Shipley Do-nuts: New shop a sweet addition to Nelson Road
American Press Archives
On July 5, a new doughnut shop opened its doors at 3629 Nelson Road in Lake Charles. Shipley Do-Nuts & Kolaches is located in the Borzoi Plaza, next door to Yoga Y’all. Patrons can dine in or get pastries and coffee to go at the shop’s drive-thru window 5 a.m.-5 p.m. seven days a week.
While a new addition to Lake Charles, the Shipley name is well-established in the doughnut world. Lawrence Shipley Sr. first began selling his doughnuts as a wholesale distributor in 1936. In the 1940s, he opened the first Shipley retail doughnut shop in Houston, which is still where the company is based.
As one might expect for any place selling coffee and doughnuts, mornings are the busiest time of day, according to staff at the new store. And even with a wide assortment of menu choices that includes boudin kolaches, bear claws, beignets and festively decorated doughnuts, the plain glazed doughnut is a perennial favorite, said the staff.
On a Tuesday visit, we sampled three kolaches (sausage and cheese, sausage, cheese and jalapeño and ham and cheese) and six decorated doughnuts.
The kolaches are baked and the bread is fresh. Be aware that if you order three different kinds, they all look alike on the outside so you may not know which one you are about to eat until you cut it or bite into it. Kolaches are $2.09 each, but are cheaper if purchased in groups of six or 12. A dozen cost $22.50. Boudin kolaches are slightly more.
The doughnut I sampled was a white iced one. I will admit that I don’t eat doughnuts often, but with one bite of this one, I felt as if I were sampling a bit of confectionery heaven, and I questioned my self-imposed policy of only eating doughnuts on rare occasions.
This doughnut was melt-in-your-mouth delicious and completely wonderful. After purchasing the doughnuts, I photographed them for this review, so by the time I actually ate this one, it had cooled to room temperature. Not that it made a difference. It was simply amazing. Eating a still-warm one would probably have turned me into a Shipley doughnut addict, and it’s best that didn’t happen.
Of course I had to look up the calorie count, and found that one glazed Shipley doughnut has 217 calories. My doughnut’s white icing probably upped that calorie count ever so slightly, but I quickly decided the pleasure of eating it was completely worth it.
A sampling of other doughnuts proved that they too were equally decadent and delicious.
Shipley’s plain glazed doughnuts are 89 cents each, or $7.50 a dozen. The fancier kind are 99 cents each or $7.95 a dozen.
Ceramic mugs with the Shipley logo on them are $8 apiece. The Shipley store will honor all competitors’ coupons.
After my visit, I have to agree with the company’s slogan — It seems Shipley Do-Nuts has indeed been making life delicious since 1936.