Donut Mania
Donut and Chocolate Ice Cream Sandwich
Cherry Fritter
Donutella Donut
Italian Rum Donut
Buttermilk Bar
Oreo Cheesecake Donut
Rocky Road Donut
Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Donut
Always the bridesmaid when discussing Sin City’s best Donut shops, the classics not on par with Friendly or Ace while innovative options lag behind Pink Box despite ownership’s claim to have created the recipe for both they and Glazier’s, it was largely out of curiosity about recent promotions featuring the cast of Tanked that the decision was made to attend Donut Mania’s North Las Vegas *Grand Opening*on Saturday, their acquisition of rapidly shuttered Crunch Donuts a questionable financial decision considering the location almost thirty minutes by car from the Strip.
Having wanted to like Donut Mania from the very beginnning, an inauspicious first visit to the Durango flagship well documented but seemingly improved upon during a visit to the Henderson location, it was expectedly to a full parking lot that the car was navigated just twenty minutes after the event’s official 11:00am start time, one reality-TV star stationed at the door and the other located inside taking pictures with fans while additionally obstructing the flow of traffic.
Narrow and barely an ADA-compliant space, this fact not stopping one family from completely filling the shop while spending nearly ten minutes trying to assemble a dozen, it was while talking with Brett Raymer who revealed himself as “the money and marketing” that guests waited (im)patiently, the single cashier and two girls collecting fried Dough from the case additionally slowed down when asked to make Donut Mania’s recently launched Ice Cream Sandwich.
Pretty up-front about my affinity for Donuts, and perhaps less obviously a former aquarium enthusiast, it was finally upon reaching the front of the line that options were properly able to be perused, the decision to order a half-dozen added upon by one of Donut Mania’s $3 “World Famous Fritters” and the aforementioned plain Donut loaded with Chocolate Ice Cream and placed in a heated press, a good idea completely botched by using poorly frozen product from Thrifty and an unlined wrapper which saw glaze stuck to it, melted Ice Cream quickly dripping through and more than a quarter of the $5 item left on the ground outside.
Thankfully carrying extra napkins, hands now sticky and the throng making a restroom trip to wash them a hassle, it was with additional parts of the $20.39 order taken elsewhere that the Fritter was next tasted, the “World Famous” claim up for debate but nice and crisp with plenty of Fruit while the Italian Rum topped with stiff Cream and a Maraschino Cherry was also quite pleasant, similar to when it was originally tasted on Green Valley Parkway several months back.
Predictably suffering once again from either the temperature of the oil or too much gluten in the batter, both “Donutella” and Rocky Road slightly crispy on the surface with a dry crumb that fortunately benefitted in the latter’s ample pocket of Chocolate Cream, it took only one bite of the Buttermilk Bar to confirm that nothing has improved since February 2015 in terms of the grainy texture, the Oreo Cheesecake not so different from the Cheesecake options at Pink Box, perhaps because of the thicker consistency of the Cream Cheese and ground up Cookie filling.
Rounding out the morning with a stuffed Donut titled “Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough,” the same stiff Cream from Italian Rum and Chocolate filling from Rocky Road found beneath an upright-standing half-Cookie, there was absolutely nothing about this Donut that suggested Cookie Dough save for the Cookie itself, the owner’s son Steven reaching out on Social Media less than 6-hours later to state “We are actually in the midst of developing an improved cookie dough filling that is shelf stable and will really give it the flavor deserving of its name.”
TWO STARS: I think it is fairly obvious that I like Donuts and I’m also pretty fond of Aquariums, so although I’m not really sure what Tanked has to do with DONUT MANIA aside from one of the Stars saying he was “the money and marketing” at the Grand Opening in North Las Vegas yesterday morning I do know that the event and product was a mess, the stars of the show placing themselves inside already limited confines and thus constraining traffic while the product was rarely worth the price.
RECOMMENDED: Italian Rum, Cherry Fritter.
AVOID: Ice Cream Donut Sandwich, Buttermilk Bar, Donutella, Rocky Road, any “Grand Opening.”
TIP: Open 6a-9p at 6320 N Simmons St. Ste 135 North Las Vegas, though unless you live nearby a drive to the closest Pink Box is advised.
WHAT THE STARS MEAN: 5 World Class, 4 Excellent, 3 Good, 2 Fair, 1 Poor.
http://www.donutmanialv.com/
