Latest / The Radio From Hell Show - Best Of / Donut Critic - Sidecare Doughnuts From January 20th, 2026

Transcript

Donut Critic - Sidecare Doughnuts From January 20th, 2026 · The Radio From Hell Show - Best Of

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: It's brought to you by Donuts.
• 0:03
  Speaker 2: Ben Gamin Lee is here, Ben Lee, the donut Critic.
• 0:07
  Speaker 2: You've really been delivering lately.
• 0:09
  Speaker 3: I know I've been bringing in donuts.
• 0:11
  Speaker 2: Yeah, it's the donut Critic. Now, last time you were here,
• 0:16
  Speaker 2: you brought in all that Pink Box donut place opened
• 0:19
  Speaker 2: a new story in American pork. Yeah.
• 0:21
  Speaker 4: I honestly don't know why I'm even standing right now
• 0:24
  Speaker 4: because I've had so many donuts and so many openings,
• 0:27
  Speaker 4: like Utah is really having a moment, a donut explosion.
• 0:32
  Speaker 4: Pink Box opening was crazy. There was a five hour
• 0:35
  Speaker 4: line on the grand opening.
• 0:38
  Speaker 1: Amazing five hours.
• 0:40
  Speaker 3: Five hours.
• 0:40
  Speaker 4: So I was getting text from people that said they
• 0:42
  Speaker 4: were still in line after being in line at eight am.
• 0:45
  Speaker 2: Wow. Man.
• 0:46
  Speaker 4: Yeah, So I was there and it was a little
• 0:48
  Speaker 4: bit chilly of the morning, but it delivered.
• 0:50
  Speaker 3: People were super happy.
• 0:52
  Speaker 1: And they're opening more locations of that too eventually.
• 0:55
  Speaker 4: Yeah, there's one in Sandy that they are working on.
• 0:57
  Speaker 4: But that is working on. But what I've brought intoday
• 1:01
  Speaker 4: is going to be equal and potentially more exciting for
• 1:05
  Speaker 4: most people.
• 1:06
  Speaker 5: This one's opening in Salt Lake. It's not open yet, right.
• 1:09
  Speaker 4: It's not open yet So this is a sneak peek.
• 1:11
  Speaker 4: You guys got some early donuts.
• 1:14
  Speaker 2: Wow.
• 1:15
  Speaker 1: Yes, so this this is Sidecar.
• 1:17
  Speaker 2: Donuts side Car Yes.
• 1:19
  Speaker 4: So if you've been following my Instagram, I've been teasing
• 1:22
  Speaker 4: this for a long time and it's one of those
• 1:24
  Speaker 4: things I would say I pray for. I prayed for
• 1:28
  Speaker 4: side Car Donuts.
• 1:29
  Speaker 1: Where have they been before? So they are a so cow.
• 1:34
  Speaker 4: Franchise, I guess you could say, I get No, they're
• 1:37
  Speaker 4: not franchise. They're all like owned the Yeah, but they
• 1:43
  Speaker 4: are throughout. So there's San Diego, there's Coast and Mesa,
• 1:45
  Speaker 4: there's Torrents, there's all over at La.
• 1:48
  Speaker 3: I think there's seven or eight of them.
• 1:50
  Speaker 4: I not have to get the official count, but I've
• 1:53
  Speaker 4: been to all of them down there and they always impress.
• 1:57
  Speaker 4: And the thing about these they are scratched made and
• 2:00
  Speaker 4: they're made throughout the day.
• 2:02
  Speaker 1: Ah, So it's not they make them in the morning
• 2:04
  Speaker 1: and have to last all.
• 2:05
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 2:05
  Speaker 4: And truly, there's a lot of donut shops that make
• 2:08
  Speaker 4: them at night or really early, so by the time
• 2:10
  Speaker 4: you get them, they're not fresh. These are made throughout
• 2:12
  Speaker 4: the day, high quality ingredients. You go in there, there's
• 2:17
  Speaker 4: stuff going on. You're seeing this maid. They have glass
• 2:20
  Speaker 4: in the back, you know, so you guys can all
• 2:21
  Speaker 4: see everything being made. Everything's coming out fresh. It's a
• 2:25
  Speaker 4: total different experience than Utah's you know.
• 2:28
  Speaker 1: Where this is. Remember bucket of spaghetti.
• 2:32
  Speaker 4: Oh yeah, what a glow up for that area. You know,
• 2:35
  Speaker 4: you go from bucket of spaghetti to sidecar donuts. That
• 2:39
  Speaker 4: is like the biggest glow up that you'll see in
• 2:41
  Speaker 4: Utah right now.
• 2:42
  Speaker 2: So if bacon one, that's a good one. That's maple
• 2:46
  Speaker 2: and bacon, Yes, really good. This is one of the
• 2:49
  Speaker 2: things I tell people.
• 2:50
  Speaker 4: I say, why don't you just throw out everything you've
