If you ask a Seattle local, you can forget about Krispy Kreme or Dunkin Donuts — it’s all about Top Pot Doughnuts, a local chain that’s become an institution since it first opened for business in 2002.
How famous is Top Pot? Famous enough that President Barack Obama himself stopped in during a visit to Seattle in 2010. “You can’t eat these every day,” he quipped.
And how delicious is Top Pot? Delicious enough that, also back in 2010, Golden Tate — then a rookie with the Seattle Seahawks — walked into a closed Top Pot store at 3 a.m. because he was craving their maple bars (his apartment was located in the same building). It’s especially funny because Top Pot was named the official doughnut of the Seahawks just a few months prior.
In other words, Top Pot is serious business. At peak hours, it has lines coming out the door. So when we were in Seattle last week, we had to stop by and check out Top Pot Doughnuts for ourselves.
It was incredible. Take a look:
There are currently 21 Top Pot locations, mostly in and around Seattle (with a few in Texas). This is the flagship location, not too far from Amazon’s headquarters in downtown Seattle.
Top Pot was founded in 2002 by brothers Mark and Michael Klebeck. Here’s the story of how the chain got its name, from the website:
“Years earlier, two of our co-founders spied a vintage rustic (and rusty) neon sign gleaming above a boarded-up Chinese restaurant called ‘Topspot’. They bought the sign, and then left it idle in a backyard for four years, further rusting and creating a home for raccoons. Then, when the sign was finally driven off to be restored, the center ‘S’ fell off, leaving the words ‘Top Pot’ behind.”
The store has a vibe like an upscale Starbucks. But that’s not what we’re here for. Enhance.
Oh yeah. That’s the stuff. Top Pot specializes in perfecting old classics — it’s less about crazy toppings and weird flavor combinations, and more about making the best darn apple fritters, old fashioned, and cake donuts possible.
See the rest of the story at Business Insider
