CMH Gourmand – Eating in Columbus & Ohio

In 2016, I’m wrapping up the southern leg of the Ohio Donut Trail and focusing my eyes on the north. A few readers had suggested The Donut Shop (known as Hinkle’s long, long ago) at Indian Lake. I decided to make my move while it was still summer to get a feel for the vibe of the place. I’ve never been to the area so I budgeted out some time to drive around Russel’s Point to explore the community. I thought this would be a good way to tip my toe into the water of the northern Ohio donut trail.

Reading some online reviews, the only complaint I could find about the Donut Shop was that there is not inside space to the place. Everyone orders from a single window in the shop. The donuts are displayed through the other windows. I could see where this might be a drag in the winter but from my perspective that gives the workers a lot more space for donut production so I support the business as is. There is a large variety of yeast and cake donuts to choose from as well as cookies, cinnamon rolls and other baked goods. The two signature donuts here are both yeast style donuts. The first is the Buckeye which is a mix or peanut butter, chocolate, cream filling and a bit of whipped cream. The flavors on this donut were big and rich. The other signature donut is the maple bacon. The maple glaze had a good flavor to it but the bacon bits were a cursory adjunct at best. My favorite donuts of the dozen I sampled were the vanilla cake and the apple fritter. The fritter had a good shelf life to it, still tasting great two days after I bought it. It also had great apple flavor. It is one of the better apple fritters I have trip along the Ohio Donut Trail. As I was rounding out my order of a dozen I was asking the woman at the window if there were any favorite donuts I missed? Before she could answer her co-worker said – “well there is at least one you can’t have.” (I wondered, what did I do wrong and then I thought, this is a challenge, there must be some type of donut they think I won’t eat). As it turned out I was just here at the wrong time. The most popular donut in the shop is pumpkin which is a fall only seasonal flavor. A close second is an apple crisp donut which rolls out at the same time.

The kicker for the Donut Shop is everything else it has to offer. They offer ice creams and sandwiches during the weekends. I was impressed to see they serve Homemade Brand Ice Cream (from UDF the best “macro” ice cream maker in the state). While the shop closes at noon during the week, they stay open as late as 9 pm on warm weather weekends. They also have two good deals: Box lunches for $5 and day old donuts (not many to choose from) for 25 cents each ($3 for a dozen). Another perk is a great view of the lake.

Also noted as I looked at the windows I saw this sign, which I had seen at another place before. I took a liking to the concept of a Donut Party – both politically and socially. I have hosted donut parties in the past. But politically, the concept of a donut party appeals to me during this election year I could best describe as insane.

The Donut Shop and Bakery
104 Main St E, Russells Point
937 842-1969