The mysterious DONUT SMELL.

[prog.livejournal.com]

Sometimes when I walk down Highland Avenue in the morning, I distinctly smell fresh donuts. I catch this whiff in a varying location between the Willow and Hancock intersections. However, there are no donut shops or bakeries that I know of near this section of road. The closest donut-aware bakeries I could name are in either Davis or Ball Squares, which are just too far away from this location.

So: is there a hidden donut shop I, tragically, don't know about, in that area? Or am I just falling victim to wishful smelling?

Comments

[jadasc.livejournal.com]

You have fallen prey to the "stealth bakery". It's at the end of the bike path in a white unmarked building. They make muffins and other pastries there.

[lachesis.livejournal.com]

you WILL be showing me where this "stealth bakery" is, RIGHT? *subtle hint*[1]

I could use some advice on Things Pointed Out(tm), as far as where to go/not to go for stuff like that.[2]

And, as far as bakeries go, I've been told Lyndell's is IT for the area. The area being near Ball Square, that is.


_______________________
[1] you know, the kind administered with a BRICK. *grin*
[2] besides, it wouldnt kill me to know more pedestrian ways of getting about, right? (right?)

[forgotten-aria.livejournal.com]

Yes there is a secret donut shop. It's in an unmarked building. It's on the bike path between cedar and willow. I've heard rumors that if you go in when they are making donut smells they'll sell you one.

[talonvaki.livejournal.com]

I live on Hancock at Summer...I've never smelled it in three years... :-(

[fraxl.livejournal.com]

i smell it everytime i walk down there... it's spooky. i'm convinced it's a ploy by dunkin donuts to make us need donuts by the time we reach davis square.

[emblebug.livejournal.com]

Corner of Highland Road (not Ave) and Morrison - across the Bike Path from the playground on Lexington.
I walk past it EVERY MORNING on my way to Davis to get the T (granted, I'm getting the T before 7am - earlier than lots of commuters) and at least 4 or 5 days a week, it smells amazing. I often see them getting deliveries of large bags of flour and such. They were mentioned in a Boston Magazine article about donuts a couple issues back, but I've never figured out where you can go to buy them! (other than poking my head in and asking, and I'm just too shy to do that.)

[anotherjen.livejournal.com]

I live right by that factory!
If you go by during business hours, and especially if the door is already open, you can buy donuts for 25 cents each that are vastly superior to Dunkin Donuts. And the guys are very friendly.

[tikva.livejournal.com]

They make muffins the size of your head all morning, and donuts all afternoon. They're open Sunday-Thursday, and close around 4 pm. You can walk right in and get a fresh hot muffin in the morning for fifty cents, and donuts in the afternoon for a quarter.

Secret donut factories!

[prog.livejournal.com]

See, this is why this is the greatest neighborhood ever. Thanks to all for the information.

Re: Secret donut factories!

[magid.livejournal.com]

Or everyone is humoring your olfactory hallucinations ;-).

Mmmm... secret donut factories...

[chaggalagirl.livejournal.com]

yeah, i used to live in the apartment complexy deal directly across the parking lot from that building. it drove me nuts... yummy smells all day long.

the best part is during the summer when the bakers' kids are there. they have fun cleaning racks and stuff with a hose. it's cute. :D

[cowgrrl.livejournal.com]

This is fascinating! I've been walking past that building for the past 5 years, to get to/from Davis Square, and never knew they sold the goodies they bake there. It doesn't look at all like a store.

[count0.livejournal.com]

I've never seen/smelled this elusive place. But now I feel I must make a pilgrimage! Boy, I love donuts.

Is this the exact location? (http://maps.yahoo.com/maps_result?ed=QzgKFep_0TravxD4MXqUSesiTU5DcVvrml7czDhDDY7cHo8-&csz=somerville%2C+ma&country=us) Does the store/bakery have a name? An exact address? Any distinguishing birthmarks?

[emblebug.livejournal.com]

yeah, that's it. it's on the corner there, right next to this gravel parking lot and the bike path. there's absolutely NO identifying information on the outside of the building (which is partially why I was so confused b/c i could only smell them until I read about them in Boston Magazine). you can't miss it, though, it's the only thing that doesn't look like a residential building.

[count0.livejournal.com]

Found it! I made a pilgrimage this afternoon around 5pm and took some pictures. Weird...I could definitely still smell baked goods in the air.

I must have looked like a total freak. Walking around this totally blank and unfriendly looking building, taking pictures with my cellphone and sniffing...

sniff sniff

DonutCam_01 (http://zero.xa.net/~count0/donut_01.jpg)
DonutCam_02 (http://zero.xa.net/~count0/donut_02.jpg)
DonutCam_03 (http://zero.xa.net/~count0/donut_03.jpg)
DonutCam_04 (http://zero.xa.net/~count0/donut_04.jpg)
DonutCam_05 (sad and forlorn, I leave donut-less) (http://zero.xa.net/~count0/donut_05.jpg)

[hrafn.livejournal.com]

The only non-Dunkin Donuts, non-Baskin Robbins that whitepages.com gave me (on a "donuts" search) is:

Russ Donuts
2 Highland Rd.
Somerville, MA 02144
617-623-0529

(switchboard.com has the address as 2 Highland Ave, which does not match up with anything anyone here has said. I've never much liked switchboard.com.)

[count0.livejournal.com]

The building is so strange. No numbers on it. No signs. But there is something that looks like a mail slot in one of the doors.

I also checked Boston Magazine's website but couldn't find any articles about secret donut factories in Somerville in their online archives.

(Your name is hrafn?? Heh! I was just in Iceland a couple months ago and saw many of them! Amazing birds, apparently originally brought over by the Vikings from Norway. Beautiful country, Iceland...fire and ice... )

[emblebug.livejournal.com]

I also checked Boston Magazine's website but couldn't find any articles about secret donut factories in Somerville in their online archives.

It was an article earlier this year - maybe in the winter - that focused primarily on the Dunkins vs. Krispy Kreme debate, but also talked about small, locally-owned donut places. I might still have the hard copy in my apartment somewhere. I will have to look for it.

[emblebug.livejournal.com]

I also checked Boston Magazine's website but couldn't find any articles about secret donut factories in Somerville in their online archives.

Here's the article:
http://www.bostonmagazine.com/ArticleDisplay.php?id=219

Unfortunately, it's only about DD and KK. I think the place in Somerville was mentioned in a sidebar, along with some other small donut bakeries.

[hauntmeister.livejournal.com]

Yep, the "2 Highland Rd." address looks right. It's at the intersection of Highland Road and Morrison.

Highland Road and Highland Ave are perpendicular, about three blocks apart, and do not intersect. Gotta love Boston-area street naming conventions.