I Eat Donuts: Five-O Donut Co
7:30 a.m. Wednesday morning. I went into Five-O Donut Co with zero guilt because I knew a butt-kicking work out was happening later that day. This was my second experience with Five-O Donut Co. The first was not a great one. I showed up at 9:30 and they were nearly sold out. There were only a small handful of yeast donuts left. All that was left were the cake donuts, and they were not very impressive. This time around, I came early to make sure I would have a good selection to choose from. I was happy to find all the flavors there for the taking.
I did what any good donut aficionado would do and selected a few friends with whom I could split a crap-ton of donuts. We got at least one of each and split them all into quarters. Here is my official Donut Ranking in order of best to not-so-best.
1. Original Glazed Yeast (10/10)
Perfectly fluffy, Perfectly sweet (not too sweet). All around, the best glazed donut.
2. Maple Glazed Yeast (9/10)
The maple glaze was a little sweet for me, but the flavor was absolutely delish!
3. Cronut (9/10)
Soft and flaky, a tiny hint of salty, ultimately a fantastic take on a traditional donut.
4. Rice Crispy Treat Yeast (9/10)
I LOVED the contrast, yet perfect harmony, between the crispy & chewy of the rice crispy treats and the soft & fluffy of the donut. This one definitely took me by surprise.
5. Chocolate Cronut (7/10)
Tasty, but the chocolate glaze was very sweet and a bit overpowering to the delicate, buttery flavors of the Cronut. I actually think the Cronut could have benefitted from a light, maple glaze.
6. Cherry Topped Yeast (7/10)
It was a basic glazed donut with a dollop of marshmallow sauce in the middle and a cherry on top. Good if you're looking for just a little something extra on your donut, but nothing special.
7. Butterfinger Yeast (7/10)
Another instance where I felt the sweet, chocolate glaze just dominated and masked the natural goodness of the donut.
8. Snickerdoodle Cake (6/10)
Good flavor, but nothing special.
9. Elvis Yeast (6/10)
I loved the peanut butter glaze, and I would have even liked it with the banana, but I wasn't a fan of the bacon with it. I would have rather the peanut butter and banana with a light, chocolate drizzle or bacon on a maple glazed donut. Other friends deemed it inedible. (I didn't think it was as bad as all that.)
10. Chocolate Chip Potato Chip Cake (6/10)
The potato chips just seemed unnecessary.
11. Chocolate Pretzel Cake (4/10)
The pretzels were soft, which they were not supposed to be. And it was only 9:30 in the morning.
12. Apple Fritter (2/10)
Great flavor on the outside, nothing on the inside. And it was dry. Like Arizona desert dry.
Another fun detail thrown in is the flavor infused milks. While fun, I prefer to stick to plain old white milk so as not to compete with the flavors of the donuts.
Overall, while I wasn't super impressed with their fancy donuts, they have the simple, basic donuts down to a science. I don't like the fact that they completely sell out before 10am, but perhaps it's a smart business move ensuring that supply never meets demand, thus creating the illusion that they are rare and highly sought after. They also have a corner on the specialty yeast donuts market in Sarasota, as all the specialty donut shops only sell cake donuts. So I don't predict they'll be going out of business anytime soon.
As with all novelties in this town go, it's worth the experience just to say you've done it. And who knows? You may end up liking it so much you'll wanna go again and again. As for me, if I'm already in the downtown area at 8am, I may stop in now and then. But I don't plan on making any more special trips.
I did what any good donut aficionado would do and selected a few friends with whom I could split a crap-ton of donuts. We got at least one of each and split them all into quarters. Here is my official Donut Ranking in order of best to not-so-best.
1. Original Glazed Yeast (10/10)
Perfectly fluffy, Perfectly sweet (not too sweet). All around, the best glazed donut.
2. Maple Glazed Yeast (9/10)
The maple glaze was a little sweet for me, but the flavor was absolutely delish!
3. Cronut (9/10)
Soft and flaky, a tiny hint of salty, ultimately a fantastic take on a traditional donut.
4. Rice Crispy Treat Yeast (9/10)
I LOVED the contrast, yet perfect harmony, between the crispy & chewy of the rice crispy treats and the soft & fluffy of the donut. This one definitely took me by surprise.
5. Chocolate Cronut (7/10)
Tasty, but the chocolate glaze was very sweet and a bit overpowering to the delicate, buttery flavors of the Cronut. I actually think the Cronut could have benefitted from a light, maple glaze.
6. Cherry Topped Yeast (7/10)
It was a basic glazed donut with a dollop of marshmallow sauce in the middle and a cherry on top. Good if you're looking for just a little something extra on your donut, but nothing special.
7. Butterfinger Yeast (7/10)
Another instance where I felt the sweet, chocolate glaze just dominated and masked the natural goodness of the donut.
8. Snickerdoodle Cake (6/10)
Good flavor, but nothing special.
9. Elvis Yeast (6/10)
I loved the peanut butter glaze, and I would have even liked it with the banana, but I wasn't a fan of the bacon with it. I would have rather the peanut butter and banana with a light, chocolate drizzle or bacon on a maple glazed donut. Other friends deemed it inedible. (I didn't think it was as bad as all that.)
10. Chocolate Chip Potato Chip Cake (6/10)
The potato chips just seemed unnecessary.
11. Chocolate Pretzel Cake (4/10)
The pretzels were soft, which they were not supposed to be. And it was only 9:30 in the morning.
12. Apple Fritter (2/10)
Great flavor on the outside, nothing on the inside. And it was dry. Like Arizona desert dry.
Another fun detail thrown in is the flavor infused milks. While fun, I prefer to stick to plain old white milk so as not to compete with the flavors of the donuts.
Overall, while I wasn't super impressed with their fancy donuts, they have the simple, basic donuts down to a science. I don't like the fact that they completely sell out before 10am, but perhaps it's a smart business move ensuring that supply never meets demand, thus creating the illusion that they are rare and highly sought after. They also have a corner on the specialty yeast donuts market in Sarasota, as all the specialty donut shops only sell cake donuts. So I don't predict they'll be going out of business anytime soon.
As with all novelties in this town go, it's worth the experience just to say you've done it. And who knows? You may end up liking it so much you'll wanna go again and again. As for me, if I'm already in the downtown area at 8am, I may stop in now and then. But I don't plan on making any more special trips.
Ambience: 10/10.
Service: 9/10
Food: 7/10
Good for: Whenever you're up at the butt-crack of dawn and you want a sugar rush.
Dozen Donuts (Mixed) $28
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