You can keep your gold-leaf brioche and your hibiscus-infused sourdough crumbles. Honestly. When the wind starts whipping off Lake Michigan and the temperature drops into that gray, biting territory Chicagoans know too well, nobody actually wants a "concept" donut. We want grease. We want sugar. We want those jagged, crunchy edges that look like a topographical map of the Moon.
Old fashioned donuts in chicago are more than just a breakfast item; they are a structural necessity for surviving the city.
There is a specific science to the old fashioned. Unlike the airy, yeast-raised donuts that feel like eating sweetened wind, the old fashioned is a chemically leavened cake donut. It uses sour cream or buttermilk. This creates a dense, tight crumb. When it hits the fryer, the dough cracks. Those cracks are where the glaze pools, hardening into little sugary canyons that shatter when you bite them. If a shop gets this wrong, it’s just a dry muffin with a hole. If they get it right? It's a religious experience.
The Sour Cream Secret
Go to Doughnut Vault on Franklin Street. You’ve probably seen the line. It’s tiny. It’s basically a brick closet. But they understood something early on: the "Old Fashioned" shouldn't just be a menu filler. Their vanilla glazed version is hefty. It’s got that distinctive almond-tincture hit in the glaze that cuts through the fat.
Most people think "old fashioned" just means "plain." Wrong. It refers to the method. The "tapered" edges come from a lower frying temperature and a specific dough hydration that forces the exterior to split. At Old Fashioned Donuts in Roseland—a place that has been a neighborhood anchor since 1972—owner J.P. Burkes proves that consistency is a superpower. You don't stay open for fifty-plus years by chasing trends. You do it by perfecting the buttermilk ratio.
Their donuts are massive. They aren't "artisanal." They are real.
Why the Cracks Matter
Look at the surface of a donut from Dat Donut in Chatham. You’ll see those deep ridges. That is the hallmark of a proper old fashioned. In the baking world, we call this the "flower" effect. If the dough doesn't bloom in the oil, you aren't getting the surface area needed for maximum glaze-to-cake contact.
✨ Don't miss: Green Emerald Day Massage: Why Your Body Actually Needs This Specific Therapy
I’ve talked to bakers who swear the humidity in Chicago affects the fry. A humid July day in the West Loop means the dough behaves differently than it does during a dry, sub-zero February morning. The best shops adjust. They feel the dough. It’s tactile.
The Heavy Hitters You Actually Need to Visit
Roeser’s Bakery: This is the oldest family-owned bakery in Chicago. Since 1911. Walk into the shop on North Avenue and you aren't just buying a pastry; you're stepping into a timeline. Their chocolate-iced old fashioned is heavy. It has a nostalgic, malty backnote that modern shops can’t seem to replicate.
Stan’s Donuts: Yeah, they’re a big chain now. But their leavening process for the old fashioned is remarkably consistent. They lean heavily into the lemon-zest undertone, which is a classic European touch often lost in Americanized versions.
Do-Rite Donuts: They do a valrhona chocolate glazed old fashioned that is dangerous. The crumb is tighter than Roeser’s, almost like a pound cake. It’s a different vibe, but it works because they don't skimp on the fat content of the buttermilk.
Huck Finn Restaurant: If you find yourself in McKinley Park at 3:00 AM, this is where you go. Their donuts are rugged. They look like they were made by hand, because they were. There is zero pretension here.
Misconceptions About the "Cake" Base
People often use "cake donut" and "old fashioned" interchangeably. They are cousins, but not twins. A standard cake donut is smooth. Think of the ones you see in a box of Entenmann’s. An old fashioned is specifically engineered to be irregular.
🔗 Read more: The Recipe Marble Pound Cake Secrets Professional Bakers Don't Usually Share
That irregularity is functional.
In the 1800s, before fancy depositors and automated fryers, these were dropped by hand. The "old fashioned" name stuck because it preserved that hand-dropped, ragged look. In a city like Chicago, which prides itself on a "hog butcher for the world" ruggedness, the aesthetic fits. We don't want pretty. We want something that can stand up to a cup of bitter, black diner coffee.
The Economics of the Glaze
The glaze isn't just sugar water. The best shops in the city use a combination of confectioners' sugar, a stabilizer like corn syrup or agar, and—critically—a hint of salt. Without the salt, the sugar becomes cloying after two bites.
At Beacon Doughnuts, tucked away in an alley in Lincoln Park, they’ve managed to do something nearly impossible: a vegan old fashioned that actually has the "snap." Usually, when you take out the eggs and sour cream, the structural integrity of a cake donut collapses. It becomes bready. But by using high-protein flour and plant-based fats with specific melting points, they mimic that "cracked" texture. It’s a feat of engineering.
Regional Variations Within the City
Chicago is a city of neighborhoods. South Side donuts tend to be larger, more substantial. They are meals. North Side donuts, especially in places like Wicker Park or the Loop, often experiment more with the glaze—think matcha or blood orange.
But even the fancy spots have to respect the base. If the crumb is too loose, the donut absorbs too much oil. You end up with a "grease bomb." If it's too tight, it's a hockey puck. The window for a perfect fry is small. Usually about 90 seconds per side at 375 degrees. Any longer and you lose the moisture. Any shorter and the center is raw dough.
💡 You might also like: Why the Man Black Hair Blue Eyes Combo is So Rare (and the Genetics Behind It)
How to Judge a Chicago Old Fashioned
When you walk into a shop, look at the cooling rack.
- Color: It should be a deep golden brown, bordering on bronze. Pale donuts haven't developed the Maillard reaction.
- The Crown: There should be a distinct "ring" where the dough split.
- Weight: Pick it up. It should feel surprisingly heavy for its size.
- The "Tink": Tap the glaze with your fingernail. It should make a faint "tink" sound. That means it has set properly and won't turn into a sticky mess the second you touch it.
Your Chicago Donut Strategy
Don't do a "donut crawl." It’s a mistake. You’ll be sugar-blind by the third stop and everything will taste like cardboard.
Instead, pick one neighborhood and commit. If you're going to Roseland, go to Old Fashioned Donuts and nothing else. Get the Texas-sized one. Eat it in your car while it's still warm. That’s the peak. If you're downtown, hit Doughnut Vault right when they open. They close when they run out, and they always run out.
The reality is that while the "cronut" or the "mochi donut" might get the Instagram likes, the old fashioned is the one people actually keep buying. It’s the comfort food of the pastry world. It doesn't demand your attention with bright colors or toppings like cereal or bacon. It just sits there, ugly and perfect, waiting for you to realize it was the best option all along.
Next Steps for the Donut Hunter
- Visit the South Side First: Start at J.P. Burkes’ Old Fashioned Donuts. It is the gold standard by which all other Chicago old fashioneds are measured.
- Check the Time: Most of the best old-school bakeries fry their cake donuts in the pre-dawn hours. Aim to arrive before 8:00 AM for the best texture; once a cake donut sits for more than six hours, the glaze starts to soften the crust.
- Pairing is Key: Skip the latte. Find a place that serves "Strong, Hot, and Cheap" coffee. The acidity of a basic medium roast is the necessary chemical foil to the high fat content of a sour cream donut.
- Observe the Crumb: When you break the donut open, look for small, uneven air pockets. This indicates a hand-mixed or minimally processed dough, which yields a much better mouthfeel than mass-produced "pre-mix" batters.