The best donut shop in Wisconsin has a menu item called a sprinkly dinkly, and another called a Hoytie Toytie, and the shop’s own description of itself is that it is about the only place in the world where doughnuts and pizza live together in harmony, unlike Susie and Al. Whether that last part is a joke about the founders’ marriage is left entirely to the reader.
Susie and Al Brkich set up shop on North Avenue in East Tosa in 2006 as a homegrown coffee and doughnut counter. They won enough local recognition for their crullers, their Hoytie Toyties, and the aforementioned dinklies that they eventually did the obvious thing and added wood-fired pizza. Their nephew Joey Carioti now runs the day-to-day, and Susie remains, by the company’s own description, the reigning mama bear.
The room is an old one, with high ceilings and creaky wooden floors, which one reviewer generously called tastefully shabby. If you’re working through the best donut in all 50, this is the entry where the doughnuts are hand-cranked, the pizza shows up after lunch, and Friday means a fish fry because this is Wisconsin.
What to Expect When Visiting Cranky Al’s in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin
Order the cruller, the item that built the shop’s reputation and is still described as award-winning in the shop’s own materials. The apple fritter and the cake donut with chocolate frosting are the two others that come up in nearly every review, and the cake selection in general is where Cranky’s gets adventurous rather than sticking to the usuals.
Then get something savory, because the breakfast burrito and the breakfast pizza both have real followings, and a shop this early is not primarily a dessert stop. Muffins, scones, and hot breakfast items fill out the morning board, all of it served with coffee the shop sources responsibly…