Sam and the great Grandad’s donut challenge
Sam Allen is devoted to the chocolate dip from the popular North End shop that serves up classic donuts. Will he find something he loves as much? He and his dad spent their summer sampling sweet fried treats in Hamilton and Burlington. Read on to find out the donut decision.
Our youngest, Sam, loves donuts. Well, one donut to be precise. The chocolate dip donut from Grandad’s. In a town that has some intersections with a national chain donut shop on two of the four corners, we sure do love our donuts. Sam is no exception.
For almost three years, we went to Grandad’s every Friday afternoon after school. Sam got his allowance, and learned how to pick out loonies, toonies, and quarters to make the $2 he needed for his favourite treat.
At one point, the staff knew what he was going to order, and would go into the back to see if the fresh chocolate dips were just out of the fryer so he could have them at their peak.
When Sam started high school, he joined what is called a comprehensive special education class. In this class, students don’t just learn academics, they learn valuable life skills. And the one we asked his teacher to focus on was learning how money works.
When you think about it, money is an incredibly abstract concept. Hand someone a blue plastic rectangle with an old guy’s face on it, and they give you a cup of coffee and a few shiny metal discs in return. Make it make sense.
We knew that understanding how money worked would be a crucial life skill for Sam. But how to teach him? We decided that a weekly allowance was a good start, but what would he spend his money on? Aside from the odd Scooby Doo comic or DVD, Sam’s needs were met. He wanted for almost nothing.
Enter the Grandad’s chocolate dip donut.
But maybe it was time to branch out a little, and try something new? This summer Sam and I decided we would explore some old and new donut shops across Hamilton and Burlington to see how they measured up. Would they be as good as a chocolate dip from Grandad’s?
There was only one way to find out.
The champion
First stop was, you guessed it, Grandad’s. Sam and I stopped by to chat with Carly Grant about everything Grandad’s one afternoon. Grant and her cousin Samantha Whipps started at Grandad’s when they were 13 years old, when Whipps’ mom Barb owned the shop. In 2024, Barb wanted to retire and the two cousins bought her out, keeping the business in the family. Grant’s favourite part of running the shop is the community. She calls it the “Grandad’s cult” and they’ve stood by the new owners through thick and thin. On top of the everyday details of managing the store, the two owners split the online duties for keeping their adoring fans up-to-date – Whipps on Instagram and Grant on Facebook.
They also do a lot of fundraising with hockey teams and school fundraisers, including one for W.H. Ballard Elementary School that needed 300 dozen honey dip donuts. “Curtis (the baker) was not happy with me,” Grant admitted with a chuckle.
Sam remembered the Curious George story when the monkey accidentally orders 100 dozen donuts and thought this was hilarious.
Sam had – a chocolate dip. It was exactly the perfect donut he expected. I had a dutchie fresh from the fryer and it was warm, perfectly sweet, and not too chewy, with just enough raisins.
Surely Grandad’s would be hard to beat.
The contenders
Next we were off to Burlington for the appropriately named Sunshine Donut Company on Brock Avenue just a few steps away from Spencer Smith Park. This store had my favourite décor of any shop we visited – an impeccable small town Ontario lakefront/Southern California treat shop vibe.
Kim and Bartholomew Nadherny are the owners. Kim hails from southern California with a background in design, while Bart is a slow-food expert with a commitment to his craft.
Bright pinks and blues are the order of the day, and the donuts are just as cheerful. Sam and I settled on an apple fritter for me and a chocolate sprinkle donut for him. Basically a chocolate dip with sprinkles. Close enough.
The apple fritter was, quite frankly, a meal. An enormous confection with a good balance of sweet and cinnamon, and nice chunks of apples. I did not get a taste of Sam’s also very large donut because by the time I looked over, he had eaten the chocolate topping off the whole thing.
“Are you going to finish it?” I asked. “Let’s take it home instead,” he insisted. While he didn’t end up finishing it, the topping at least was a big hit.
Onward we went to Momoco in Hamilton. This store has a very different atmosphere. It’s a little hole-in-the-wall on Catherine Street a few doors north of King. The offshoot of the Mysweetooth Bakery, this sparsely decorated shop specializes in alternate flours and exotic flavours.
