in a boxed mix for blueberry muffins. My suspicion is that Solana Donuts actually uses some kind of industrial mix to make these donuts. Convenient for the retailer, but not so wonderful for the customer.

Solana Donuts received high marks for variety, and an above-average score for innovation, but as we all know, taste reigns supreme, and in the taste category, these things were slightly below average. Even donuts from your local grocery store are likely to be better than these. Donut Meter score: 63.0. I wouldn’t go out of my way to visit this place, but if I were running late and had a train to catch, I just might stop by . . . for a cup of coffee.

Updated Donut Meter Scores:

1. Peterson’s Donut Corner, Escondido — 94.0

2. Donut Haven, Hillcrest — 82.7

3. Super Donuts, Carlsbad — 82.0

4. Danny’s Donuts, Vista — 81.0

5. Christy’s Donuts, Kearny Mesa — 80.0

6. OB Donuts — 78.7

7. K-Donuts, Oceanside — 78.0

7. Heavenly Donuts, Del Cerro —78.0

7. Plaza Donuts, National City — 78.0

10. Donut Touch, Mira Mesa — 76.8

11. Linda’s Donuts, Pacific Beach — 76.0

12. TK Donuts, Bay Park — 71.0

13. Marte’s Donuts, Escondido — 70.0

14. Foster’s Family Donuts, San Marcos — 68.0

15. Pam’s Donuts and Chinese Food, Temecula — 66.0

15. KD’s Donuts, Ramona — 66.0

17. Solana Donuts, Solana Beach — 63.0

18. Leucadia Donut Shoppe — 62.5

TK Donuts, Bay Park

What’s the best thing one can do right after a strong 18-mile run on a Sunday morning? No, not breakfast at a donut shop. The best thing to do is to grab a cold bottle of a good recovery drink to restore and replenish your body, and walk for a few minutes to wind down.

Then you get breakfast at a donut shop.

TK Donuts in Bay Park

When my 18-mile run was over and I took care of the “restore and replenish” business, I made a little detour to TK Donuts, just up the hill from Mission Bay Park on Clairemont Boulevard. The nondescript interior won’t knock your socks off, nor will the somewhat skimpy selection of donuts that I encountered. The racks appeared rather bare, but now that I think of it, pretty much everything was available: several varieties of raised, cake, and old-fashioned donuts, as well as bars, holes, jelly donuts, and some pastries and muffins to boot. There just weren’t that many of each type on hand, which left the racks looking empty.

Look familiar?

The cake donuts at TK were quite moist, unlike the dry consistency of many other cake donuts that I’ve come across. At first I actually thought the cake donut was undercooked, before realized that most others I’ve tried have been overcooked. Kudos to TK for getting these right. And double kudos to TK for making a cake donut that looks just like my favorite piece of art (that would be Raised with Sprkinkles by Mama Maple, and not A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte by Georges Seurat, which came in a close second).

Seurat or Mama Maple?
I'll take Mama Maple.

I am always on the lookout for donut creations that are a bit different, and although this not-so-little critter isn’t technically a donut, it is definitely different: it’s called a cinnamon butterfly, according to the very nice lady who works at TK. A cherry butterfly was also available; after biting this buggy’s head off, I kind of wished I had gone for the cherry variety, as there wasn’t much cinnamon in it at all. TK gets some extra points for innovation, though.

A single bite of a butterfly's wings . . .

The raised and old-fashioned donuts were just average, but the fine cake donuts at TK gave their taste score a boost. The final Donut Meter score was 71.0, which is respectable but not outstanding. When you’ve just finished a long run and your body needs a boost, TK Donuts will do in a pinch. Just make sure you get that recovery drink into your system first.

Updated Donut Meter Scores:

1. Peterson’s Donut Corner, Escondido — 94.0

2. Donut Haven, Hillcrest — 82.7

3. Super Donuts, Carlsbad — 82.0

4. Danny’s Donuts, Vista — 81.0

5. Christy’s Donuts, Kearny Mesa — 80.0

6. OB Donuts — 78.7

7. K-Donuts, Oceanside — 78.0

7. Heavenly Donuts, Del Cerro —78.0

7. Plaza Donuts, National City — 78.0

10. Donut Touch, Mira Mesa — 76.8

11. Linda’s Donuts, Pacific Beach — 76.0

12. TK Donuts, Bay Park — 71.0

13. Marte’s Donuts, Escondido — 70.0

14. Foster’s Family Donuts, San Marcos — 68.0

15. Pam’s Donuts and Chinese Food, Temecula — 66.0

15. KD’s Donuts, Ramona — 66.0

17. Leucadia Donut Shoppe — 62.5

Christy’s Donuts, Kearny Mesa

We often think of donut shops as dirty, messy places because, well, a lot of them are dirty, messy places. There’s often just one or two people working up front during the busy hours, and no one has the time to clean the tables, sweep the floors, and tidy up the coffee stand. That’s not the case at Christy’s Donuts in Kearny Mesa, on Aero Drive just across from Montgomery Field. This is one of the cleanest donut shops I’ve seen, with sparkling tables inside and a few more outside as well. Everything was neat and attractive: the coffee stand, the countertop, even the donut display cases. On top of all that, the woman working up front was really nice; when I asked about a knitted donut that was on display, she said her husband knitted it for her. I was impressed, but didn’t waste the chance to brag about my mom’s donut painting.

   Also on our menu was this bear claw, which was more than just an ordinary bear claw—it was loaded with apple chunks, much to our surprise when we split it open. Christy’s got bonus points for innovation for their work on the bear claw, which was not only different, but tasty too. If this thing had cinnamon crumbs on the outside, it would have been beyond awesome. As is, it was merely awesome.

Christy’s has an above-average selection, with plenty of cake donuts, crullers, raiseds, old-fashioneds, twists, cinnamon rolls, fritters, buttermilk bars, and a few pastries. About the only staple that was missing was the Boston crème, but I can forgive that. Best of all was their assortment of crullers, topped with various icings: chocolate, vanilla, maple, orange, and strawberry. The orange cruller proved to be a favorite, as it got the thumbs up from me and my buddies Big B and Mr. Lydiard. We split that one three ways (it was the only one left), and Mr. Lydiard said, “That cruller was good! I don’t think I’ve ever had a cruller before.” Uhh, hello? Where have you been your whole life, man? Crullers are DA BOMB!

The rest of the varieties received thumbs-up all around. Big B was especially pleased with the apple bear claw, and found the orange cruller to be inventive: Mr. Lydiard is still reeling from the realization that he has let all these years pass without ever tasting a cruller. He will now be making up for lost time by consuming as many of those twisty rings as he possibly can.

In the end, Christy’s Donuts received a Donut Meter score of 80.0, putting it into the top five on our list.

Updated Donut Meter Scores:

1. Peterson’s Donut Corner, Escondido — 94.0

2. Donut Haven, Hillcrest — 82.7

3. Super Donuts, Carlsbad — 82.0

4. Danny’s Donuts, Vista — 81.05. Christy’s Donuts, Kearny Mesa — 80.0

5. OB Donuts — 78.7

6. K-Donuts, Oceanside — 78.0

6. Heavenly Donuts, Del Cerro —78.0

6. Plaza Donuts, National City — 78.0

9. Donut Touch, Mira Mesa — 76.8

10. Linda’s Donuts, Pacific Beach — 76.0

11. Marte’s Donuts, Escondido — 70.0

12. Foster’s Family Donuts, San Marcos — 68.0

13. Pam’s Donuts and Chinese Food, Temecula — 66.0

13. KD’s Donuts, Ramona — 66.0

15. Leucadia Donut Shoppe — 62.5