The Salty Donut (AKA - The Salty)

MAY 2018

While I was down in Miami for work, I was lucky enough to have some time to explore the city and what better way to explore than to eat some donuts off my donutbucketlist. I wouldn’t have checked out this area otherwise but it was just north of downtown Miami (which then led me to take a quick drive around Little Havana afterwards too). One of my favorite parts about my donutbucketlist besides eating delicious donuts is getting to explore new places. Checking out the Salty Donut helped me get a feel for what is around Miami. This neighborhood definitely felt young and vibrant with some public art around - and it certainly didn’t hurt my first impression that it was a beautifully sunny day for my trip.

The shop is on the smaller side with inside seating for a few (which I can imagine would be a must on some of the hotter Miami days) and clearly set up as a more modern artisan and small batch operation. There was a small line when I got there in the middle of the day which gave me some time to check out the paper menus. These flavors are FUN! There was some awesome attention to detail in the variety and combination of flavors and naming of the donuts was especially enticing. I haven’t seen some of these flavors anywhere else since - they were quite memorable! The display donuts were also laid really nicely on a piece of wood. It’s one of the coolest displays I have seen (and highly effective). I always want to try one of every donut on the menu at the places I go to- but I especially did at this place! I had to limit myself to just five to fill up a box and was on my way.

This was one of my car hood donutbucketlist experiences which was made possible - and even better - by the nice weather. There was some countertop seating but not a ton of room in there with the line, and because I wasn’t sure about the parking situation on the street I skipped out on the outdoor picnic tables that were set up just in case I needed to quickly move where my rental car was parked. The clear stand out for me was White Chocolate Tres Leches both for the consistency and the taste. I love a good filled donut and this had a bit of everything. A nice filling, a nice topping, and a white chocolate bottom. All of them were great though - I’m not even a big guava fan but that one came recommended and I was glad I tried it!

Other Florida locations that I visited:

Mojo Donuts

I had time to make a stop at Mojo Donuts, which was between Miami and Fort Lauderdale, before I left Florida. It was conveniently on the way to the Fort Lauderdale airport for me which made it the perfect morning spot for breakfast! This strip mall spot was pretty unassuming from the outside but had such a fun vibe inside. The wall was covered with news clippings and articles featuring the store which showed how long the place had been around. The selection was huge and the display was terrific which made it quite difficult to choose only 4 donuts to fit into my to-go container. Thankfully there was nobody else behind me in the line because I went with a sampling of 4 after a lengthy back and forth asking about recommendations to make sure I wasn’t missing out on any tastes or flavors. I also saw the apple fritter late actually so added that and got an actual plate to eat it on which added to the friendliness and coziness of this spot and made it feel like I was eating in someone’s house. The base of these donuts was your more standard yeast or cake donut but they were all decked out with toppings! My favorite was the brownie sundae and the “ice cream” frosting/cream that was included is still some of the best that I have had. I would be happy with that in or on every donut I eat. All in all a great stop! For those wondering, I didn’t have to worry about these donuts getting through airport security as they were long gone by the time I got there : )