Krispy Kreme Doughnut Company

We were saddened to find that this was a «hot shop» rather than a «factory store.» In fact, we did not even know that such a distinction existed before stopping here on a road trip.
Every Krispy Kreme we had visited before had a conveyor belt that turned raw ingredients into freshly fried and glazed crispy creamy goodness. We thought this was the essence of a Krispy Kreme store. As it turns out, though (a recent development?), only factory stores fry their own donuts.
Hot shops, by contrast, take pre-​cooked donuts from some distribution center, heat them in an oven (a Lincoln Impinger, for my fellow kitchen-​equipment geeks), and run them through the traditional waterfall of hot glaze.
The result is not abhorrent, but it’s not fresh — «chewy kreme» might be a better name — and it’s not right. I will not go gently into that prefab-​donut night.

Pros: Yummy.
Con: Located in a strip mall surrounded my empty stores and Cash Loan places.
Conclusion: Use the drive thru.