National Donut Day came and went at the very beginning of June. Honestly, pretty much any day can be donut day around here. Donuts are an easy splurge, and Columbus has lots of solid choices.
Golden Donuts & Diner does it old-school. It’s on the South Side, operating a traditional diner and donut operation, while accompanied by a classic funk music soundtrack from a few decades ago. It’s easy to feel like you might be in a time warp there. In fact, the prices suggest a time warp too. We walked out with the big box of premium donuts (photo) in exchange for a five-dollar bill. That seems like a whole lot of happiness, for a modest price.
The traditional donut choices are all present and accounted for. The foundational offering, glazed donuts, are at once puffy and dewy, glazed with sugary shells, each bite collapsing into happy mouthfuls. Beyond the foundation, there are plenty of filled and frosted items. The black raspberry filling is cloyingly red, but delivers the requisite berry complexity in flavor, the pudding fillings were both generous and comforting.
A couple of stand-out observations: the frosted cake donuts offer an appreciable glaze underneath their frosted toppings. That particular glaze process seals in moisture (it works as a sealant), protecting eaters from a dry donut. It also adds a sweet shell that complements and highlights the various donut flavors. The other happy observation was that the iced toppings on the donuts actually have flavors. Often times, icing can contribute only an oddly disappointing texture; here, there is a defined sweetness.
You can find the donut shop at 1928 Lockborne Rd. You can also catch a decent diner scene there, ordering from a menu that includes everything from binge-worthy, loaded buster breakfast combos (eggs, home fries, ham, gravy and cheese), to burgers, sandwiches and salads.