Donut Divide

There is a divide in Salt Lake City between the east side and the west side. Nowhere is this division more pronounced than in a competition between two donut shops: Banbury Cross and My Sugar's.

Banbury Cross is on 7th East and 7th South, near liberty park. While it is not in one of the east side's most stellar neighborhoods, it's close to the hip Trolley Square shopping center and it's on the way to work for most east-siders. The donuts are delicious, especially the buttermilk bars and the cinnamon crumble. The shop is large, well-kept and accommodates sit-down enjoyment or drive-through. It is an east side institution frequented by coffee-sipping ski bums and wealthy housewives alike. I love their donuts and last time we went they accidentally gave us two maple bars instead of buttermilk bars and let us keep the maple bars, which was very nice.

Over to the west side to My Sugar's Donuts. It is in the industrial part of town, next to warehouses and off of the ugly State Road 201 at 3200 West. It's in a non-descript building at a busy intersection and has a cheezy pink sign with a silhouette of a little girl carrying a basket. I got there at 8:30 and they were almost sold out. There were hard-working American joes getting huge boxes to take back to work. When I asked the woman at the counter what she'd recommend she said in broken English "you choose your favorite!"

It seemed to be everything to the west side that Banbury Cross is to the east side. That being said . . . MAN! do they know how to make a good donut! I got a cinnamon twist that was warm and left me wanting more. They were also fairly light and didn't leave me feeling like I'd eaten a glob of Crisco.

I can't decide which is better.

But back to the east/west friction, check out a review of My Sugar's on Google Maps from Chad:

"My Sugar's Donuts beat Banbury Cross hands down. But because of the East Side bias of the Salt Lake Valley they don't receive the recognition they deserve. If their location were East of State Street Banbury Cross would be out of business. If you want to eat a good Donut, you will find it at My Sugar's.‎"

The battle rages on.