Panclog

Panclog #22: John’s Space Age Donuts

Dining on Donuts
February 25th, 2016 – 7:03 A.M.

John’s Space Age Donuts is a locally owned donut shop in downtown Overland Park.  John’s Space Age has been around since 1967.  They are open Tuesday-Sunday 6:00 AM to Noon.  Check them out on Facebook.

Location/Environment: John’s Space Age Donuts is located at 81st and Metcalf.  The parking is semi-confusing.  The parking lot is in the back. But there is a dead end street right to the north of the entrance to the parking lot.  The environment is clean and crisp.  The display case of all of the fresh donuts are right at the front.  When you are in the parking lot, there is a distinct smell of baked dough.  It is the perfect appetizer to get your mouth watering. There is not a lot of seating in the shop, perhaps 20 seats or so.

Service: The service was all you can ask for and more.  The server is truly attentive and will happily make any recommendations if you would like to try something new.  There is a never ending supply of friendly banter between servers and customers.  I witnessed 3 different customers that were offered their “usual” in the 35 minutes that I was there.

Menu/Selection: John’s Space Age has all of the donuts. From the voluptuous jelly filled to the delicate and flaky classic glazed, the controversial donut hole to the kind and loving apple fritter. They have a nice partnership with Nesquik.  They have Nesquik stickers on each of the napkin holder and a nice Nesquik fridge in the back.  The Nesquik is wonderful due to its bunny mascot who sells dairy products like a boss.

Food: The picture of our haul

Brent’s Hot Take
When I heard we were headed over to John’s Space Age Donuts for this Panclog I was pretty excited. With a name like that I had expected something akin to Voodoo Doughnut out of Portland, OR. For good or ill, John’s turned out to be a regular donut shop.

Overall I would say that John’s Space Age Donuts is friendly little place where the staff is quick to engage and chat with you, which is always a plus in my book. There also seemed to be a steady stream of people strolling through the place, so you can tell they are assembling a good following.

A quick word of caution though, John’s is a cash only establishment. This surprised me a bit as I have grown accustomed to using my debit card wherever I go. Needless to say I didn’t have any cash and had to rely on my good friend, the amazing and talented, Jared Sova to save me from my faux pas. Jared’s armor shined that morning.

Jared purchased a dozen and was kind enough to not only let me share his donuts, but also, to select some of the flavors. I don’t remember all of the choices we put in the box, however, I will comment on the four I had.

Plain Cake – I know what you are thinking, “Plain Cake, how boring.” I added this to the box for a couple reasons. Firstly, a plain cake, if done right, is a really good donut. Secondly, a plain cake is probably the simplest donut to make, at least I think it would be, thus leaving the bakers with no place to hide. Any mistake in the baking and you will know immediately on tasting. I can say with confidence that they did a fine job on the plain cake donut. Although it could have been a touch sweeter.

Glazed – Another simple donut that does not leave much room to hide. All donut shops should be judged on how well they can knock out a glazed donut. John’s Space Age raised, glazed donut was decent. The glaze was well set and the donut was not soggy. I found this donut to be similar to the glazed from Fluffy Fresh, another Kansas City Area Donutisserie.

Raspberry Filled Sugar – The Raspberry Filled Sugar donut itself was good, unfortunately the Raspberry Filling had a distinct artificial flavor. I suspect that the filling is artificial, or at least not made fresh on the premises. Any donut shop that could produce their own, fresh fruit fillings would probably knock it out of the park for me.

Apple Fritter – The Apple Fritter is John’s best, hands down. It is actually one of the better apple fritters I have had in a long while. The balance of cinnamon, sugar, and apple flavorings was well performed. The outer shell was crisp and the inner dough was soft making for a great texture. It also helped that fritters were freshly made and still slightly warm. Kudos to the bakers on this one.

Jared’s Saucy Opinion

Donuts are a basic human right.  Good donuts are a luxury.

I would like to start this op-ed of sorts with a story of friendship.  I met Brent Morgan in church in the year 2006.  He has been a kind and faithful friend and mentor ever since.  He was the officiant at my wedding and has been my greatest ping pong rival. He can also fix a mean light socket, contact him here for help.

In a nod to days of old and days of old people. Brent and I have begun a tradition of weekly breakfasting.  It is a time to catch up and to debate new topics while enjoying breakfast in a different place each week.   We call this act Breakfast Buddies.  If you can join some morning, we would more than pleased to have you.  Search #BreakfastBuddies on twitter if you would like to catch up on news!

Donuts are usually not my thing. Probably because I have plenty of open cavities in my mouth, therefore the sweetness of the glaze makes my teeth hurt.  But I kept hearing good things about John’s Space Age Donuts; I had to inspect.

I prefer the spelling donut to doughnut or the ever ugly spelling: do-nut.  No one should ever spell it with a dumb hyphen. If you are at any donut shop and they share that a certain type is fresh from the oven, GET IT! Warm donuts are always better than their cold counterparts.  This day was dedicated to the Apple Fritters.  They were fresh from the oven. But moreover than that a guest recommended the fritter sharing, “Get tha Fritta! Or FOUR! HeHeheh!” You gotta trust that guy, amirite?

These apple fritters are fantastic.  Please get them whenever you can.  I also had a delicious cinnamon roll covered in white frosting and chopped nuts.

Have you ever witnessed a coworker bring in a box of donuts just for them to Jamie Kennedy Experience you with the donuts all being glazed? You are probably thinking, “You know that they make different kinds, right?” These glazed donuts were different.  They had a nice flaky dough and not overly sweet glaze.

Overall: This donut shop has a truly friendly staff and above average donuts.  If you like donuts, try it.  I would not recommend this place to non-donut believers.  I do not think that the donuts are good enough to change your mind.  Last words: APPLE FRITTER WINS!

Grade: 

Jared: B

Brent: C+

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