If you are walking through a shopping mall and you see someone with a bright pink bag, you immediately know someone went to Vicki’s! And if you are out and about and see a white bag with Golden ArchesTM on it, instantly, you start thinking Mickey D’s, right? There are just some places in this world where you can immediately identify where that person was shopping by a simple glance at the container in their hand.
Here in Portland, and indeed, in many airports as travelers move about the country, one of the most instantly recognizable containers is a pink box. But lest you think I am here to talk about Victoria’s Secret, let me be clear, this is about doughnuts. But not just any doughnuts, today I am discussing VooDoo Doughnut.
VooDoo is an interesting place. And let me be clear, it is not a place for everyone. In fact a lot of people could potentially be offended by VooDoo. What’s that? How can you be offended by a doughnut place? Welllllllll, let’s touch on that before we talk about the insanity of what they sell. Seemingly everything about the place has a double meaning. There are double entendres that will make you never look at a doughnut the same again. Of course there are banana fritters with chocolate chips and peanut butter that will make you never look at a doughnut the same again either, but the focus is on how much fun you allow yourself to have with it. This is a doughnut shop with the slogan ‘The Magic is in the Hole’ (take that as you will), that serves phallic shaped doughnuts, doughnuts that give a shoutout to the Gay community, Vegan doughnuts, doughnuts named after rappers, and doughnuts that just have plain crude names.
So how does a hole in the wall, cash only, doughnut place, come to have basically national recognition? Two reasons: Bacon and excessiveness. VooDoo is ‘known’ for their ‘Bacon Maple Bar’ which is a traditional maple bar that they add two slices of bacon to. And really, who doesn’t love bacon? Even vegans have tempeh! This is the reason many people originally hear of VooDoo, and a must try on your first visit. Next? Excessiveness. Let’s talk about some of the ingredients that I, personally, have had on these doughnuts (and I have had a lot of their doughnuts). Bacon, Peanut Butter, Capt Crunch, M&Ms ( On the Marshall Mathers doughnut), Cocoa Puffs, Fruit Loops, Oreos, Peach Jelly, Bananas, Butterfingers… the list goes on. Seemingly, any kind of combination that sounds good to someone who may have partied too much and wanders in a 3am, oh yeah, VooDoo is open 24 hours, would find appealing, it’s on a doughnut.
Are there better doughnuts in Portland? Yeah, probably. In fact there is a chain that markets itself as an ‘adult doughnut’ that, objectively, might have better classic doughnuts, but when it comes to name recognition, notoriety, and just plain outlandish fun, not one really compares to VooDoo. So the next time you are in Portland (or Eugene, Denver, or Austin), go stand in the line, which is usually substantial, and order a couple of the most ridiculous doughnuts you may ever lay eyes on. A few of my favorites are the Memphis Mafia, the ODB, and the VooDoo Doll, as well as checking if they might have any limited time offerings.
The original VooDoo donuts is located at 22 SW 3rd Avenue in Portland, OR.