You Donut Wanna Miss This

One Sunday morning when I was housesitting in Santa Rosa (what’s new), I found myself driving aimlessly through random neighborhoods looking for something to do other than my end-of-the-year homework, so I decided that OD-ing sugar would be a good goal for the day. I found myself at City Garden Donuts & Coffee on 4th Street, and as a non-donut lover, I certainly didn’t expect that I’d enjoy myself except of course during the 5 minutes of self indulgence when I would undoubtedly be exceeding my daily dose of sugar. I did, in a sense, go there specifically for the sake of variety in my blog.

City Garden is a textbook “hole in the wall” establishment, so much so that I passed by it three times while driving before deciding to just park and find it on foot. While it looks small from the street, I was delighted by the size of the interior—I was expecting a classic donut shop set up with little room for crowds and a sense of urgency that would encourage people to take their orders to go. This place, however, had many tables and bars seats to sit and enjoy the food, but I got there during peak hours so I felt lucky to find a spot to eat.

Look how colorful and fluffy they are! I had goo-goo eyes for a food I don’t even particularly like and they were just staring back at me with a glazed expression…

It seems you can’t go anywhere in Sonoma County without running into someone you know, but lucky for me, I didn’t see anyone I wanted to avoid. I saw my friend’s parents who picked up half a dozen variety on their way to a weekend vacation. Barbara said that she and her husband, Gene, thought the donuts, although quite large, are a bit pricy (true, especially considering you can get them for about a quarter of the price at any other, less fancy donut shop) but they really liked the cake-style ones nonetheless.

As a millennial who will never be able to buy a house because of my incessant need for avocado toast, I was tempted to order that instead of a donut. However, since I went there with the idea that a donut is what I’d be getting, I had to stick to my guns.

They were sold out of some flavors since I got there close to noon, but I was lucky enough to score the last huckleberry honey donut.

I am obsessed with anything flower-flavored (and pink, as much as I try to fight it), so I was immediately sold when I saw that they had lavender rose lattes. As I sipped on the coffee and felt the glucose surging through my soul, I was delightfully surprised by the texture of the donut itself. It was very cake-like and dense which made me appreciate it more than a normal donut, because, although I was really jittery from the super well-balanced meal I was enjoying, I actually felt full when I was done, which is something I find very uncommon (and part of the reason why I dislike donuts so much in the first place).

Overall, I certainly believe that City Garden is worth the trip if you’re ever looking to go all out and satisfy your sweet tooth in the most dramatic of ways. I'd like to try some of their non-donut items on the menu (I see you avocado toast), and I'd go back for the lavender rose latte alone.

My advice is: Get there early, bring your appetite, and be prepared to eat nothing but kale for the following 24 hours--your body is going to need it.