Stownut Donut
 Akron, Ohio        Date of Visit  08/25/13       http://www.stownutdonut.com/

We were looking for a place relatively close for a quick bike run and found the Akron/Canton Hotlist had just announced the Stownut Donut shop as the best place in the area for breakfast. Never been, headed there this morning. We met a little white convertible in the parking lot of a strip mall where the only thing open is the shop. The place is incredibly tiny and set up like a 50’s diner in a town that maybe has only a dozen residents. They have added a few tables just outside the place which almost doubles the seating.
 

Tiny Little Diner Interior
 

The service was really sort of haphazard and certainly wasn’t rushed. Everyone was certainly friendly enough but I wonder how they would function if the place was full. We ordered two number ones which come with 2 eggs, choice of meat and choice of potatoes with a side toast, French Texas toast and corned beef hash. The number ones looked perfectly standard and certainly seemed to be enjoyed. The French toast looked, well, sad, but ended up being pretty standard for diner fare. A side of hash browns, ordered crispy were also fine but nothing special.

The homemade hash seemed as though it had been put together ala minute using their home fries studded with onion and spices and slices of corned beef. It was tasty, way more so than some of our recent visits to much lauded breakfast hotspots in Cleveland but again there are many more unique or tasty versions. The hot chocolate turned out to be richly thick and rife with bitter sweet chocolate, a very grown up treat.

 

Some of the comments referred to their “donuts” which was their original offering before expanding into the diner menu. One in particular mentioned something about unusual donuts of which there weren’t really any in the case, at least not what I would consider unusual. We ordered some to take home and they looked much better going into the bag than coming out but that was our fault. Turns out donuts aren’t really made to survive a half hour in the sun drenched saddle bag hanging on the side of a rumbling motorcycle. The donuts were fine, the lemon and raspberry fillings tasted like the processed jelly-bucket stuff from most places. We ordered one called “chocolate dream” thinking it might be the most unfamiliar but it turned out to be a chocolate cake donut with a blob of frosting on the top. So much for something new or interesting. 

On a side note, they apparently have a little daily trivia question scrawled above the case, to which a correct response will get you a free fried bread treat of your preference. We were familiar with today's query and expected a donut hole or glazed to get popped into the bag but they gave us one of our more expensive and already ordered donuts gratis.
 

We noticed cannoli shells in the bottom corner of the case. Each was coated inside with chocolate and each had been dipped as well. When we ordered one, they called someone up from the back to fill it freshly with a lightly sweet ricotta. The chocolate on the shell helped maintain a crisp cookie even through the torture test it endured on the way home. It whooped the donuts hands down. I doubt they are the best breakfast joint in the area, they do make good homey plates in a small but warm storefront. I would probably have been more impressed without the heightened expectations.