You know how much I love coffee and donuts, right? Well, imagine how excited I was to hear that there was a new donut and coffee shop in town. I mean, how can you go wrong with two of my favorite things? My daughter and I decided to have a little donut date to check out Craft Donuts + Coffee in West Dundee. We had a great time, and I envision plenty more donut dates in the future.
Highlights:
- Such a cool vibe. The building dates back to around 1900, and one of the walls they uncovered even older. I loved that the owners have kept some of the original aspects including the brick and beams. I’m such a sucker for brick face walls!
Oh, and this cool mural. Love!
- Unique choices. New flavors are always being added to the rotation to keep it fresh. In addition to their sweet options, they also offer savory. How about a bacon and jalapeno donut? Or an everything donut? They also offer vegan and gluten-free options.
I wanted to keep things a little safe, so I stuck with the vanilla glazed old-fashioned. My daughter, lover of anything pink (can you tell?), of course, picked the raspberry old-fashioned. It was so cute watching her carry her little tray!
- Huge. The donuts are pretty big, so next time I’ll get the smaller donut holes for her.
- Not your typical donut. With the help of their pastry chefs, they have perfected a different kind of donut. It’s all about the dough and the yeast. The end product is a denser donut that is more cake-like that in a way balances the sweetness of the toppings. Everything was pretty good!
- Coffee is locally sourced. They get their coffee from Metric Coffee, a small batch coffee shop in the city. Metric was recently awarded best coffee in Illinois by Food + Wine. I opted for a raspberry latte, but it was a tad too sweet for me. I’ll try something a little plainer next time.
- Get ’em early. Their scratch bakery makes small-batch handcrafted donuts. In order to make a quality that they strive for they can’t make too much or rush the process. Their four pastry chefs only make so much, so when it’s gone it’s gone.
- Watch them in action. My daughter was mesmerized watching the bakers make the donuts. Stop by before noon as that’s when they usually wrap up.
Bottom Line:
Craft Donuts + Coffee is a welcome addition to the neighborhood, and we’re lucky to have them. Can’t wait to visit our old ‘hood and try their other unique flavors. I see a cinnamon roll and a vegan donut in my future.
Tip:
- Come early to get your choice of donuts. If you can’t come early, place an online order to make sure you get the specific donuts that you’re craving.
- Best time to visit? If you can swing it, weekdays are definitely better than weekends, and anytime weekdays after 12:00 pm is their least busy time in general.
- Bringing a stroller? The front is the only stroller-friendly entrance. From the parking lot, it’s just a short walk around Emmett’s to the front.
Nitty Gritty:
Website: https://www.craftdonutscoffee.com/
Location: 124 West Main Street, West Dundee, IL. Located in downtown Dundee.
Hours: 6:00am to 3:00pm every day
Parking: Parking lot located at the back of the building. Enter through the back entrance.
Meet the Owners:
I had a little chat with the owners, Allison and John. Here are a few fun facts about them.
- They moved from Texas to Illinois. The parents now live with their daughter in Algonquin.
- They initially started thinking about opening up a donut shop since their donut lovin’ daughter kept asking for donuts. That then sparked the idea.
- Some of their favorite things to do is biking, exercising, visiting the Chicago Botanic Gardens, and checking out the Algonquin Library.
- One of their favorite restaurants is Cucina Bella in Algonquin. They were excited that a Chuy’s Tex-Mex had come to Illinois. We are definite fans too.
- They are still looking for a really good burger joint. Do you have a favorite to share with them?
