No longer doing Donuts

(This article first appeared over at the now defunct delaredo.Net in June of 2006. I was reminded of it by a recent post by BordertownBluesBlog) Read ahead.

No Longer Doing Donuts: by GAR


"Donuts are what holds the universe together and intact", my friend JPC would tell me each morning as he ate breakfast. He was an avid donut lover
and was the one that got me hooked on the sugary stuff. Every time I would see him he would be munching on a donut. One night however, I got a disturbing late-night
phone call.


"Did you see what happend" he called me upset one night from work.
"What are you talking about", I yelled back into the receiver of the phone, puzzled and surprised by his tone.
"Dunkin Donuts, its gone. It's being replaced by something called 'RiverCity' donuts".
That night of course was such a devastating blow to both of us.


Two Dunkin Donut locations existed in Laredo that I can recall. One was located on Guadalupe Ave. over by Guadalupe Flea Market south of the Heights neighborhood and the other was over on San Bernardo in front of what is now Kalaidascoopes. However, sometime in the late 1990's the
name of the two local Dunkin Donut shops were changed to "RiverCity Donuts". Not only did the name change but also the availability as well as the quality of the donut. Rivercity Donuts did not have the same selection of flavor donuts, they would run out very quickly, and worst of all the donut itself
was dry and the bread was not as soft and flaky as the the original Dunkin Donuts.
Rivercity tried their best, but it was just a cheap imitation. My friend and I lamented the loss of Dunkin Donuts. To put it simply, they had some really tasty and delicious donuts. In a city dominated by 'pan dulce', American style donuts would hold their ground quite well, going back to the days of the old Mister
Donuts. I do however love pan dulce as well. Local bakeries such as Perlitas, Quickie, Panos, El Mejor Pan and others all have their own long traditions and clientele. Still, my favorite pastry was donuts, and Dunkin Donuts had no peers.


Slowly, we adapted our aways and we put up with the new Rivercity Donuts. So they were not as tasty, nor as soft, and so they always ran out of chocalate frosted donuts during the middle of the day. We had no choice but to put up with it. So they were a bit hard and dry, and sometimes the same donuts would stay there for days, or so it felt like it when I ate them. Still, we had no choice but to adapt.
When Krispy Kreme came into town, it was all the buzz. By then I had grown to put up with Rivercity and I was hesitant to convert to the yuppy Krisy donuts. To say the truth they annoy me. Damn Korporate Kremes, I mean Kripy Kremes are overpriced and overrated. They seem to be another version, a donut
version of Starsucks, I mean Starbucks. But hey, thats just me. I tried out the Krispy Kremes and their high prices for a simple dozen donuts but they are just not my thing. KK is overfried and over-oiled donuts, so I turned to my saving grace, RiverCity if only because they still had an inkling of Dunkin Donut flavor left in them, so I was willing to overlook their defects.


But, a couple of days ago, I got another late night disturbing phone call from my friend JPC.
"Did you see what happend", he called me again one late night from his job. "RiverCity is gone. Its been replaced by some other
panaderia", he tells me in an angry voice.
It seems RiverCity Donuts has left Laredo. Both the Guadalupe Ave. and the SanBer location have closed down, a true crushing blow to both of us.
Now, with no more Dunkin Donuts, no Mister Donuts, not even a RiverCity donut shop, either we adapt to pan dulce or sell out to Krispy Kreme. Either that, or maybe I should listen to my significant other and stop eating so many hot damn donuts!