Donut Hunt: Better Maid Donut Co - Pittsburgh, PA

Maybe not a travel stop, but Better Maid Donut Co has been on my radar for some time. The original shop had been in Crafton for many years, in an unassuming standalone building, but after some landlord disputes, took a 9-month hiatus last year to relocate to Greentree. I had tried to visit the Crafton location once before on a whim, and learned then that I had to plan a bit more ahead as they often sell-out in 1-2 hours from opening. Now that they were in Greentree and back in operation a little bit closer to me, I made the plan to try again.

I showed up on a Thursday at 6:30am, 30 minutes before opening, and I was already about 15th in line. The line continued to grow behind me, but once they opened I was ordering my donuts only about 15 minutes later, even with some people ahead of me getting 3-4 dozen. I went for a dozen donuts that I and my family typically like and an order of donut holes. Price-wise, they were very reasonable ($1.50-2 per donut, $3 for the order of donut holes), which is great as they are cash only, but I came prepared to pay more based on the hype.

As I got into the donuts, I started with the cream-filled long john, one of my favorite donuts in general. The donut was light and fluffy, but I didn't particularly enjoy the cream in this one, which had an unexpected tang.

Second, I went for the buttermilk stick, a donut I don't often see many places, and it was outstanding. Light and cakey on the inside, crunchy on the outside, with a thick layer of glaze. Honestly, one of the best cake donuts I've ever had.

From there, the general takeaway was that the yeasted donuts were very good, but not hold-a-place-in-line amazing, while the cake donuts (buttermilk stick, old fashioned, blueberry, etc.) were top notch. I will be back for the buttermilk sticks in particular.

Certainly one of the best donut shops in the 'Burgh, but maybe not quite up the the hype of the line for me.