Here, flavours such as matcha sit side by side with honey bun and several donuts are made with mochi. It was explained to us that mochi flour is finely ground rice, so it’s gluten-free and a little more dense than wheat-flour donuts.
We got a honey bun for Sam and I tried a chocolate hazelnut mochi donut. I quite enjoyed it. It had a chewy texture but was flavourful, and the semi-sweet chocolate topping was excellent. The toasted hazelnut shavings were a nice touch.
Sam did not enjoy his honey bun sugar donut. This is definitely a shop for people more adventurous than Sam.
Next, we made our way to the OG of Hamilton gourmet donut shops, Donut Monster. Started in 2018 by Heidi and Reuben Vanderkwaak, it was part of what I call the “glucose wars” on Locke Street. For a brief while, Donut Monster, Cake and Loaf, and Bitten all battled to see who could make the sweetest treats. While the dust has largely settled on that, donuts continue to be a neighbourhood favourite.
Vanessa Faber, the manager, loves the art of making donuts and the pride she feels when a customer really enjoys her creations. However, she takes extra pride in the bakery’s savoury donuts. Donut Monster specializes in non-sweet flavours such as jalapeno, pickle, and kimchi. “Not everyone goes for the savoury ones,” says Faber, “but those who love them, really love them.”
I had a vanilla dip donut, kind of an exotic version of a honey dip. Sam had a vanilla sprinkle donut. Not a chocolate dip, so would it pass the test? Sam ate almost the whole thing (to be fair, it was huge) and pronounced it “very good.”
Mine was very tasty, with a fluffy texture and strong, but not overpowering, vanilla. A little bit sweet for every day, but I can see the appeal.
Heading into the home stretch, we visited one of the oldest and most established shops in the city: Donut Stop on Parkdale Avenue near Burlington Street.
This venerable institution has the most down-home feel of any shop we visited, with an authentic diner counter and a location in the heart of Hamilton’s industrial sector. Service is always fast and friendly, and they have a large selection of classic flavours, but they also have some more exotic selections, such as SKOR and caramel donuts.
You’re never going to guess what Sam ordered.
His chocolate dip met his expectations, and while he didn’t seem as enthusiastic about it as he had some of the others, he did finish the whole thing very quickly.
My double chocolate was a solid, working-class classic Hamilton donut. At Donut Stop, half the reason to go there is for the vibes anyway.
Our last stop was Café Baffico on King Street East near the Delta. While more than just a donut shop, as it is a full café, its fame lies in sourdough donuts. In February 2025, a popular TikTok food influencer discovered the unique texture and flavours, and things got very busy. One staff member describes line ups out the door from open to close.
“It was too much.”
Café Baffico has settled into a more manageable routine, but even still, it sells out often. When we went on a Wednesday at 4:30 p.m., they had two donuts left. We were told to come back the next day because we needed to try the maple glaze fritter.
We did. They were not wrong. It was fantastic. A little on the sweet side for me, but I loved the chewy sourdough texture and the perfect amount of maple in the glaze. Definitely worth the wait.
As for Sam? Well, no chocolate dip. We ordered a cream-filled chocolate covered donut with peanut sprinkles, and Sam was having none of it. His mom ate it instead and enjoyed the chocolate, the texture, and how it was just a little less sweet than most donuts. She said she would choose it over Grandad’s Boston cream, but certainly not over its cherry loop.
The results
In the end, after all our adventures, Sam’s choice for his favourite treat was … not a donut at all. Over the course of the past few months, he has shifted his requested Friday afternoon snack from a donut to a slice of pepperoni pizza from Queen’s Pizza and Wings. In fact, convincing him to get a donut and not one of the tempting slices at Baffico took some fast talking.
Sam is still learning how money works, and now he knows very well the delicious power of a toonie.
Me? I kind of miss my occasional Friday walnut crunch, but can take comfort that Hamilton has so many delicious – and independent – options for the donut lover to choose from.
Jason Allen is the former host of The Environmental Urbanist, and a frequent contributor to HAMILTON CITY Magazine, and has been encouraging Hamiltonians to explore the outdoors for almost two decades. He's also the author of 52 Things to Do in Hamilton: The Insider's Guide to Fun in the Hammer.
