THE HOLY DONUT: A DIVINE BITE IN PORTLAND, MAINE

Donuts aren’t one of our go to foods but something about Portland’s THE HOLY DONUT caught our attention: they served Maine’s potato donuts, an unusual alternative way of making the tasty treats with mashed potatoes, so we knew we had to give them a try during our day trip to Portland (Sat Aug 3, 2024).

The Holy Donut is located on Commerical Street directly opposite one of Portland’s busy waterfronts, so was very easy to find. It had a short line outside - and a delicious smell - but it didn’t take us long to get inside and be served by their friendly staff. 

Family owned, it was established in 2012 by Leigh Kellis, a single mom, who was keen to create a healthier donut for her kids using natural ingredients. With support from her family, the business became a success and now has over 120 team members with 5 stores around Maine. 

We ordered:

🥓 Bacon cheddar $5.25

🍩 Cinnamon sugar $4.25

🫐 Blueberry glazed $4.50

☕️ Drip coffee (12 oz) = $2.85

😢 Tax (8%) = $1.35

💰 Total = $18.20

The drip coffee was self-serve and I somehow managed to overfill my cup and spill it all over my hand. Ouch! The Holy Donut Blend was good and was the perfect accompaniment to the donuts. 

We took our hand-shaped treats with us to the nearby Long Wharf and sat opposite a remnant of the Berlin Wall in the sunshine. 

Still full from our breakfast of OOB’s Beach Bagels, we sensibly shared the donuts. We started with the bacon cheddar, as we had never seen a fully savoury doughnut before, and found that it was packed full of stringy cheese. Yum!

The sweeter cinnamon sugar and blueberry donuts were tasty, but like with the bacon one, were quite dry and dense. It was just as well we got the drip coffee to wash them down. You couldn’t taste the potatoes, of course, but the texture was there. We couldn’t finish the donuts off and wrapped them back up to have later. 

We have had bigger and better donuts (at more reasonable prices) from Voodoo Doughnut at Hollywood, Ca. and Orlando, Fl., a doughnut chain also founded in Portland - but Portland, Oregon, not Maine - and while the aesthetics, ethos and vision of that wacky doughnut chain were very different to The Holy Donut, we were still pleased to have visited and tried some of Maine’s unusual potato donuts made with wholesome local ingredients and positive vibes. 

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📌 THE HOLY DONUT

177 Commercial St., Portland, ME 04102

🌐 www.theholydonut.com

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A TASTE OF PORTLAND, MAINE, FOR ONLY EIGHT DOLLARS

PORTLAND is the most populated city in the state of Maine and is located on the northeast coast of the U.S.A. During our brief stay in Maine, we knew we had to visit Portland to give us a contrast to Old Orchard Beach where our motel was. 

Early on the morning of Saturday August 3, 2024, for the first time, Uber let us down: it said ‘no drivers available’ so we sought out the unusually named BSOOB Transit bus. The online timetable was confusing - it wasn’t clear if we could easily get back to Old Orchard Beach - but we took a chance and while the bus was 20 minutes late, it got us comfortably to Portland in 45 minutes for only $2 each. A bargain and the ride was only 15 minutes longer than by Uber. 

Upon our arrival at Portland, next to Back Cove, a large tidal basin, we were greeted with a man begging on the Interstate 295 exit ramp. He approached cars while holding a sign saying: ‘Down on my luck. Please. Everything helps. Thank You and God Bless’. A sad sight and we wondered if this was indicative of Portland. It transpired that it wasn’t. 

We arrived at Portland City Hall and explored the immediate area, enjoying a mooch inside the TARDIS-like ‘Fun Box Monster Emporium & Coast City Comics’ on Congress St., a geeky store where we picked up a few comics and collectibles, before continuing with our walk down to the waterfront. 

Holy Donuts had come to our attention online as a place to sample Maine’s potato doughnuts and it didn’t take us long to find the one by the wharfs and piers (see review of The Holy Donut). We enjoyed our wares sat in the sunshine at Long Wharf next to a segment of the Berlin Wall - of all things!

Maine has many other favorite staples, including lobster, blueberry soda and whoopie pies, and as we stood marvelling at the ginormous Emerald Princess cruise ship at the Maine State Pier, we worried we wouldn’t find anywhere stocking the latter two. However, right in front of us was the Vina Ann’s concessions hut which just so happened to sell both!

In our excitement we forgot how much they both cost (possibly $5 each) but we bought them there and then and tucked in. The blueberry soda was just what we needed in the 28° C heat (it felt much hotter). The whoopie pie had a surprising flavor and after a couple of enjoyable bites, decided to save it for later as we were still full of the Holy doughnuts.

The rear of the Harbor Fish Market buildings stood out for two reasons: firstly by the racket of the gulls hanging around for a free feed and then secondly by the smell. This didn’t deter us, however, as we enjoyed watching the seabirds sunning themselves and squabbling over fish scraps. We ventured into the market and it was fascinating to see all the fresh seafood on offer. Interestingly not all of it was from Maine, with some coming from far away coastal states. 

Fed and watered at the nearby Porthole Pub (see separate review), our limited time at Portland was soon over and we concluded our 3 mile walk back at City Hall.

Ubers back to Old Orchard Beach were coming in quite pricey, while the cheap Amtrak train (at around $4) was timetabled at an inconvenient time and with the station some distance away. We therefore took another chance with the BSOOB Transit bus. We paid another $2 each and as we got moving realised the reason the timetable had mislead us earlier was because it did a loop around the city centre. 

So it all worked out in the end and we got to visit Portland for the day for only $8 in total! 

We are so glad we took the chance to see a very contrasting side of coastal Maine - and escape from the grumpy seasonal staff at Old Orchard Beach. 

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📌 PORTLAND, MAINE - AUTHENTIC BY NATURE

🌐 www.visitportland.com

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See all our Maine photographs in a special album on our Facebook page >>> P&K USA