Friendly Donut House
Apple Fritter
Apple Bearclaw
Blueberry Cake
Old Fashioned
Bismarck
Cherry Glaze Cruller
reshly transplanted to Las Vegas just days prior and with friends new and old in town an early morning trek after my typical morning run landed me at the doors of Friendly Donut House just after 5:30am, the Henderson breakfast staple already playing host to a sextet of elderly gentlemen holding court over coffee plus a pair of folks joining in. Truly oldschool in terms of design, variety, and price with customers more like kin to the friendly staff it was clear on entry that the presence of a camera was not common around these parts and inquiring into my business I briefly explained, the end result a few laughs and rolled eyes followed by a multitude of suggestions and one congenial fellow refusing to allow me to pay, instead suggesting my half dozen be “placed on his tab,” a tab the clerk suggested he never pays anyhow. Thanking everyone involved and taking my selections to the street it would not be long before the tasting began and opting for variety the most remarkable thing about Friendly was consistency; each fried pastry a textbook example of its genre with light yeastiness to the raised options and supple textures beneath a crisp glaze on the buttermilk and blueberry. Moving next to an impressive Bismarck suggested to me as ‘can’t miss’ by the table of two and then to a delicate cruller with thick cherry glaze it was largely expected that what followed would represent “saving the best for last” and sure enough both enormous bearclaw filled with spiced apples and the crispy apple fritter would prove the best I’ve found in Las Vegas and although perhaps not ‘destination’ worthy, certainly worth a visit for those in or around Henderson.
