Krispy no more.

[gallianoparfait]

Just a handful of years ago the first Krispy Kreme doughnut store arrived in my state of Rhode Island amid loud fanfare and hoopla. For weeks on end folks drove to the new Mecca of the Doughnut Hole in Cranston. As did I with a friend. If you were lucky enough to find a parking place, you would go in and watch an assembly line of sugar-glazed

Comments

[ugotogal]

Same thing happened here. The myth swarmed around our town for about a year. The shops (there were two!) opened and it is all everyone talked about for months.

Now they are gone. With no fuss. Just gone.

I have never had a Krispy Kreme donut. I just never cared enough to try one. So I don't feel like I missed out on anything, but the whole one-day-it's-the-craze-one-day-it's-gone issue is very strange, indeed.

About a year ago, we got a franchise of the California In-N-Out Burger. That was the headline of our local paper for days. Three-hour waits for a hamburger! I still haven't even driven past the shop. No idea what the status is now.

Three-hour waits for a hamburger!

[gallianoparfait]

Haha! That's absurd. I mean, how good can a hamburger be? Sometimes we Americans (Wii Americans?) go apeshit in pursuit of the latest faddish novelty which turns out to be hype as airy and empty as a Krispy Kreme donut.

Re: Three-hour waits for a hamburger!

[bilan]

In-N-Out's cult persists, though, far beyond store openings. People from the west coast insist it's the greatest burger in existence and you can't get fast food of that quality anywhere else. People on the east coast have no idea what they're talking about. Personally, I doubt it could be better fast food than Five Guys, but I doubt that any fast food could be better than Five Guys so it's sort of irrelevant to me anyway.

Of course, I don't think there are any Five Guys stores in New England either, so maybe this was irrelevant to everyone!

For the record, the Krispy Kreme stores in Mass had the exact same thing happen. The one in the Pru attracted a lot of gawkers at the doughnut-making process, but not a lot of people eating doughnuts. Who could blame them? I don't mind a hot, fresh one every now and then, but when they sit at room temperature they're the same if not worse than everyone else's. And the lack of variety, as you mentioned, gave people little other reason to go there! Both are gone. No one seems to be mourning.

Re: Three-hour waits for a hamburger!

[gallianoparfait]

Last week I saw some guys eating hamburgers outside of Quincy Market. They were among the most astonishing burgers I have seen, big and juicy on what looked like onion buns (sounds pornographic), accompanied by wide fries. Any idea what that place is?

In Rhode Island the best burgers are to be had a Cranston's Twin Oaks Restaurant. I especially like the bacon cheeseburgers and the Canadian burgers. They also have a terrific cheeseburger club.

But I rarely eat burgers...and when I do I eat them rarely, so to speak.

Cheers.

The view from Reno: Krispy and In-N-Out

[anonymous]

Krispy Kreme just closed in Reno, too, after 6.5 years: http://news.rgj.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2008805160508

When I first came out here, I tried one. It was fresh and warm, just off the donut conveyor. It was like liquid sugar and after years of more substantial Dunkin' Donuts, I didn't find KK appealing at all.

By the way, In-N-Out Burger is still packed and doing lots of business.

Re: The view from Reno: Krispy and In-N-Out

[gallianoparfait]

If you return to Providence again this summer, get in touch. I'm sure we can find better fare than donuts. Venda's was nice last July as was the company.

[myq_kootz]

I definitely miss those donuts. I think once they introduced the Krispy Kreme display cases in all the supermarkets and convenience stores, the excitement wore off and people lost interest. And, of course, the lack of bagels.

[gallianoparfait]

The Kreme in Krispy Kreme might come from the Barringtonian bovine represented in your icon.

[gallianoparfait]

Agreed! Krispy Kreme donuts are schifosi. I like Dunkin Donuts' cranberry-orange muffins or coffee-cake muffins, occasionally. Otherwise it's an onion bagel with cream cheese. Sometimes just a coffee will do. I like DD coffee better than what Starbucks offers at their extortionate prices.

[gallianoparfait]

Sometimes I order an espresso at Starbucks on Huntington Avenue in Boston and sit and read to kill time before a concert at nearby Symphony Hall. For me it's just a convenient place to wait. I get a "doppio" and insist on a ceramic cup.