Site Name: Acme Donuts
Location: 2929 SE Powell Blvd
Portland, OR 97202Field Recording: Acme Donuts by Mog Bog
Acme Donuts is located just near the bowling alley on scenic Powell Boulevard. It's somewhat unclear what audience Acme is vying for. There is a sort of manic quality to the place that may be either comforting or off-putting, depending on your upbringing.
Figure 1. Site Exterior
As can be seen in the figure below, the color palate is intense. It may look like this print is overexposed, but we assure you, it was taken with your standard iPhone camera settings. It is just that bright in there.
Another departure from your standard donut shop: music. It seems that most places we go, the only sound is of munching and shifting trays. Not so at Acme, where the mellow funk groove fits the decor perfectly. It must be working: there was group of girls who seemed like regulars just hanging out and chatting the whole time we were there.
Figure 2. Site Interior
On to the important stuff: the doughnuts. The selection was a bit meager, due to a self-reported rush earlier in the day. Near as we could tell, there were no apple fritters (one strike right off the bat). Lorna ordered a chocolate cake doughnut with coconut. She said that the doughnut was adequate, though a bit strange as it seemed that the frosting was not doughnut glaze (hard and brittle), but actual cake frosting (wet and runny).
Figure 3. Lorna's Sample
Due to the lack of fritters, Josh was at a loss. The variety of flavors at Acme matches the general vibe: scattered and erratic. Josh opted for the PB&J doughnut.
How best to describe it? As Josh later told Lorna, it tasted like they had just used the fryer for a batch of shrimp and chips and then turned to making the PB&Js. Old oil. And Josh is no snob when it comes to bad fried food. But it was gross. So gross that we had to go to another doughnut shop afterward to wash the flavor our of his mouth. The frosting was runny and the jelly was toast jam, not the gelatinous goodness you would expect. The doughnut was a mess to handle and hard to choke down. We try to give everyone the benefit of the doubt in our research, but this was bad.
Figure 4. Josh's Sample
Phew. That said, Acme has something going for it. As seen in Figure 5, they deliver. They also had a very nice lady working the counter when we were there. And for those of us comfortable with the funky, scattered decor of places like Beaterville, this place should feel like home. Acme won't draw you in with their doughnuts, but if you live in the neighborhood, it's not a bad place to hang out, have a cup of coffee, and watch the Powell traffic. But just stick to the classics.
Figure 5. Delivery Apparatus
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