One of the best donut shops I've ever been to was Sappy's Donuts in Boothbay Harbor, Maine. I went there when I was a kid on vacation. It was the kind of place that you'd have to get to very very early because they closed up for the day after the donuts ran out. Last fall I went up to Maine (reasonably convenient since I now live in Massachusetts) and went to look for it. Apparently it's become a Thai restaurant.
This leaves me with my previous runner up for favorite donut shop, Dunkin' Donuts, which, for a chain, I think is pretty good. MUCH better than Krispy Kreme and its insulin-shock-in-a-round-shape flavorless donuts. It's no wonder that they sell them piping hot: if you scorch your tongue you won't notice how tasteless they are.
So I like Dunkin' Donuts, and my favorite donut is the chocolate kreme filled. But, alas, even though Boston is crammed full of Dunkin' Donuts (whereas the Bay Area is essentially devoid of them almost entirely), not all of them sell this type of donut. I've come to suspect, upon inquiring, that some Dunkin' Donuts make their donuts on site, and others have them produced elsewhere and delivered. I then began to notice a correlation that donut shops that had them delivered did not generally sell that kind.
One evening I went out to dinner with my sister, and across the parking lot was a Dunkin' Donuts. Well-acquainted with my fondness for chocolate kreme filled donuts, having accompanied me previously on some fruitless quests to purchase them from various Dunkin' Donuts establishments, she suggested I run across and see if I could get one at this particular place.
But as is often the case, there were no chocolate kreme filled donuts for sale. Ever. They don't carry them. Wanting to test my earlier theory I inquired with the clerk, "So do you get your donuts delivered, or do you make them on site?"
"I have no idea where the donuts come from."
Immediately all thoughts of chocolate kreme filled donuts disappeared from my mind as I reeled in utter amazement at the total lack of curiosity demonstrated by the clerk. He works in a donut shop, and not only does he not know where the product somes from, but he apparently also never thought to check behind that door to the kitchen to see if anyone ever made any.
Perhaps there's an explanation. Perhaps he was under strict orders not to divulge to the customers the true origin of the donuts. Or perhaps he had been hired that day, perhaps in the previous ten minutes.
Maybe it's just as well that he works in a donut shop. Imagine the confusion if someone asked him where hamburgers came from.