Best Donuts in Fairfield County: Westport’s Coffee An’…

Entertainment Weekly Senior Writer, Chris Nashawaty, and former President Bill Clinton share a similar passion...Coffee An' Donuts. One of them (I'll let you guess who) speaks of his local addiction below:

Don’t get me wrong, Dunkin’ Donuts is fine when you’re racing around, running errands, and need a quick pick-me-up. But if you’re on the hunt for a hot, sugary, glazed ring of deep-fried love—I mean a real ‘destination donut’–the conversation begins and ends with Coffee An’ in Westport.

Nestled into a small, anonymous cluster of mom-and-pop shops (dry-cleaner, hardware, liquor, newsstand) on Main Street, Coffee An’ looks like your typical suburban greasy spoon. Except, of course, for the line of hungry customers snaking from the front door on Sunday mornings. Run by an older Greek couple (the Vladises) for decades, the tiny shop is what a truth-stretching real estate broker would call “cozy”. In truth, it’s a shoe box-sized joint with a few tightly-packed tables and a horseshoe counter where in-the-know locals while away weekday mornings with the New York Times crossword and a bottomless cup of joe, making small-talk with the old-school waiters and waitresses while noshing on a feta-and-spinach omelette or a simple-but-perfect egg sandwich.

But let’s be clear, the stars here are the donuts, which sit in a glass case at the front counter, arranged in tidy rows like well-behaved school children awaiting roll call. You won’t find any fancy flavors or distracting, razzle-dazzle sprinkles, just the basics done to perfection:

-Glazed: if you’re lucky enough to get one of these babies just out of the oven, not only will they melt in your mouth like cotton candy, they’re so gooey, they’ll make a transparent stain on your to-go bag by the time you get back to your car.

-Jelly: doughy, covered in powdered sugar, and bursting with so much berry jam you’ll want to get a few extra napkins, or, heck, even a bib.

-Plain, Powdered and Cinnamon Powdered: these are the traditional cake-style donuts cops have been munching on stake-outs for decades. At Coffee An’ they’re always moist and fresh on the inside and slightly crunchy on the outside.

-Chocolate Glazed and Chocolate Frosted: As decadent and heavenly as you’d expect. But you’ll have to get there early for the Chocolate Frosted, they run out early.

-Crueller: The standard crueller is flat-out amazing, but the coconut-twist glazed crueler is otherwordly—it’s like something only aliens could have invented. In theory, these are probably big enough for two people to split. (Notice I said, “in theory”).

If, at this point, you’re still not convinced to hop in the car and head to this Fairfield County institution, then let me add this: Bill Clinton, a man who, let’s be honest, seems like he’s tasted a few of our fair nation’s finest donuts over the years, was so obsessed with Coffee An, that he would have the donuts shipped down to the White House for Cabinet meetings. Now, if that’s not a persuasive testimonial, I don’t know what is.

Coffee An’ 353 Main Street, Westport. 203.227.3808