My buddy, David, has told me several times how good the doughnuts are at Dough In the Box, but I never seemed to be by there when they were open (Tuesday – Sunday 5:00 am – 2:30 pm).  Today, after a check up over near Cobb hospital (now that the midnight-to-appointment-time-fast was over) was the perfect time to give them a try.

Housed in a building that most closely resembles a re-purposed convenience store, I never would have guessed it was as nice inside as it is.  What was it that my mom always said about not judging a book by its cover?  Anyhow, they have a counter (at the very bottom of the picture above), several booths, and quite the selection of doughnuts.

Looking at the options, my eyes were immediately drawn to the bow-tie, my second-favorite pastry of all time.

So I ordered one of those and a raspberry filled doughnut (the picture above is looking down into the bag), paid the man (reasonably under $4.00, including a canned soft drink) and was grabbing some napkins when an older man, who appeared to be a regular walked in.   “Do you have any apple fritters?”, he asked.   “They’re just coming out of the back”, came a voice from around the corner.   Fresh apple fritters?  My number-one favorite pastry of all time?   Ta-da!   The heavens opened and light shined on a silver tray, covered in these beauties.

So I ordered one of those, too, and headed to the car.  Each bag contained a lagniappe of doughnut holes and I enjoyed both, but the apple fritter moreso.  It was fresh and still warm and it reminded me of how good Dunkin Donuts tasted when I was kid (somehow different than it does now).  I should have gotten some milk…