Comfort foods are understandably on the rise, whether sandwiches, pizza, or tacos. And now: doughnuts. So many new doughnuts! There’s now a huge variety, from classic glazed to vegan, Asian, Italian, Latin, and savory doughnut sandwiches (we’re hardly complaining).
Astro Doughnuts & Fried Chicken Shaw
1819 Seventh St., NW
The newest location for this popular doughnut maker is a collaborative kitchen space in Shaw, shared with chicken-soup company Prescription Chicken and savory Bolivian-pastry purveyor Saya Salteña. So yes, this is a one-stop-comfort-food-shop. But first, the doughnuts. Flavors include sweets like vanilla or key lime pie, sweet-and-savory (maple-bacon). There’s also a doughnut-as-full-meal option:a fried-chicken sandwich with bacon and Sriracha mayo on an Old Bay-dusted doughnut. Order online for to-go or delivery.
Call Your Mother
Locations in Park View, Capitol Hill, Georgetown, and Bethesda
The local bagel chain got a lot of attention this week after President Biden visited the new Georgetown shop for bagels (toasted, the horror!). Also buzzworthy: their brand new doughnuts. Sweet creations from chef/co-owner Daniela Moreira and pastry chef Sharrod Mangum are inspired by two popular cookies: black-and-white and Girl Scout Samoa with shredded coconut. Find them at all four locations, Thursday through Sunday. Pre-order online for pickup.
Donut Run
6904 Fourth St., NW
No joke—you’ll have to run to this new vegan doughnut shop in Takoma if you want to score one (or a dozen) treats. The tiny shop, which opened earlier this month, often sells out. Husband and wife duo Shawn Petersen and Nicole Dao make a dozen yeast and cake flavors, and serve hot joe from local Brewing Good Coffee Company. Washingtonian social media producer Hannah Good highly recommends the Boston cream: “It’s always nice when you can get a perfect vegan dupe of a food you love, so Donut Run seems to have perfected that!” Pick up in person.
La Bodega Bakery
1346 T St., NW
Local pastry star Paola Velez is behind this New York City-inspired bakery at restaurant Compass Rose (as well as the dessert menu both there and at sister restaurant Maydan). Rotating doughnut flavors, offered Friday through Sunday, might include fluffy ube brioche doughnuts filled with coconut pastry cream, plus other tasty creations like plantain buns and rum cake. It’s a good idea to pre-order online—pastries are known to sell out.
Mah-Ze-Dahr
1201 Half St., SE
James Beard Award semifinalist Umber Ahmad—whose Greenwich Village bakery has earned fans since 2016—opened her first venture outside NYC. At the serene blue-and-white space near Nationals Park—a collaboration with Knead Hospitality + Design—a wide range of pastries shine, from cookies to brownies to cakes. For doughnuts, try the pillowy brioche rounds stuffed with vanilla pastry cream or another studded with semi-sweet chocolate chips. For traditionalists, there’s a crunchy, vanilla glazed cake variety. Order online for pickup and delivery.
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Rose Ave Bakery
1110 Vermont Ave., NW
Pastry chef Rose Nguyen opened her bakeshop in The Block food hall in DC—a spinoff of the Annandale original—just before the pandemic hit. Her unique Asian-American sweets are all worth trying, whether sweet matcha/chocolate-chip cookies or savory Szechuan cacio e pepe morning buns. Beautiful doughnuts come in flavors like stuffed passion fruit, Filipino halo halo, and strawberry lychee. No surprise, pre-orders sell out quick.
Toscana Market
414 K St., NW
Tuscan native Daniele Catalani—a co-founder of the Al Volo pasta restaurants—is behind this new Italian shop in Mount Vernon Triangle. The place is stocked with several kinds of fresh noodles as well as freshly fried bomboloni, which are filled to-order with Nutella or flavored cream. Order online for pickup and delivery.
Anna Spiegel covers the dining and drinking scene in her native DC. Prior to joining Washingtonian in 2010, she attended the French Culinary Institute and Columbia University’s MFA program in New York, and held various cooking and writing positions in NYC and in St. John, US Virgin Islands.
