The signature donut at the best donut shop in Utah is fried, dipped straight into glaze while it is still hot, then rolled in cinnamon sugar. That is two finishes on one piece of dough, which is why people describe the raised cinnamon crumb as a coffee cake that happens to be a donut. Food Network singled it out. It is the reason the shop has a reputation at all.
Banbury Cross opened in 1986 in a small building at 700 East, with an attached drive-thru, and the tagline on its own site is simple: Utah’s favorite donuts since 1986. Business Insider named it the best donut shop in the state, Thrillist agreed a few months later, and a poll of Utah food bloggers put it at number one without much debate.
Prices have stayed almost comically low for four decades, and the case is backed by racks of spares lining the walls because the front display cannot hold the volume. If you’re working through 50 shops that earn the drive, this is the one where the trick is arriving before the good flavors are gone, which happens around nine in the morning on a weekend.
What to Expect When Visiting Banbury Cross Donuts in Salt Lake City, Utah
Get the raised cinnamon crumb first. Past that, the old-fashioned glazed is the fan favorite for the reason old-fashioneds exist: crispy on the outside and still moist through the middle, and the cake donuts are where regulars insist the shop is strongest.
The fruit cake donuts are the ones that vanish. Blueberry and strawberry cake, plus the jelly-filled, sell out early almost every day, and at least one regular has publicly asked the shop to simply make more of them. Blueberry cake with blueberry icing and a double chocolate caramel cake are both on the standing menu, alongside bismarcks, buttermilk bars, muffins, and cinnamon rolls…