When Lawrence Shipley Sr., Lillie Shipley, and Helen Shipley posed with employees at the original Shipley Do-Nuts bakery at 1417 Crockett Street in 1936, glazed doughnuts were selling for five cents a dozen. Shipley’s Donuts are an old Houston tradition, but are we loyal because of nostalgia or because of the way they taste?

A recent sampling of a Shipley’s raised glazed doughnut and a Shipley’s raised sugar donut left me pretty impressed. The glazed was so moist, it stuck together after one bite. The sugar-coated donut was not quite as moist as the glazed, but still tasty. A plain cake donut was boring.

The Shipley glazed donut was not as light and fluffy as the Southern Maid donut I recently sampled. But I may need to consider another sample. I bought these doughnuts at the Shipley’s at I -10 and Kirkwood. Shipley’s fans tell me that there’s a lot of variation from one location to the next. Some insist that the oldest Shipley’s locations are the best. Anybody have any recommendations about which Shipley’s is the standard bearer?

This article appears in Oct 15-21, 2009.