With the grand opening of a brand-new location in Fresh Meadows, Duck Donuts is now offering the Francis Lewis community an alternative donut experience. The majority of students have only eaten donuts at Dunkin’ which has been in the area for years. However, duck donuts’ warm and tasty donuts are now easily available to students. 

Duck Donuts is a donut chain that started in the year 2007 in the Outer Banks of Duck, North Carolina. This donut shop is known for serving sweet and savory donuts made fresh in front of customers’ faces. Each donut is customizable with a variety of toppings, coatings, and drizzles leaving customers with plenty of choices as to what they can eat. 

At first, the menu can seem intimidating due to the many different options offered. When first walking into the store, it can be a bit crowded because it’s new and it has delicious food. While donuts are the main attraction, there are not only donuts to enjoy, there are sandwiches, milkshakes, and coffee as well. 

When ordering the food, you have two options: using the kiosk in the corner or in person. Since the donuts are made freshly with various flavors, you can customize the donuts when ordering from the kiosk. However, the only downside of using the kiosk is that a credit card is needed. When ordering in person, there was a placemat on the side with all the donut flavors. 

Something that sets Duck Donuts different from the rest of the donut shops is that the food is made fresh right in front of the customers behind glass. As the orders came in, the customers had the opportunity to watch the process of how their orders are made. Although, other foods offered at the donut shop are not made in front of you such as the sandwiches, ice-cream, and milkshakes, they are made on the spot and fresh.

We ordered a variety of donuts and milkshakes to get a taste of everything. The blueberry milkshake was smooth and creamy with tiny pieces of blueberries swirling around in the drink. Before drinking the s’mores milkshake I assumed it would be chunky so we may be able to taste the different flavors such as marshmallow, chocolate, and gram crackers but the shake was so smooth that I could feel no chucks as I drank. It was very delicious and chocolatey, practically melting in my mouth. This drink is definitely a drink chocolate lovers would enjoy as that was the flavor that overpowered the rest of the ingredients. 

One downside about these milkshakes was the customer service that came along with it. While the staff were very welcoming and kind, they forgot all about both milkshakes (which we ordered separately) and we had to go up to the employees and ask for our milkshakes after waiting a little while because they had forgotten the order. 

Now onto the headliner of the store…the donuts. When looking at all the donut options, it can be overwhelming but keep an open mind because when you read certain combinations they seem weird but they end up being good. However, if you have a basic and simple pallet and don’t like mixing flavors, a basic glazed donut is an option for you. The Maple Bacon Donut tasted like you were at a breakfast buffet, with the crispy bacon bits and the maple syrup coating on top of a warm donut. Additionally, the strawberry shortcake donut was the perfect blend of strawberry coating and donut as both flavors stood out, not letting one outshine the other.  

Other flavors of donuts that stood out were those of Blueberry Lemonade, Coconut Island Bliss, and Chocolate Explosion. The Blueberry Lemonade donut was surprisingly pleasant with such a bizarre combination. This flavor was sweet with the blueberry icing and tangy with the lemon drizzle, making it very satisfying. The Coconut Island Bliss donut was also delicious, but do not order it if you don’t like coconut because this flavor definitely overpowered the icing as well as the dough itself. It consisted of chocolate icing, peanuts, as well as coconut of course. Lastly, a personal favorite was the Chocolate Explosion donut. This donut had Chocolate Icing and was covered in Oreos making it crunchy and hot fudge drizzle. The donut was extra crunchy and extra sweet. One thing all these donuts had in common was the amazing dough it was made with. Under all the icing the donut itself is crunchy on the outside – but the moment you take a bite, the flavor explodes in your mouth. It’s soft and warm on the inside, it almost tasted like a warm piece of cake. 

Overall, we can say that Duck Donuts are a bit pricey compared to other donut shops in the area but the variety, freshness, and unique experience of being a part of the donut making process makes it a place you want to visit at least once.