Check out the Doughnut Days doughnut radar map or follow the couple on Instagram. 

So why doughnuts?

Maria: Doughnuts have the same history that I do. They came from another part of the world and were molded into something new here. My family and Dan’s family are from Argentina. Every culture has a type of sweet that is part of shared experiences. In Argentina, we have medialuna, which translates into half moon. It’s like a little chubby croissant, if a croissant and a brioche doughnut had a very delicious baby. 

They’re a big part of gatherings. When my family used to go back to Argentina, once we arrived and were with family and friends, we would sit down and have coffee or tea and medialunas. It’s universal to share things that we love. Shared experiences are the whole point of doughnut days.

What does a doughnut day look like?

A typical doughnut day involves a whole body of research. I created these maps and our adventures are chronicled on Instagram and YouTube. We have this collection of local doughnut maps and lists. It’s a doughnut database, or a radar, where I logged everything possible. It starts out with research. I take a look at what’s available, what’s near us, what’s happening. We make sure that our dogs at home have everything they need and then we go out into the world seeking doughnuts. We take some totally candid, completely unstaged photographs. Um, kidding. Some are staged but we take photos and try and have a good time. 

What is the best doughnut in the Triangle? 

That is a tough question. I don’t like to answer it because doughnut days is an informative outlet. It’s got some biases, obviously, but no official ranking system because the objective is to amplify where you can get a doughnut or doughnut-like thing. Decide for yourself what your favorite place is. But [here is who is] on my personal radar as rising stars of Triangle doughnuts.

Blue Ox Bakery is amazing. It’s run by a young couple who were on an episode of the Netflix series Sugar Rush. They have doughnut popups over at Sir Walter coffee. 

The Epic Vegan Food Truck is run by this lovely local lady and her vegan doughnuts were in the Durham Vegan Bake Sale fundraising event that helps fight food insecurity. 

Another vegan doughnut maker is Crummy Hunter’s Doughnuts. In 2019, Lousy Hunters Doughnuts opened in downtown Raleigh as a little sweet shop. They ended up closing and Crummy Hunters is taking over doughnut production from them. They’ll sell those at Cloche Coffee and on the Tenco Coffee Truck.

The last one, I call it the doughnuts of my heart because it’s what started it all, even though they’re not really doughnuts. It’s Medialuna Republic. I’ve waited 20 years for a good medialuna maker in this area. We prayed to the Argentinian demigods and they delivered.

Follow Senior Staff Writer Leigh Tauss on Twitter or send an email to ltauss@indyweek.com. 

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