Longman & Eagle Donut Shop
Chocolate Ring
Vanilla Cruller
Cinnamon Ring
Chestnut Filled
Modestly impressed by the food but disgusted by the service during my first visit to hipster hotspot Longman & Eagle it was with guarded curiosity that we stopped in for the newly minted Sunday Donut Shop on the weekend following Thanksgiving, a first in line spot and expectedly disinterested service the reward for our pre-9am arrival along with four hot donuts ranging from entirely forgettable to prototypical. A surprisingly limited selection despite the seemingly special once-weekly concept and served “around back” at $3-4/per it was with two yeasted standards that out tasting began and with simple cinnamon-sugar plus dark chocolate toppings the results were simply mundane, the texture a bit doughy and creativity entirely for lack – a 69 cent donut at best. Moving next to the filled selection, in this case a divine roasted chestnut pudding inside a paczki-like pocket, results definitely improved along with complexity and at last tasting the rich, crisp vanilla bean cruller it almost seemed L&E had found its footing…until I realized better donuts, wider variety, and superior service can be found at no less than a dozen Chicago locations every day of the week.
