WICKER PARK — Sweet dreams are made of Donut Fest.
Sunday's event features returning champ Firecakes and nearly twice as many bakeries as 2015, including the debut of Chatham's Dat Donut, home of the legendary Big Dat.
Congrats to anyone who nabbed a ticket to the sold-out fest at Chop Shop's 1st Ward. We salute your quick-fingered ability to click "buy."
But there's no need for everyone else to wallow in FOMO. Check out the DIY doughnut crawl we put together.
Grab a friend or two and voila, instant fest.
Dinkel's Bakery, 3329 N. Lincoln Ave.
What do you order at Dinkel's, a North Side fixture since 1922? The old-fashioned, obviously. Get there on a Wednesday and treat yourself to the daily special — six doughnuts for $5.99.
Roeser's Bakery, 3216 W. North Ave.
Roeser's is another oldie-but-goodie — this bakery hasn't stayed in business for 100-plus years for nothing. Stick with the classics or try something more adventurous, like a glazed croissant, sweet potato doughnut or a maple bacon long john. Heck, get 'em all — most doughnuts here cost less than $1.50.
Do-Rite Donuts, 50 W. Randolph St.
You'll find most of Chicago's "artisan" doughnut shops at Donut Fest — except Do-Rite. Who's missing out now? It's hard to pass on the Valrhona chocolate cake doughnut because ... so much chocolate, and there's even a gluten-free version.
[Facebook/Do-Rite Donuts]
West Town Bakery, 1916 W. Chicago Ave.
West Town's Chris Teixeira was in the running for pastry chef of the year at the recent Jean Banchet Awards (Chicago's culinary "Oscars"). So yeah, the doughnuts here are good. So is the doughssant — a croissant-doughnut mashup that won fan favorite at last year's Donut Fest. But we wouldn't blame you one bit if you ordered a Nutella danish instead.
[Facebook/West Town Bakery]
Hot Bar by Baker Miller, 4642 N. Francisco Ave.
OK, technically Hot Bar doesn't sell doughnuts. They've got something called a dough-not: no holes, baked instead of fried. Screw semantics, we say. Your taste buds will thank us.
[Facebook/Baker Miller]
Bunny, the micro bakery, 2928 N. Broadway St.
Iliana Regan, chef/owner of the Michelin-starred Elizabeth, drew lines around the block with her occasional pop-up doughnut events. At her just-opened Bunny, people can get their whiskey-glazed fix whenever they want.
[Facebook/Bunny, the micro bakery]
Fritz Pastry, 2233 N. Lincoln Ave.
Fritz's square-shaped doughnuts are the bakery's signature pastry. Roughly half of them are vegan, which owner Jaime Podgorny said is not the same as "good for you."
"It's full of fat and sugar and all the things pastries should be full of," she told DNAinfo Chicago. "Vegans shouldn't be eating sawdust or be forced to eat soy all the time."
[Facebook/Fritz Pastry]
Bridgeport Bakery, 2907 S. Archer Ave.
Chicago is about to lose its collective mind over paczkis come Fat Tuesday. But the annual pre-Lenten pastry is available year-round at Bridgeport Bakery, along with wide array of non-Polish doughnuts.
Old Fashioned Donuts, 11248 S. Michigan Ave.
That $35 you didn't get a chance to spend on a Donut Fest ticket? It'll buy you three dozen doughnuts at Old Fashioned. Do not leave here without one of the bakery's monster apple fritters.
[DNAinfo/Kyla Gardner]
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