Sugar Shack Donuts

With apologies to composer, Keith McCormick, and the group that performed it, Jimmy Gilmer and the Fireballs:

"There's a crazy little shack beyond the tracks
And everybody calls it the Sugar Shack..."

Yes, it is "beyond the tracks" right up the street from the Braddock Road Metro station. The song goes on to say about it "espresso coffee tastes mighty good". While they do have espresso, I have no idea if it is "mighty good" or not.

But, I digress. We came here for some doughnuts. It's a small shop. Later on, we discovered that they have a "secret" bar on the premises. We should have looked more closely. Apparently there is a flag on the wall and if you pull on it, it will open a door to the bar. You learn something new everyday.

We bought 4 doughnuts. My husband got honey 2 glazed old fashioned doughnuts. While I got 1 candy cane doughnut and 1 maple & bacon doughnut.

When we ate them, we were both very surprised to find that these doughnuts appear to be a hybrid---half cake doughnut and half yeast doughnut. The result was a doughnut that is lighter than the average cake one. I thought the candy cane one was tasty with the peppermint coming through clearly. The maple & bacon one was good with a generous amount of bacon bits. That said, it was sugar overload.

Well...we're glad we tried them. I had wanted to give them a try for quite sometime. In the beginning, I read that they had lines out the door. So, it was best that we went long after the hype had died down. In fact, we were able to walk right up to the counter and order.

While it is really close to the Braddock Road station, if you are on King Street in Old Town and like to walk, it's a straight walk up Henry Street to the corner of Madison.

I came here the other day with my sister and we got a dozen donuts.

The storefront and inside is adorable and very clean. I loved all of the chalkboards everywhere and the fact that they had a dog water bowl up front. The staff there were very friendly too!

These donuts are mouth-watering delicious! You cannot go wrong with any of them! Amongst my favorites were peanut butter chocolate and old fashioned. The donuts are big and reasonable for the quality and size!

I will definitely be back next time I visit!

We visited on a Saturday afternoon. The line was short and the display case was full. I'm usually a fan of your basic glazed donut with sprinkles on top, but I also love a good old fashioned blueberry cake donut and the one here did not disappoint. Donuts are pricier than Dunkin or Krispy Kreme but you're paying for quality. My blueberry cake donut was dense and moist. I saved it for breakfast on Sunday morning and it didn't taste stale or old--if anything I think the flavor set in even more. We didn't get drinks but they also offer a variety of different coffees, teas, and sodas, and I've been told the entrance to a speakeasy is located just inside the front door which might be worth checking out in the future. Overall, I'd say this was the best donut I've had in recent memory. I'd like to come back and see what the sprinkle glazed donut is like.

Interesting to note--a few of the donuts weren't in the display case but were still available so you had to ask (a woman in front of us said that's typically the case with Boston Creme) and there were some specials that were in the display case but not listed on the menu (samoa and key lime).

This blueberry donut. OMG.

We came to this location in Arlington on National Donut Day. They were offering a free donut for anyone coming in with a Sugar Shack shirt and while we didn't have such paraphernalia, it was still very much a worthwhile trip, particularly for this hot and fresh blueberry donut. This is the kind of donut with slightly crispy outsides and soft delicious insides. I could have eaten a dozen of these alone. We also got the red velvet which has a similar consistency and some sprinkled donuts (always classic) but the blueberry was certainly the star. Would drive another hour and a half for these no questions asked.

If you see a faded sign by the side of the road that says
Fifteen miles to the, Sugar Shack! Sugar Shack baby

I'm headin' down the Alexandria highway
Lookin' for the Donut getaway
Headed for the Donut getaway
I got me a car, it's expensive as f***
And we're headin' on down to the Sugar Shack
I got Maple Bacon, it cost about twenty
So hurry up and bring me some more money

The Sugar Shack is a little old place where
We can get fat together
Sugar Shack baby
A Sugar Shack baby
Sugar Shack, baby Sugar Shack

Sugar Shack is rivaling District Donuts as the best donuts in all of the DC area. This is a little local chain that has some really good products - and also some really awful Hipster attempts at Donuts as well, such as the aforementioned Bacon donuts (ew ew ew), but then that can be said about most of the top donut shops these days.

Service was nice, and although the prices are on the high side, the taste is on the high side as well, so I highly recommend getting some of these yummy donuts, and giving one of these popular local locations a try when you are down in DC.

Close to the heart of Alexandria, right off the main road into town from DC itself, and very close to Reagan Airport, this location is tiny and nice and I'll definitely be back. Just like Arnie said.

Now if you'll excuse me I have to head to Rome. You can come - if you want to.

You've lost me! So very rude manager. We came in 15 min before closing. Yes it was late at 545 pm. The "worker girls" had boxed up and were taking home multiple boxes of donuts and there were only 2 dried up red velvet donuts left and a couple cinnamon rolls. The manager said we're closing and Didn't even ask if we wanted any of the remaking and totally blow us off.
Sorry we came in and won't make this mistake again.

We stopped by yesterday to try the butterbeer donuts. Having tasted butterbeer at Harry Potter world, I was expecting an unctuous and very sweet flavor (but I still had to try because look at pretty it is!), but I was pleasantly surprised by the delicate balance. You get a subtle butterbeer in the glaze but the rest of the donut tastes like a well-made, regular donut. I liked that Sugar Shack didn't sacrifice flavor for the aesthetics.

Tip: If you bring your wand - make sure it is legit, not a stick - and cast a spell, you get a donut for free! We got to sample the Heath bar donut as well, which was finger licking delicious.

These are some crazy good donuts! I normally don't like cake donuts that much, but the cake ones here are just amazing. My favorite is the old fashioned donut, which is nicely fried and a little crispy. It's sweet but not too sweet, and it leaves a nice fried doughy aftertaste. The Boston cream donut is pretty good too. Normally cream-filled donuts are too sweet for me, but this one is just right.

If you don't think you like cake donuts, try them here before you give up on them forever!

So I came on a visit to try their donut. I cannot say they are the friendliest folks. I asked if they still had Key Lime since the spot where it was was empty and I felt like I was troubling them. I also ordered coffee and was asking for recommendations and I seemed to have been a bother. After I paid, I saw a sign next to the register for a combo deal, which they didn't offer to let me know or ask if I would want to do that combination. Hello. Sorry to bother you.

The donut itself was ok. The dough was thicker then other donuts I've had but I did like the key lime cream. I tried it and I'm good.

98% of the menu is vegan, all the donuts are with exception of 2 that had non vegan toppings. They were delicious. True fluffy original style donuts. Definitely coming back.

Not sure if it's something with this area, but DC/Maryland/VA, the service everywhere is terrible. Here too. People are just blah, not friendly, not happy to take your order. Get a new job honestly. Customer service here and everywhere else so far has been horrible.