Holey Moley Coffee + Doughnuts, Milwaukee WI

Holey Moley Coffee + Doughnuts

Apple Fritter

Fat Elvis

Crème Brulee

S’mores

Bourbon Indonesian Vanilla

C+DD – Coffee and Doughnut, Doughnut

Picked as my second stop in Milwaukee given the impressive initial reviews and a planned visit to the Public Museum before lunch it was just after 9am that I strolled into Holey Moley Coffee + Doughnuts and although the small kiosk was unexpectedly housed in a large corporate building the service could not have been more Midwestern friendly, the young lady all smiles as she boxed up a half-dozen all-natural doughnuts that would unfortunately prove far less impressive than the service or supposedly local, seasonal approach. Obviously a whimsical space with doughnuts divided into sections sporting titles like “Easy-Peasy,” “Hunky-Dory,” or “Fancy-Schmancy” and prices ranging from $1.75 to $3.00 it was with a nearly $15 bill paid that I took my bounty to the streets and beginning first with a glazed vanilla ring I knew right way I was in trouble, the crumb decidedly dense with the dough almost flavorless as taste relied entirely on subtly sweet glaze. Moving on to two more glazed options with only a quarter of each tasted before depositing the rest in the trash I personally found the coffee glaze to be a touch too bitter and while the marshmallow kissed S’mores was at least flavored nicely I simply couldn’t get past the cake, a pervasive dryness I’d typically associate with day-olds had the signage inside not suggested ‘fresh daily.’ Moving next to a fritter that was unfortunately flaccid despite ample amounts of apple and plenty of cinnamon it was finally in a duo of filled options that Holey Moley found its footing and with both the banana pudding and vanilla custard serving to correct the issue of dryness I particularly enjoyed the Crème Brulee, a subtle sweetness imbuing the center while the smoky top-coat shattered like glass to add exactly the sort of texture the fritter had so sorely lacked.

RECOMMENDED: Crème Brulee, Fat Elvis.

AVOID: Glazed options lack imagination and rely entirely on the glaze to impart flavor, a cheap trick to say the least – particularly considering the high costs.

TIP: Changing up options by season and offering different fritters each day it seems likely that there are times when Holey Moley might prove better than on the day of my visit but with none of the options particularly impressive on a national scale I’d be hard pressed to return in order to find out, particularly as a tourist when both Madison and Chicago offered far better fried treats less than 100 miles away.

http://holeymoleydoughnuts.com/