Voodoo Doughnut  caused an awfully big fuss when it opened in Eugene last month. I’m not a particular fan of doughnuts, but I did want to see what merited all the excitement. After two unsuccessful trips and a half-hour wait in the rain, I finally ate my first Voodoo
doughnuts, and then I understood.
This offbeat and disorganized hole-in-the-wall just might convert me into a doughnut eater.
The Eugene location opened in April at the corner of East Broadway and Willamette Avenue, two blocks away from Eugene Bus Station. Owners Tres Shannon and Kenneth “Cat Daddy” Pogson run two successful Voodoo Doughnut shops in Portland. In typical Rose City fashion, the shops are famous for unusual products and decor. On Saturday afternoon, a couple of my hallmates from Portland woke me up and brought me to Voodoo Doughnut for breakfast. The line stretched out of the little shop, down the courtyard and almost into the street. It was a standard upbeat Eugene crowd, complete with bums and
terrible amateur musicians, but it looked like easily an hour wait. Strike one.
I figured Voodoo Doughnut must be special to draw such a committed crowd of people, so I returned the next afternoon. There was no line this time, just a couple of handwritten notes taped in the window. The first was from a potential customer complaining that Voodoo Doughnuts kept selling out of doughnuts and closing early. The second sign, presumably from the shop’s manager, promised a “hard, erect opening” on June 5. Strike two.
On Tuesday after class, my friend and I took the EMX bus and headed to Voodoo Doughnut for a mid-day sugar kick. There was a line, sure enough, but it looked manageable. As it turned out, the 30-minute wait was part of the fun. The women in front of us mused about some mammoth doughnut covered in candy, peanut butter, cereal and chocolate frosting. Couples huddled under massive umbrellas. People walked out of the shop looking slightly harried, clutching white boxes stamped with the words “good things come in pink boxes.”
Once we made it inside the store, by this time fairly damp, I was surprised by the lack of interesting decor. I had expected walls covered in strange photographs and collections of toys or doughnut-related memorabilia. What I saw, with the notable exception of a life-sized gorilla, looked like an industrial kitchen.
The extensive menu was a little intimidating, but the prices were excellent — most of the doughnuts were $2 or less, with the enormous ones costing up to $6. Though
customers can hypothetically choose between more than 50 doughnuts, only certain ones are available at any given time. The available options are shown in a rotating glass display case.
Voodoo Doughnut is named for the Voodoo Doll, a gingerbread-man shaped doughnut with frosting features, a pretzel stake and red jelly “blood” filling. The shop also offers such gems as the Bacon Maple Bar, which has bacon and maple frosting, and the Gay Bar, which features rainbow-colored Froot Loops.
I couldn’t bring myself to eat the Voodoo Doll, so I asked the cashier for recommendations. Unfazed by the endless line, he gave it some serious thought and suggested the Portland Creme, the Grape Ape and the Dirt Doughnut. All three doughnuts, large and slathered in their respective toppings, came to a reasonable $4.30.
There are no tables inside Voodoo Doughnut, but there’s plenty of room in the adjacent public courtyard. My first-ever Voodoo doughnut, the Portland Creme, made the hassle of obtaining it almost worthwhile. It’s a fluffy raised yeast doughnut filled with Bavarian cream, covered in soft chocolate frosting with two frosting eyes. The cream was perfect, thick and smooth and just sweet enough.
My friend had the Dirt Doughnut, a yeast doughnut covered in vanilla frosting and crushed Oreos. The doughnut was good in and of itself with a nice light consistency that was more dense than cake and smoother than bread. The Oreo and frosting topping was a nice touch, but the frosting was hard and crusty, like the doughnut had been sitting out too long.
The final doughnut, the Grape Ape, was topped with vanilla frosting, grape dust and lavender-colored sprinkles. The topping tasted terribly sweet, exactly like a grape lollipop. The doughnut was good, the grape topping edible, but I thought that the two certainly did not belong together. My friend said that the cake and frosting parts were perfect, and that the grape flavor worked somehow, but that she probably wouldn’t eat it again.
I’d like to sample all of the creme-filled doughnuts at Voodoo and then move on to the cereal-coated ones. Their doughnuts have a unique texture and sweetness that I’ve never found in doughnuts before, and that Bavarian creme was pretty amazing. Still, the long lines and apparent lack of planning remain a bit of a deterrent. Once Voodoo Doughnut settles into Eugene and has consistent hours, I have every intention of going back.

[email protected]