The Donut Stand — Restaurant in Hopkinton

I like to review only those places that I would rank above four stars. And TBH, I struggled with whether or not this place reached that level. In the end, I decided to write a review for one reason: the peach donut. That is the reason it hit that mark, but just barely aft3er the whole experience was taken into account. As the name of the place suggests, they specialize in donuts. And honestly, the donuts were really pretty good, and the peach one was fantastic. I was hoping they would have a few amazing donuts, but outside of that one, they didn’t live up to expectations. They had a black and white old fashioned donut that had a deep, rich chocolate flavor that was nice and moist. The Boston cream donut looked a bit greasy when it arrived, but honestly it was light and fluffy so wasn’t as heavy as it first appeared. And the glaze was not overly sweet which made it perfect for my palette. I am not a fan of frosting, especially sugar frostings. But the custard in the donut was not as rich as that in your typical Boston cream donut. Now I’m all for innovation: taking a classic and doing a new spin on it is great. But it has to be purposeful and unique and either truly elevated or far enough removed from the classic that it becomes its own thing. This was not that by any means. It was just a custard that didn’t live up to my expectations of the classic. So it wasn’t new and exciting and it missed the comfort food of the classic by just a bit. Don’t get me wrong, it was a really well executed donut despite the first blush appearance, but it just didn’t hit the mark for me. But the peach donut, that hit the mark on every point. The donut was perfectly cooked and the filling had an amazing burst of peach flavor, and it was stuffed to the gills with the filling. That donut made it worth the trip. However their tag line is “craft donuts and sandwiches.” But in my opinion, they should stay in the donut lane: the sandwiches aren’t so much craft. Besides donuts, we started with a croissant and a cinnamon roll. It was a good croissant, but nothing to write home about. A step above say that you can get in a grocery store bakery perhaps, but not much so not a great start for beyond the donuts. And I’m not a cinnamon roll fan so am not the best judge, but my husband is. He found it heavy and lacking in cinnamon flavor: not a flavor you want to miss if it’s literally in the name. And he doesn’t like cream cheese icing, though it’s one of the few I like. So I sampled it and found it overly sweet. But again I have less of a taste for sweet than the typical American so for those that like a sweet frosting, I would assume it would be great. For sandwiches we got the peach caprese and a bacon egg and cheese. The caprese had peaches, mozzarella, kale pesto and balsamic vinaigrette. The ciabatta bread was decent enough, but the rest of the sandwich left a bit to be desired. The flavor profile of the kale pesto with peaches just didn’t hit the mark for me. And there were a ton of greens on it, but they were completely undressed so many mouthfuls were just boring and dry. And I searched for the balsamic and what little I could find was not a high quality balsamic. For the bacon egg and cheese sandwich, the bread was an ordinary sub role so nothing special to start. And the eggs were overcooked and unsalted. If you don’t salt eggs, they are a bit boring. Salting them makes them really sing in a sandwich. Overall sandwich was dry and bland. To sum up, I would say if you are looking for good donuts, it’s worth a try. As long as you aren’t looking for truly unique, innovative or sublime donuts, then you won’t be disappointed. But for sandwiches, there are a lot of far better places nearby that would be a...

Not all donut shops are made equal. And despite my disappointment that all donuts were actually sold out at lunchtime, I was astonished by the sandwich product I got as a replacement. I believe almost every ingredient was fresh. Not Whole Foods fresh, but truly something you’d expect to find pieces of at a farm to table establishment. The focaccia was doughy, had structure, and was a perfectly balanced against the viscosity of the rest of the sandwich. The glaze that was put on was also uniquely something that stood out as excellent. The sandwich also had volume, something that I welcome in a world where prices are rising and portions are shrinking before our eyes. This was a proper meal. I was so blown away the sandwich I got at this “donut shop” I got a chocolate chip cookie to continue tasting the baker’s skills. Wow, also a treat. Maybe I got lucky with some fresh out of the oven but also a cookie I’d travel back for. All this to say that I didn’t even get to try the donuts themselves. But I will be returning to taste this shop’s self proclaimed crème de la crème of what they do. 11/10 taste, highly recommend, and definitely a standout lunch...

I came in just for a couple of donuts as I love a good donut, my wife says I'm a little obsessed . I tried a Boston cream filled and a strawberry rhubarb jelly filled. The Boston cream may have been the best I've ever had, it was big and the chocolate that use really blended well with the cream. The strawberry rhubarb I would have to say was good but not my favorite. Could be just a personal preference but I thought they actually used too much jelly filling if that's a possibility. It really overwhelmed the flavor of the donut itself in my opinion. YMMV. I should also add that I still had part of a donut left the next day, I kept it in the nice box they provided when I ordered my donuts. The next day the donut still felt and tasted fresh. Overall it was a really nice place and the service I received was great, very friendly and inviting. I didn't stay in the store to enjoy my donuts but it looked like it had a...