Long's Bakery — Restaurant in Indianapolis

This has always been our favorite bakery, and we have been coming here for almost 20 years. We have brought friends and family to this location and it has became their favorite as well. We even have bought donuts to bring into work, and our workplace has bought donuts as well to bring in. So I would say we definitely did our part to share Long's with all we can. The other location just has never been as good as this location. This location has always been our favorite. Prices are also very fair compared to other bakeries. The only problem is we live about an hour away from Long's so when we do get donuts it is a treat that we have to drive over an hour for unless we happen to be in town. Last week we made a special trip to Long's. Unfortunately it was just not as we remembered. We ordered 2 dozen yeast donuts and 6 specialty items. The specialty donuts were good, but the yeast donuts, which is our favorite, and we always bring some back for family left A LOT to be desired. We ended up spending about forty dollars in there only to get 2 dozen COLD donuts. We did visit around 3:00 pm, however, it hasn't been a problem in the past to visit around then. It was not just that the donuts were cold because I do realize they are making quite a few batches to keep up with demand, but I feel like we got "old" donuts. I have never had a stale tasting donut from Long's before, but all of our yeast donuts definitely tasted stale. They were hard and chewy and not the usual melt in your mouth as they usually are. I'm not sure if Long's was just having an off day, but if this happens again they sadly will not be worth the trip. The lady that took our order was also not the most pleasant. I understand maybe she had a long day, and there is always a line there. Not everyone is always pleasant to be honest. But she was very rushed and rude even though we were explaining what we wanted. We weren't holding up the line, we just had a rather large order as there were 6 of us and we were ordering things to bring back to family that also live out of town and do not get a chance to visit Long's. At one point she actually sighed and told me to just hold on since the lady behind us only wanted a couple things and she stopped mid order with us and took a couple people behind us before picking back up with us again. I understand moving the line along, but we were mid order and we knew exactly what we wanted so it wasn't like she had to wait on us to decide. A bit of pleasantry wouldn't hurt anyone. What has happened to customer service? We just did not really feel appreciated as a customer. The entire visit just left a lot to be desired and we were pretty disappointed. I will give them one more chance I suppose, but if nothing changes they won't be worth going out of our way for. I just dread to see this place start taking a backslide. This is an iconic location rich in history and has always served the public well, but unfortunately once they start sacrificing on quality and service it won't be long before it starts getting complaints. After my next visit if things have improved I will definitely update my review. After all we have been loyal customers. I just hope the owners make some positive changes. Again maybe it was an off day that we visited, but the line was long and I don't understand stale products as usually that isn't...

There's a reason for the long Long's line. I have yet to find better yeast donuts than Long's... The other Long's baked goods are also excellent. The goods are 5 star quality but I hate that they're cash only. One visit I forgot they were cash only after waiting 20 minutes in a long line and if it wasn't for a friend in front of me to pay for my goods, I would of had to leave to go to the ATM machine... pay ATM fees to take out money.. then get back in the long line at the very back... that would of truly SUCK... and I would've did it to because I traveled from way on the other side of town just to get Long's... I understand the reason for the cash only is to save costumers money for the charge that the card companies charge business for using credit/debit cards, thus forcing the businesses to either eat the cost or pass the cost onto the consumer by increasing price of the goods. I think the remedy for this for Long's would be to offer a discount for costumers who pay cash (current price currently) & regular price (increased cost for Long's to accept credit/ debit cards). That way the customers who would need to make a trip to the ATM before going to Long's aren't paying the higher ATM fees than the smaller fees added to their Long's goods. The question Long's needs to ask is how many customers have they lost because of their cash only deal for those who don't want to get robbed by ATM fees or those who have cash but realize once in the business they want more than what they have cash for and only buy for what they have cash for. If I was the business owner that question would keep me...

Overall pretty good donuts here. They're known for it so not shocking that they are not bad donuts. I won't go so far to say they're the best donuts ever, though. They are just pretty good. Some Hoosiers would have my head for that but that's just how I feel about the donuts. Still, 5-star for the donuts. They will not disappoint.

However, the boxes and packing is somewhat disappointing. Last time I got a half-dozen box that included one Bavarian creme and a jelly donut along with three regulars. The Bavarian creme, by the time I got home, was flat as a pancake. It had somehow collapsed in. All it's chocolate icing was attached to the jelly donut as they had not put in a paper to separate it either. The donuts were wedged in the box a bit too tightly. So the Bavarian creme was basically horrible and the jelly was now chocolate iced. :( I would have hoped a place that's been doing this for decades would have this figured out by now and either have flat boxes or bigger boxes with paper in between iced donuts to prevent sticking. We still ate all the donuts (I have teenagers, they eat anything) but I was disappointed.

Also note: this is a cash-only business. No CC. I made the mistake of stopping by once without cash and had to walk right back out. Nothing more disappointing than getting excited for donuts and walking out empty-handed. I think in this day and age, not having CC payments is really not OK. Even if you charge a premium for it, I would've happily paid it. When you do cash only, it just makes me think they're trying to evade taxes and makes the place feel shady. Please add...