A warm donut and coffee are the best remedy for these colder days in Florida!
Locally owned and operated, Halo was developed by UF grad Drew Stuerman, who recognized the need for a local donut shop in Gainesville and blessed us all with potato donuts! Since its humble beginnings as a food truck, Halo now grown to two locations: Main Street for drive thru and walk-up, and Tower Road for drive thru only. You can only order at the drive thru currently, as they are not accepting online orders. They are looking to reopen their Archer Road food truck in February! Their drive thru is great for social distancing and easy to navigate as they have someone directing traffic.
You will need to get up early for these donuts, but they are well worth it. The donuts are priced between $2.40~$3.15 depending on the flavor, which is pricey, but these donuts are large and will fill you up as they are made of potato.
Depending on what consistency of donut you like, you can choose between cake (more dense) and yeast (more chewy) donuts.
Their flavors of the week change frequently, so be sure to follow @halopotatodonuts for their latest updates. They are open from 7am until noon (and they typically sell out before then), but if you follow their instagram, you might even be able to get unsold donuts BOGO on rare days. They won’t have the popular flavors left, but it’s still worth a shot.
When I got there, they were already out of many of the popular flavors for this week, but I was glad to be able to snag a few: Orange Creamsicle was delightfully sweet with just a hint of orange. I was worried it would be too citrusy, but it was not at all overpowering. Magic bar had a wonderful texture with the sugary crumble, coconut flakes, and chocolate chip mixture on the top. Blueberry cheesecake had a very slight cheese and more of a sweet blueberry taste. The yeast donuts are very chewy and moist, and I like how these donuts were not too oily.
As for cake donuts, I tried the Chocolate Glaze. The cakey donuts have a nice, slightly crunchy exterior with chocolate covering and a denser, cake-like filling. The potato makes for a denser, heartier donut, so even one donut was satisfying.
They even included a cute postcard of Gainesville with a donut and gator on it in the box!
Halo donuts go best with their coffee, and they recently announced that they partnered with Sweetwater Organic coffee to make their own blend! You can purchase a cup hot or cold, or even a bag to make at home. The coffee is delicious, organic, and fair trade. You can even get a thirsty donut (donut served on top of your iced coffee) for that perfect aesthetic. I went with the hot coffee ($2.25) + almond milk (.50c) +French vanilla flavor (.50c) and thoroughly enjoyed it. Get yourself a cup to warm you up on cold mornings!
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Community Foodwaves 