Southern Maid Donuts

The lady that works here is the nicest! A cute little place with great donuts. What more can be said?

I love this place Great Donuts, People & Clean. I will be back there when ever I am back in El Paso.

When I was a kid, growing up in Coos Bay, OR, there was a tradition on Saturdays for my dad and I. We would haul our garbage to the dump. Yup, we’d load our garbage cans in the back of the Volkswagon and head out early on Saturday morning, before the fog had lifted… so that, as we were driving down the road little water droplets would form on the windshield as we drove through the clouds. And it was sooo quiet, sometimes still dusk, so we could see the first sunlight as it started to span across the sky in an array of blue, pink and orange pastels. We’d wind subtly through the sleeping town and before we hit the city limits, we’d stop at Taylor Maid donuts. I’d get a french crueller and hot chocolate; my dad would get black coffee and a maple bar. Then we’d make the journey to the dump, talking, listening to music… just me and my dad.
I know, right? That’s just what you wanted to hear at the beginning of a donut review… a romantic garbage novel. But, you see, these memories vividly return to me when I take a bite of a Southern Maid donut. I’ve eaten PLENTY of donuts from all around the country, and these donuts remind me of those Saturday mornings with my pop. They’re the bees knees of donuts. They’re made fresh in the AM, every AM, and when they sell out, you gotta wait til tomorrow to get your fix again. The same lady has been at the counter for 14 years, the owner is in-​house every day and there’s a couple of regular groups that meet there just to hang out. There’s really a nice, cozy, small-​town feel to the place.
And donuts, while they are the star of the show, are not the only offerings; there are turnovers, cupcakes, mexican pastry, cakes, colaches (breakfast sausage wrapped in pastry dough), sandwiches, beverages… and a LOT more. This place IS breakfast, lunch and dessert! And if you buy a dozen before 8am, you are only charged $ 5.25/doz…I guess the early bird DOES get the worm.
And when they don’t completely sell-​out of their pastries, they donate the unsold items to charitable organizations… hey, a day-​old Southern Maid donut is STILL better than many fresh competitor’s donuts!
So, when it comes down to it, the taste, the cost, the feel… it just reminds me of home, having some bonding time, riding down the road with my dad, talking about something or nothing at all, sipping hot chocolate, eating a really good donut and remembering how I couldn’t wait until the next time we had to take out the trash.
Happy birthday on 9/​3, Dad, I love you.

Did I ever tell ya why I haven’t been back here?
Last time I stopped by, I was parking about 10 minutes before they close. In fact, a customer was exiting as I pulled in. When I got to the door, it was locked.
You know, if you’re out of donuts, tell me. I might be disappointed, but I’ll be back. Locking the door before you’re officially closed will foster ill-​will. I’m giving this place a rare, one-​star review.

Great sandwiches, terrible customer service… Drive thru lady always makes you feel like you’re in a rush and you’re bothering her. Sad that a place that’s so good probably loses business because of bad employees.

Free donut while you wait. Very law enforcement friendly. Great donuts and breakfast sandwiches. Cheap prices. Limited seating.

I spend the better part of everyday craving sweet things that aren’t good for me. And it usually ends up with me tricking someone into getting me Krispy Kreme doughnuts. But last week I went on hiatus from life and disappeared from the world (well technologically speaking) and went on a EP discovery trip. Southern Maid Donuts was at the top of my foodie bucket list.
I actually noticed SMD the previous night when I was eating some bomb a** spaghetti and meatballs at Coco. Miel across the street, but I had bookmarked it weeks before. So the next day I woke my butt up bright and early (10 a.m.-ish) and made a beeline for SMD. I know the name is SOUTHERN Maid Donuts, but from the inside it felt very… Northern. I spend a good portion of my childhood in the small town of Viroqua, Wisconsin — population 5,000 (okay, so not that small… but small enough) and SMD would fit right in, in V-​town. It’s all just simple. White tiling and white walls. Simple.
Okay, so I’m not gonna lie, the cashier was a tad snippy… bubbly, but snippy. In some instances I might not mind a witty staff if it adds to the ambiance, but in a homely mom-​n-​pop I mind. I ended up ordering the BLT with potato salad which also comes with a FREE doughnut (but apparently an éclair is not a doughnut… since when???) The BLT was served on a croissant which you can never go wrong with… but here’s where it went wrong: the L and T is served on the side (so you can craft it yourself I guess) and the cashier was nice enough to plant my potato salad on top of the lettuce and tomatoes. Sweet, man. The potato salad was pretty delish though.
So on my way out I picked out my doughnut… the éclair like I said… but was charged full price for it because unfortunately it doesn’t fall under the free doughnut criteria. I wasn’t blown away, but it was decent.
SMD is a nice little place to just get away from the hustle and bustle of the bigger city. Everything is a little slower and calmer in SMD.

When we lived in El Paso last year, this was our FAVORITE place to go to on sat or sun mornings, you could smell how fresh all the baked yummys were, and once in a while we would even get free doughnuts to try or just because we were constantly there. The women there are soooo sweet, they have a drive-​thru! but I personally liked seeing the women that work there. It really brightened my day since their cheerfull-​ness rubbed off on me every time. Even though we have good bakeries around here (we live in Los Angeles now) I still miss this little quaint shop. They are still my favorite