Duck Donuts

There’s no single “right” way for a donut store to make donuts: So long as they’re sweet, have strong flavors, and ideally have a nice texture or two, people typically won’t object, and if they’re still warm and gooey, that’s generally even better. A basic but good attempt at all those elements gets you an original Krispy Kreme; a weak execution leads to most donuts at Dunkin’, and high-level perfection yields results like Friendly, Knead, Old Ferry, or Oliboli Donuts. Duck Donuts is somewhere in the middle of the pack.

Founded in Duck, North Carolina and now operating over 100 locations across the United States, Duck Donuts currently has locations in two Orange County cities – Huntington Beach and Irvine, the latter immediately outside the Trade Food Hall. On paper, their core concepts are fantastic: guests can choose from several dozen different donut recipes or “create your own” from a list of coatings, toppings, and drizzles, mixing and matching everything from fruit, chocolate, or peanut butter icings with bacon, coconut, sprinkles, and ribbons of marshmallow, caramel, or fudge sauce. Every donut is assembled in front of you for $4 (or $17 per each half-dozen), and they’re served warm enough to cut with a fork.

For some people, the description above would be basically a dream come true. And there’s something compelling about watching donuts come off of a “Donut Robot Mark V” conveyor belt before getting dipped into a bin of blueberry, raspberry, or vanilla frosting, then garnished and dusted with other ingredients to become a “blueberry pancake,” “French toast,” or “High Tide” (vanilla/powdered sugar) treat. Duck grabbed our attention by using blue vanilla icing, promoting occasionally real fruit toppings (peach, on our visit), and offering multiple Girl Scout-inspired Thin Mint options; certainly nothing’s boring about the chain’s presentation.