Review: The Big Donut
Author: indianapoliseater | Filed under: Eating Challenges, Food Reviews, Location: Indianapolis, IN
The Big Donut
3510 South East Street
Indianapolis, Indiana 46227
A couple months ago, I had read in the paper that Man v. Food was taping in Indianapolis and I shared it with wibia. He then went and did a little digging to try to find out where the show would be taping on the chance that we might want to check it out. A little birdie told him that this was one of the places, so we decided to check it out prior to the episode airing. In my search, I found that there’s virtually no information on this place on the web with the exception of this Facebook group.
As I checked out the Facebook group, I found that they had a namesake donut called the “Big Donut” and as you can see from some of the pictures and videos on the page, it is quite large. After seeing everything there, I called down to the store and started asking questions where I came to find out that the namesake “Big Donut” is about as big as a dinner plate. After chuckling for a few seconds, I was then told they had another donut called the “Monster Donut” that is as big as a large pizza and that caused me to laugh hysterically. We had to check this out. So, on a suffocatingly hot and muggy Sunday morning, wibia, Mini-wibia, Smokin DB and I decided to check it out.
As you can see from the two above pictures, The Big Donut is your old-fashioned, family run donut shop operation. It’s light on ambiance, but heavy on “character” (translation: aged). It also lacks air conditioning and it was hotter in the shop than it was on the outside (it was roughly 85 degrees with 1000% humidity outside at the time). At one point, Smokin DB joked that he never thought he’d need to go outside in the middle of July to cool down. That’s how hot it was.
Anyway, when we were checking out the donut case we did see the namesake Big Donut…
I don’t have anything that shows the scale of these things, but I will confirm that they were as big as a dinner plate. As tempting as it was to get one of these, that’s not the reason that we were here. We were here for the MONSTER DONUT.
What WE Got: Monster Donut; $9.50 for glazed yeast version (customization is available for an increased charge).
I was able to get a Diet Pepsi can into this photo to get some sort of size reference point and as you can see, this thing is very large. Being the nerd that I am, I brought a tape measure and I can confirm that the diameter of the donut was twelve inches. LOL.
In terms of taste, this thing wasn’t just some sort of oddity that was funny to look at and tasted terrible. It was actually tasty, but nothing to really write home about. It was flat in shape and wasn’t puffy like a small glazed yeast donut is, but it was nothing bad. I would actually compare its consistency to that of a cinnamon roll. Funny thing was that it wasn’t heavy like cinnamon rolls can be from time to time, so that was nice. Frankly considering the size of this donut and the fact that this thing would take up an entire fryer I’m guessing, I think they did a good job in its preparation.
Would I Buy It Again? The novelty of the donut was funny and I’m glad I got to see it, but there is no way I would ever drive to this place again. Like I said, the donut was just like any other glazed yeast donut, so there is nothing to lure me in there. wibia also got two other donuts just to sample and they were run of the mill donuts as well, so the only reason to hit up this place is if it was in your neighborhood and convenient.
It’s too bad too, because a donut shop that makes you want to drool is worth driving for and I would do that for an occasional treat. Unfortunately, this shop is not that type of place. I wish the owners luck and hope they continue to run a nice operation, but this place is not for me. I guess I’ll have to try Long’s, The Donut Shop or somewhere else in my quest for a donut that makes me drool
On the Man v. Food note, if the show really did go here, I’m going to be pretty upset because this would give a bad view of Indianapolis. It’s not a bad place, but its not the place you want to be showing of to the world because there has to be somewhere better.
-IndianapolisEater
P.S. FYI, we didn’t finish the donut, but came close. LOL.
Tags: donuts, Food, man v. food, the big donut
The doughnut was ok but reminded me of an airy but cold elephant ear. It wasn’t a bad doughnut, but not worth the 35 minute drive. I have had better/worse, but it was fun to give it a whirl. DB said that Man V Food went to Edwards Drive In as well… Either way, I am pretty embarrassed about the rumored Bubs/Grays/Edwards/Big Donut combination. Who knows.
No A.C? What is this… Europe? Oh, no, they don’t eat donuts in Europe….
@wibia: Edwards Drive-In?! That would be awful if Man v. Food went there.
On the other hand, I know that Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives was also looking around at the area at the time (you were the one that told me this, wibia), so Edwards Drive-In would make more sense for that show than it would for Man v. Food.
@all: By the way, I am still fighting the sugar crash from eating that donut and it’s been two days. LOL.
Have you ever tried Long’s? It’s amazing!
@Katie: I’ve never had Long’s, but I have heard it is amazing. It’s not exactly around the corner for me, so I have never really had a chance to head down there. Plus, after the sugar crash from The Big Donut, I’m not in a rush to have donuts again any time soon. LOL.
I have always heard about Long’s but never had them because the location is so inconvienient. But someone brought a dozen into the office the other day and they were delicious. The yeast donuts had a different, but good taste. I still love the donuts from Concannon’s in Muncie where I used to live. They have more of a hearty rich donut, but they’re fantastic.
If I still lived in Indianapolis I would never even touch another doughnut but Long’s doughnuts. Like eating clouds.
i have to agree. Long’s donuts are the best I’ve had in Indy or anywhere else I’ve been. There’s two locations: The original on 16th and Tremont, just west of Lafayette and the other is at Southport east of Madison (right over the RR tracks) on the south side.
+1 on longs
You must go to Longs! Best donuts in the country.
I actually don’t care for Longs. To me, Longs donuts are so weak, they collapse easily when touched. They are good donuts, but I prefer others. I actually like to get cold Longs donuts, as they have stiffened up a bit after sitting a while.
The Sweet Shop out in Greenfield is good, as is Tim’s Bakery with shops in Greenfield and McCordsville. On the east side of Indy, Hart’s Bakery, located off 10th St. just east of Shadeland Ave. has good donuts as well.
If you are ever in Terre Haute, check out a place called Square Donuts. A little bit different than your typical round donut. I did a Google search and see that there are actually a few places around Indiana that sell Square Donuts, including two in Bloomington and one in Richmond. I don’t think they are all owned by the same company.
Oh You must of went to The Big Dount when the air was broke. If you think Long’s are good.Then you must have bad taste. I used to eat only Long’s untill I ate the The Big Dount I will never eat at no other dount shop. Not only that you would not believe how many other people I know that use to be Long’s believers. But now they have tried The Big Dount Now they said they would never go back to Long’s again.
the big donut beats longs any day.. this is the best donut around
A few of us from my high school’s paper actually just went to both Long’s and The Big Donut because we’re doing a page on local restaurants. We were expecting Long’s to be the better place – we’ve grown up getting donuts there! – but after trying a few different types of donuts from each place, we all agreed that The Big Donut was better. Both are good places, but the donuts at TBD tasted so much fresher to us…and we got it at 6 pm!
Granted, we haven’t tried a Monster Donut yet, but we’re getting one tomorrow. It might not be as good as the types we tried. But we absolutely loved their cherry donut, their chocolate glazed donut, and most of all, their fritter!
Really, I’d recommend both places to anybody stopping by the southside. They both have great donuts.
Just don’t be surprised if you stop by Long’s in the morning and there’s a long wait.