We recently found out that Mike’s Donut’s & Chicken in Kenosha, Wisconsin closed for good, with the goodbye quote of, “We believe the future is bright in downtown Kenosha and look forward to passing on the reins and watching this beautiful property develop into an entirely new concept over the next several months.” Not sure if that is still going to be the case now considering… well… 2020, but let us reflect back on the light shining in this darkness that is the Nacho Donut.
There exists a Nacho Donut. Enough said? No, not nearly enough said.
Through most of its existence the doughnut (or in America known as the “Donut” following the rise of popularity of Dunkin’ Donuts chain in the 1950’s) was little more than a hand sized torus shaped cake with a light glaze of frosting, but no longer. The United States, doing what it does best, said, “This deep fried cake is fatty and bad for you, but is it fatty and bad for you ENOUGH?” The answer was of course, “No.”, which lead to a donut topping revolution .
Chic and artisanal donut and doughnut stores across the country have been making funny shaped donuts and crazily betoppinged doughnuts for years now. Be they shaped like voodoo dolls, pentagrams, or cocks and balls, topped in bacon, candy, or the sugary cereals of your youth, or even 10 times the size of a regular dessert, the donut revolution is well and truly underway. You’re going to hate to hear it, but I’m going to lay a hard truth on you: this revolution is a snoozefest.
Ooh, you stretched the dough into a sexual shape, subversive! Ooh, look at you, you’re putting tasty treats on top of a delicious donut, so edgy! Ooh, bacon tastes good on a donut? Of course it does, bacon tastes good on everything! At best these are baby steps in improving the donut, but when is someone going to step up and take a stride towards truly changing the game? Ladies and gentlemen, that hero is here, and it’s Mike’s Donut’s & Chicken in Kenosha, Wisconsin.
In a world where heroes like Superman will straight up murder a guy by snapping their neck now, it’s refreshing that someone out there is doing an honest day’s work by combining two of America’s favorite past times; donuts, and nachos. Mike’s speciality here is a tasty little concoction of nacho cheese, tortilla chips, sour cream, housemade guac and pico ALL ON A FREAKING DONUT. I don’t know what heaven tastes like, but I imagine this has to be pretty close.
There are a lot of unanswered questions about this bad boy, questions that may or may not determine if you eat it. Questions like: How many calories is this? Is this a breakfast nacho or is it a dessert nacho? Is this even a nacho at all, or is it a donut? How did I get so lucky to live in a time when such an item of food as this exist? The one thing that is definitely not in question though is whether or not you should eat it, because you should 100% absolutely consume this, and do so repeatedly.
In 1938 the Salvation Army created National Doughnut Day to honor their members who served doughnuts to soldiers during World War One, and the tradition continues to this day on the first Friday of June. I wouldn’t recommend waiting that long to give these a try as the jury is still out on these will become a regular menu item (Mike’s Donuts & Chicken, make these a regular menu item) so you should get them while you can, just in case. If you still think these sound strange, just think of the Finnish lihapiirakka (meat doughnut) or the Japanese red bean paste filled an-dōnatsu before you worry yourself and judge a delicious order of nachos with a hint of cakey sweetness that you can have with your coffee in the morning.