Brown's Doughnuts at the Jersey Shore

Time to Eat the Doughnuts

You must travel to the Jersey shore to taste the doughnuts. I’m not talking about the TV show. This has nothing to do with JWoww and Snooki looking for meat heads at the beach or late nights with lots of fist pumping.

Visit the shore in south Jersey. Everyone who visits Brown’s in Ocean City, NJ can agree on the doughnuts. I'm full out fist pumping for these hot cake doughnuts. For me, they’re the best thing about the Jersey shore. 
I’m from Maryland. I don’t go to Ocean City, MD. Instead my family has a house in Ocean City, NJ which is drastically different from its Maryland twin. It’s a small island in Jersey that's a twenty minute drive from Atlantic City. The island has earned the name, “America’s Best Family Resort.”
For 3-4 months out of the year the island is alive with amusement parks, nice beaches, boardwalk life, arcades, and good food. There are great seafood restaurants and places you have to eat at, but Brown’s doughnuts sit at the top of the list. They have built a boardwalk empire near the first street beach.

The King of Doughnuts at the Shore

Visitors bike two miles from the opposite end of the boardwalk just to wait in line for at least 30 minutes, if they’re lucky, for this breakfast treat. They stand in a designated area, under the hot sun or rain if they have to, pushed against the boardwalk railing hoping not to get clipped by passing bikers and joggers.

The Doughnut Line

I live a couple houses off the beach. I don't buy doughnuts every day or else I’d be twenty pounds heavier. But whenever a majority of my family visits our beach house, we wake up early to get the doughnuts. Usually I’m sent to the doughnut line with several of my nieces and nephews.

When it’s finally our turn to order we ask for a dozen or two. I prefer the chocolate and vanilla glazed, but if the kids want a honey, powdered, or cinnamon and sugar, I make a few exceptions.

From the window the kids and I can see the doughnuts being freshly made. The dough is squeezed out into small doughnut shapes onto a conveyor belt filled with steaming hot oil. It flips them once and then they slide into the finished bowl waiting for the toppings. 

I Need One For My House

The doughnut makers dip the doughnuts into the icing and honey bowls or shake them in bags with powdered sugar.

At home everyone crowds around the dining room table eager to choose their doughnut. The glasses of milk are poured and as I bite into the hot doughnut it melts in my mouth. You can't eat more than 2-4 or you'll be sedated for the next few hours.

Have you ever been to Brown’s in Ocean City, NJ? What’s your favorite doughnut place? What’s your favorite doughnut?