Case Study 003: Heavenly Donuts

Site name: Heavenly Donuts
Location: 1915 N Lombard
                Portland, OR 97217
Field Recording: Heavenly Donuts on Lombard by Mog Bog
 
Heavenly Donuts is the first chain location that we've visited. Heavenly Donuts has 7 locations, two of which are in Portland: one on Lombard and one on 102nd (there's also one in Gladstone). Being North Portlanders, we took the easy route and opted for the one on Lombard. No matter which one you go to, you'll be greeted by this piece of typographic wizardry.

Figure 1. Site Exterior

Once inside, you'll be greeted by an only faintly corporate vibe. If we hadn't done some preparatory research, we'd have had no idea that this was a chain. As can be seen in the figure below, the selection is fantastic and the foot traffic was steady even in the early afternoon.

Figure 2. Site Interior

We visited Heavenly twice, due to some problems with data collection on the first visit. Therefore, we each had two doughnuts.

On the first round, we stuck to our classics. Josh had an apple fritter, though as seen in Figure 1, the fritter options are numerous. As shown in the figure below, the fritter was not heavily glazed. The doughnut was light, somewhat fluffy, with almost a creaminess to it. Josh was pleasantly surprised by this one, coming from a chain. Unusually delicious.

Figure 3. Josh's Sample

Lorna had a cake doughnut with chocolate glaze and sprinkles apparently chosen in solidarity with the Charlotte Bobcats. This doughnut was also very well received. The picture and field notes below should speak for themselves.

Field Notes: Heavenly Donuts on Lombard by Mog Bog

Figure 4. Lorna's Sample

On the second visit, two additional doughnuts were sampled: a cream-filled and a maple twist. 

Lorna was sure to clarify that Heavenly has Boston Creams on hand (pudding-filled), not Bavarian Creams (fluffy cream-filled). Lorna noted that despite slightly uneven cream distribution, the doughnut was airy and soft on the inside with a nice light crispness on the outside.

Figure 5. Lorna's Second Sample

Josh was too quick with his second visit to report too much on his sample. But judging from the picture taken below, it was well-received.

Figure 6. Josh's Gluttony