George's Donuts in Twinsburg

Akron Empire is beyond excited to welcome back guest blogger Wendy Voelker! She wrote a delicious piece about Aladdin's Eatery back in February. Wendy is a professional events planner, and recently moved to NEO from the Capital Region of New York State (just north of Albany). A New Yorker born and bred, she's slowly adjusting to the Akron-area food scene. An accomplished home cook, Wendy was organically trained in culinary skills by her mom, and is particularly obsessed with baking (usually bread). Her favorite food is hummus, and she is still in search of an authentic NY-style pizza in Ohio. Wendy can also be found at www.wendalicious.com, which she's been writing since 2007.

George's Donuts in Twinsburg

by Wendy Voelker

It’s a blessing and a curse working across the street from George’s Donuts. It’s terrific when someone brings in a fresh dozen to share with the office. But it’s torture when the smell of donuts wafts across the street and smacks you in the face when get out of your car. Especially when you’ve made yourself a promise to cut back on the donuts.

That’s a very real, very specific struggle for me.

George’s Donuts is a treasure, nestled in an unassuming little strip mall on Darrow Road in Twinsburg, just north of the Hudson line. It’s a popular place, and seems to have achieved a sort of cult status among locals. It’s one of the first places I heard about when I moved here, from people who didn’t even leave nearby: “Oh, you live in Twinsburg? You have to try George’s Donuts!”

George’s was named a finalist in Cleveland.com’s “NEO’s Best Donuts” competition last fall and though they didn’t win, they received lots of votes and plenty of accolades from fans. People drive from far and wide to enjoy the treats made by George Vadaj and his family for the past 46 years.  George’s original location was in Streetsboro; they moved to their location on Darrow Road in Twinsburg in 1997, and the business is still operated by Vadaj and his family.

The interior of George’s is nothing out of the ordinary: two large glass display cases, holding giant silver trays of their famous fresh-baked goodies. There’s a small room on the left filled with tables and chairs, where folks can enjoy their treats with a cup of coffee and the newspaper. Though they do sell some other types of pastries and coffee, donuts are the draw. There are at least 28 varieties, though a few are specialty and not available every day. George’s Facebook page lists the varieties they typically have available. Prices are reasonable, though slightly more than the average national donut chain: $1.15 per donut, $11.90 for a dozen.

For this little experiment, I bought a dozen different donuts and invited my lab rats co-workers to enjoy and give feedback.

Here’s the gorgeous dozen I picked up, along with a grid like they give you in Whitman’s Samplers:

And here are a few donut glamour shots:

Blackberry Filled

Chocolate Cream Filled

Chocolate Bavarian Cream

Inside Peanut Butter

Finally, the reviews (I didn’t get reviews from all of them, because not everyone reported back to me):

Peanut Butter - this one was me. Overall, this was tasty, but it could have used a little more peanut butter in the filling. The chocolate frosting was thick and sweet, with a nice chocolate flavor.

Raised with Rainbow Sprinkles - Tania called this one a winner. Actually, what she said was “Sprinkles are for winners!” I could not agree more. There’s not much better than something simple topped with rainbow sprinkles.

Chocolate Iced Bavarian Creme - Rosanne liked this one a lot. I couldn’t hear her review over the enthusiastic chewing.

Chocolate Cream Filled - Cathe likened the filling to a chocolate mousse - light and fluffy, nicely chocolate-y.

Cinnamon Sugar Cake - Jennie ate hers at 12:46pm, but noted that it was still moist a tasty.

Blackberry Filled - Deb particularly enjoyed the white icing on this one, and said the filling was fruity and not too sweet

Overall, these donuts were winners. Fresh, sinful, sweet. Everything you could want in a donut. Best eaten as soon as you can make it to the store. By 4:46pm the edges were beginning to go a little stale, but the insides were still flaky and delicious. I ate three donuts today. For science. SCIENCE. Many people will contend that donuts are not snacks, but I disagree with that assertion. They are an ideal afternoon energy source: portable, sugar and fat in perfect proportions, providing a burst of energy to get you through hours of webinars and email writing. Or maybe that’s just my afternoon and I’m making excuses for eating donuts at 4:46pm.

I ended up bringing home the glazed and peanut, so no reviews on them unless I decide to eat 4 donuts today. Oof.

Be prepared to wait a bit to get your donut fix: there always seems to be a long line. And, if you can, get there early. George’s operating hours are 4:30am-noon (there are a lot of industrial complexes around, so they are likely catering to first and third shift workers). Anytime after 8 or 9:00am, and I think you’re taking your chances with selection. And forget about sleeping in on the weekends if you want donuts – many Yelpers report empty cases by 8:00am on Saturdays. Just plan to set your alarm and get there early. You can always go back to sleep when you have your little gems stowed safely in your kitchen.

One of these days I’m going to get there at 4:30am and see what a full case of donuts looks like. Who am I kidding? That’s never going to happen. But let me know if you go at 4:30am. And take a picture for me, because I’ll still be sleeping.

George’s Donuts
7995 Darrow Road
Twinsburg, OH 44087

Hours: 4:30am-12:00pm, Closed Sundays

No website - check out their Facebook page for updates and specials