Monuts Donuts

SEPTEMBER 2017

Donuts and watching the Cats... I thought this was going to be the trip of a lifetime! Spoiler, the cats lost (badly) to Duke which was a major bummer, but I still made it to my North Carolina donut shop before the game - Monuts!

My parents and I drove down from Virginia Beach, Virginia to Durham, North Carolina early Saturday morning for donuts and to go to a Northwestern tailgate before the Northwestern versus Duke football game. When I saw that Monuts was basically on the way, I thought that would be a perfect stop before we arrived and got ready to cheer on the Cats. It was an early morning because it was over a three hour drive down south to North Carolina.

Monuts is a stand-alone place on the corner in a residential area around the college-town of Durham. The name is painted in huge letters on the side of the all-brick building so you can’t miss it. Monuts was a Donut Bucket List first because it’s also a full-on brunch spot. The building reads Monuts, Restaurant, Bakery, & Bar. We arrived before 10AM and the place was already packed. It looked like there was a wait to sit down at a table already but we walked right up to the bakery counter to look at their selection of donuts. It was a really nice display of donuts - each one displayed on their own plate behind the glass window. The donuts were interspersed with several other bakery items so when it came to just the donuts, they didn’t have a huge variety. We of course got one of each in a box, went outside, and dropped these right on top of the hood of the car (my preferred donut eating spot when there isn’t a place to eat inside) and prepared to dive in. 

The flavors included chocolate chai, ginger hibiscus, and dark chocolate sea salt, among others. It was a mix of mainly cake and yeast donuts. They weren’t my favorite flavors. I think the flavors rotate so I might have had better luck at a different time with some other ones. I’m all for inventive and creative flavors but would pick a few different ones if I had the choice. We didn’t get the freshest batch either so I think both of those things didn’t really allow the donuts to shine through as we ate them on a beautiful fall Saturday morning. The highlight was the North Carolinian, both for its name and the fun flavor. It was a yeast donut topped with a salty, cinnamon-bourbon glaze.

It was fun sampling all the different flavors as always and we slowly made our way to Duke’s campus that was nearby. North Carolina was checked off the list and it was time for the football game (boo!) While I think this place started as a donut stand/bike, I think it has moved onto bigger and better things with a booming brunch service that the locals clamor about! One other random highlight from this stop was the huge bunny statue (as tall as me) that greeted everyone and pointed to where you should go next. Super random but super fun!

I have since heard of a few other shops that I will have to stop by next time in North Carolina as well so stay tuned for updates!! In the meantime, happy donut eating!