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Top Pot Doughnuts

To quote Homer Simpson, ‘Mmmm…Doughnuts.’

In 2010, Seattle Seahawks wide receiver Golden Tate (Packers fans, I can hear you hissing) received a warning from Seattle police after he was caught trespassing in a Top Pot Doughnuts shop in the wee hours of the morning. After visiting Top Pot’s Capitol Hill location during my recent trip to Seattle, all I can say is: I don’t blame him. (Seattle police, I can assure you my visit was during business hours.)

Top Pot opened its first shop in Capitol Hill in 2002, but the name stretches back further than that. As the story goes, brothers and co-founders Mark and Michael Klebeck came across a vintage neon sign for a Chinese restaurant called Topspot. The sign sat in a backyard for years, and while it was being taken for restoration, the S fell off, giving the gourmet doughnut shop its name. The Capitol Hill location was the local chain’s first, and it has a cool, retro café vibe. The floor-to-ceiling bookshelves are filled with old volumes, from a set of 1950 World Book encyclopedias to decades-old versions of classic literary works.

Now, on to the doughnuts. (Side note: As a former editor, I appreciate that Top Pot follows Associated Press style on the word “doughnut.”) Top Pot takes pride in its “hand-forged” doughnuts – meaning they’re all made from scratch – and the crème de la crème is the maple bar, a long john covered with a healthy coating of maple glaze. Top Pot offers more than 40 types of doughnuts, so you have plenty of deliciousness to choose from. (A maple bar and a chocolate cake doughnut with sprinkles proved plenty for me.)

Top Pot makes its own coffee, too. The cup I got during my stop was served at roughly the same temperature as lava, but it hit the spot nonetheless. All in all, not a bad way to spend a lazy Sunday morning. And the walk uphill on the way back to my friend’s apartment had to burn off some calories, right?

Know before you go

Top Pot has 13 locations in the Seattle area, including a coffee-and-doughnut stand at CenturyLink Field, home of the Seahawks and the Seattle Sounders, the city’s MLS franchise.

Bottom line

You’re already hungry, right? Go.

 

 

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