Portlandia: Voodoo Doughnuts

Where: Voodoo Doughnuts has several locations in Portland, as well as one in Eugene. We lined up at the one downtown, on SW 3rd Avenue, which has recently undergone renovations.

Why we went: A 24-hour punk rock donut house that offers a signature Voodoo Doll doughnut? What’s not to love? Plus, I love their naughty slogan, “The Magic is in the Hole” and the signature pink box (which reads “Good things come in pink boxes.”)

Who’s there: On a glorious July Saturday morning, the line outside Voodoo stretched down the block. After others in line told us it was worth the wait, we settled in for about 45 minutes. Everyone around us seemed to be from Seattle. Guess Top Pot would have some serious competition, should Voodoo move north of the state line.

Chowing down: So many choices! Donuts topped with Fruit Loops. Donuts dusted with Tang. Donuts in the shape of a blunt. Donuts as large as your head (no, really. The Texas Challenge donut is the size of six regular donuts put together. The website says that if you can eat it in 80 seconds or less, you get your money back).

We weren’t quite that committed. But we knew there was no way we could each pick just one. Finally, we settled on four to go: The Portland Cream, the Voodoo Doll, the Bacon Maple Bar and a monster peach fritter covered in frosting.

Libations: Stumptown coffee, of course.

Order this: The Portland Creme, with its two eyes peering at you, may look too cute to eat. But when you take a bite of its yeasty goodness, paired with Bavarian cream, you want to shout to the world, “Damn, this is one fine donut!”

I had my doubts about the peach fritter, pictured above. Frosting on a fritter just seemed too much. But we saved it until the final Monday of our trip and I have to say, whoever decided to put more sugar on top of sugar is a genius. The frosting took the fritter to a whole new level of deliciousness.

Meh: The guy ahead of us in line swore by the Maple Bacon Bar. “Imagine the way your bacon tastes when the maple syrup from your pancakes runs into it,” he said. Sold! But we found the maple icing way too sweet for the two slices of bacon to even make a dent.

The damage: Doughnuts range from $1.95 for the Voodoo Doll doughnut to more than $5 for the cock n’ balls, which I’m told is VERY popular at Portland bachelorette parties.

Go back: Definitely. The Old Dirty Bastard – a yeast donut covered with chocolate frosting, Oreo toppings and peanut butter – is calling me. And I didn’t know there was a donut with M&Ms on top until I looked at the website later. Clearly, I should have done more research.

Deets: Voodoo Doughnuts is cash only, but don’t worry, there’s an ATM inside. Because of the renovations, the 3rd Avenue store isn’t open 24 hours again yet (it opened at 10 a.m. on the Saturday we were there).

Tagged as: donuts, foodie, Oregon, Portland