Groovy Donuts (East Lansing)
3054 E. Lake Lansing RoadDay two of competition at the Biggby Coffee Ice Cube East Lansing.
B was not competing on Saturday. He had all of his skates on Friday. L had a really long day starting with 9:30 AM practice and ending with her last skate of the day scheduled for 7:40 PM.
I knew it was going to be hard for B to sit at the rink all day. My parents had come to town to watch the kids skate and stayed at the same hotel we did.
J and L left for the rink about 7:30 AM while B and I stayed at the hotel. Around 10:00, I texted my mom and asked if they were ready to head over. We checked out of the hotel and headed to the rink with them.
I got a little lazier than I meant to. I went back to sleep when J and L left. B just put his headphones on and watched his iPad all morning. I got up about 9:30 and started packing hoping we could get downstairs for breakfast before we left.
Breakfast was supposed to end at 10:00 but they had already picked most stuff up. B said he didn’t want anything from there anyway which is why he didn’t wake me up.
On our way to the hotel on Friday night, we passed a donut shop. We were going to have to pass that shop on the way back to the rink so I just made plans to pick up donuts on the way.
Groovy Donuts in East Lansing is the brand’s second location. The original is in nearby Williamston. This shop is on Lake Lansing Road just to the west of Hagadorn Road just barely outside of the East Lansing city limits in Meridian Charter Township. The building, at one time, was a Benjamin Moore paint store then a bakery but now it’s turned in to a Groovy donut shop.
The bakery/cafe isn’t very big. It’s set up like a classic donut shop with a wall display of the day’s offering and a couple of people who grab boxes and start filling orders then pass you over to a cashier to check out.
Since I was heading to the rink, I grabbed half a dozen thinking we’d snack all day. I always get in to kind of a panic mode when the person filling the order is standing there holding the box waiting for me to make my decision. I know what I like but it’s always a guessing game as to what other people are going to eat.
I ended up getting two Cherry Cake w/Cherry Icing and Sprinkles, two Honeymoon Glazed and two custard filled vanilla long johns. The cost of the six donuts was just over $14.
We headed to the rink and immediately, L and I both grabbed the custard filled long johns. I offered to give half of mine to my dad. They’re his favorite too but they actually ate hotel breakfast and he said he wasn’t hungry. The donuts were really delicious. There’s custard in the middle but it’s not all the way through the donut so there were bites that were just donut and frosting which is how I remember long johns. They were never filled when I was kid so I get the nostalgia feel from that part of the donut before biting in to the creamy custard in the middle.
J and B both picked the Honeymoon Glazed donuts. B ate all of his and J ate about half. I didn’t try one so I’m not really sure what kind of donut it actually is and I can’t find a description online.
The third pick of donuts was kind of a bust because I didn’t realize what I was getting. I picked the Cherry Cake w/Cherry Icing and Sprinkles because it had pink frosting and sprinkles. I didn’t realize it was a cherry cake donut. The signage was a little confusing in the moment but I see it now as I look back on pictures. I should have gotten the Frosted Raised instead and I would have gotten what I was looking for. Still, B eventually ate one whole donut and picked at the frosting on the second.
My biggest takeaway from this trip to Groovy Donuts is I need to spend a little more time choosing the donuts. The vanilla long johns were fantastic. As for the other two donuts, I should have picked the Buttermilk glaze and the Frosted Raised. We’re not adventurous donut eaters. We like the simple things.
Groovy Donuts is a cool shop with a number of different flavor options. If you’re more of an adventurous eater, you’ll love this place. As for us, I just need to be better at picking, but there are great options for boring eaters like us.
SW Michigan Dining 