Gibson’s Donuts
Apple Fritter
Red Velvet
Glazed Old Fashioned
Glazed Cruller
Crumb Cake
Blueberry Cake
Caramel Glazed Yeast
Largely underwhelmed by Brother Juniper’s it was onward to Gibson’s Donuts that the culinary tour of Memphis progressed and with a line nearly thirty deep even at 10:30am on Mother’s Day it was with plenty of time spent perusing selections that I eventually approached the counter, a young man of perhaps 17 years procuring a baker’s-half dozen for our indulgence at the bargain basement total of just $5.72.
Located in East Memphis, and churning out hot fried dough 24-hours a day with old fashioned technique and friendly service since opening its doors near the University of Memphis many years ago, Gibson’s features no less than twenty varieties of donuts and although the famous NOLA sourced Buttermilk Drops were temporarily sold out during this visit there was certainly no lack of fresh options emerging from the kitchen at a breakneck pace, a total of five of my seven still warm with only the rich Red Velvet and cakey not-really-a-cruller ‘Cruller’ cool to the touch, the later an admitted disappointment as there was not a bit of hollow wispiness or levity to be found.
Backtracking to warm options, the items above saved to last, tasting began with a melt-in-the-mouth bite of flour and yeast topped in sticky caramel, and moving onward both the sourcream old fashioned and coffee cake-like crumb were textbook iterations, the blueberry equally impressive with a flavor that was surprisingly natural while the apple fritter was easily the star of the show – a light crisp beneath the just-set glaze and no lack of apples or cinnamon to be found amidst the lightly oiled base.
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