![]() This is so he knows whether to start a box or a bag. The first question that the friendly young man behind the counter at the Doughnut Vault will ask you is if you are ordering more than five doughnuts. The space literally used to house a bank vault. Forty-five minutes, and many rounds of “20 Questions” later, we squeezed into the walk-in closet-sized Doughnut Vault. That seems like a lot of effort for doughnuts. ![]() There was a mom ahead of us with her toddler who at one point left the line so her son could use the potty seat that she had brought in her car. Although most of the people in line were twenty-somethings hipsters, we were not the only family. Luckily, my kids decided that waiting in line for doughnuts was a fun adventure. We timed it to arrive right at the 9:30 opening…and the line we found snaked around the corner. (Yes, technically it was also Passover, but the truth is, the kids and I don’t actually observe the full eight-day prohibition on wheat and leavened foods.) Rather than fight rush-hour traffic to be there at 8 am, we decided to wait for Saturday. This past week, my kids were on Spring Break, so I figured it was a good time to brave the lines at the Doughnut Vault. (Naturally, the Doughnut Vault has a Twitter account and it is updated throughout the morning to let their fans know as they start to sell out of each variety.) Here’s why I did want to go to the Doughnut Vault: the proprietors make the doughnuts fresh every morning and they have creative flavors like chestnut-glazed, gingerbread and birthday cake. The proprietors make the doughnuts fresh every morning and when they run out - always before noon - they close. And there’s no showing up after the morning rush. Here’s why I didn’t want to go to the Doughnut Vault: by the time the Doughnut Vault opens at 8 am (9:30 on Saturdays), the line is already snaking down the street and around the corner. Embarrassed that a national magazine had highlighted a Chicago food landmark before I had had a chance to try it, I decided that the time had come for me to make it to the Doughnut Vault and see what all the fuss was about. One of them, the teeny tiny Doughnut Vault, around the corner from the Merchandise Mart, had been on my radar screen for month. What is a Chicago-area doughnut-lover to do during the long, cold months of winter? In its special doughnut issue, Saveur listed several doughnut shops in Chicago that are, in the parlance of the Michelin Guides vaut-le-voyage (AKA worth the trip). And the taste is heaven.īut the doughnuts from the Oak Park Farmers Market are a summertime phenomenon only. No fancy flavors or glazes here! Just old-fashioned cake doughnuts made by volunteers in the basement of the neighboring church. Families wait in line patiently to buy their choice of plain, powdered sugar or cinnamon. The homemade doughnuts at the Oak Park Farmers’ Market on Saturday mornings have a national following. During the summer months, we don’t have to look far.
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