• 2:54
  Speaker 4: had from other places and just start to dive into
• 2:58
  Speaker 4: the flavors here to find out what you really like
• 3:01
  Speaker 4: and want. Because their maple bacon is totally different than
• 3:04
  Speaker 4: other places. The bacon is very crispy, it's got a
• 3:07
  Speaker 4: good salt to it, and it's on a raised donut.
• 3:10
  Speaker 4: It's so delicious.
• 3:11
  Speaker 2: And you brought in a box on the other one.
• 3:14
  Speaker 4: The other that is a vegan macha strawberry, So there
• 3:18
  Speaker 4: are vegan options there, which is going to appeal to
• 3:21
  Speaker 4: a lot of people.
• 3:23
  Speaker 6: You brought in a this is sorted box and you
• 3:25
  Speaker 6: were having us pick which one, and I was having
• 3:27
  Speaker 6: a really hard time picking because there's so many good ones. Yes,
• 3:30
  Speaker 6: but I was curious about the butter and salt.
• 3:33
  Speaker 2: I never had. It's delicious.
• 3:37
  Speaker 5: I haven't tried it yet, so salt, how do you
• 3:39
  Speaker 5: go wrong with butter and salt.
• 3:41
  Speaker 4: So this is the thing that people need to remember
• 3:43
  Speaker 4: going to Sidecar too, is they're not overly sugary. And
• 3:47
  Speaker 4: that is one of the things that I love about
• 3:49
  Speaker 4: them because I can sit down and I can eat
• 3:51
  Speaker 4: two donuts without even thinking. And that's how I really
• 3:56
  Speaker 4: approach a dozen or how much I order. I always think, okay,
• 3:59
  Speaker 4: I'm gonna et too immediately because they're hot and fresh,
• 4:02
  Speaker 4: and then how many do I want to take to
• 4:04
  Speaker 4: the beach, to wherever.
• 4:05
  Speaker 3: But that's how you should approach it.
• 4:07
  Speaker 4: Too, is this is an experience where you want to
• 4:09
  Speaker 4: have that hot and fresh donut and then you can
• 4:12
  Speaker 4: take it and share it and whatnot.
• 4:13
  Speaker 2: But now this is a Now the consistency of the
• 4:16
  Speaker 2: donut itself, it's it's very cakey, bready almost. Yeah.
• 4:21
  Speaker 3: So they have cake donuts.
• 4:24
  Speaker 4: They have an old fashioned and then they do have
• 4:27
  Speaker 4: raised and so you get a mixture of those. The
• 4:31
  Speaker 4: dough and the base is just so good. And again
• 4:34
  Speaker 4: I've said this before. When you have a good base,
• 4:36
  Speaker 4: you can put almost anything on it. But they really
• 4:38
  Speaker 4: do a fantastic job.
• 4:40
  Speaker 6: And next time, I want to try this sigon cinnamon
• 4:44
  Speaker 6: crumb because I love a cinnamon crumb. But I didn't
• 4:46
  Speaker 6: know what the sigon part of it was.
• 4:48
  Speaker 3: Yep, it's a.
• 4:50
  Speaker 2: What I'm suspicious.
• 4:53
  Speaker 1: No, I know cinnamon, I don't know what makes it
• 4:57
  Speaker 1: a sigon.
• 4:58
  Speaker 2: Why not be adventurous and find out.
• 5:00
  Speaker 4: Well, the good news there's one in the box, so
• 5:02
  Speaker 4: you can grab ok but I'm sad that none of
• 5:06
  Speaker 4: you grabbed a huckleberry. That is my favorite flavor. I
• 5:09
  Speaker 4: love a fruity donut, but the huckleberry is just so good.
• 5:13
  Speaker 5: Well, I wanted to try the strawberry and I don't
• 5:16
  Speaker 5: regret it.
• 5:16
  Speaker 4: Okay, Well, well, now try thelow The huckleberry sounds good.
• 5:20
  Speaker 2: Now there's a sidecar Donuts. And you want to talk
• 5:23
  Speaker 2: about their coffee too.
• 5:25
  Speaker 4: Yeah, so they actually do a ton of coffee and
• 5:28
  Speaker 4: a ton of beverages down in LA. But they have
• 5:32
  Speaker 4: made a Utah specific drink menu. Oh and it's not
• 5:37
  Speaker 4: going to surprise us in Utah because we all love soda.
• 5:40
  Speaker 4: But in LA they don't have these soda pairings and
• 5:43
  Speaker 4: these soda items.
• 5:45
  Speaker 3: But they've brought it up to Utah.
• 5:47
  Speaker 4: They know the market and I'm super excited about it
• 5:49
  Speaker 4: because there are a lot of different flavors that they
• 5:51
  Speaker 4: are releasing and I just barely saw them today. I
• 5:54
  Speaker 4: tried one today. There's a butter brew which is a
• 5:58
  Speaker 4: butterscotch roop eer, a s'mores pepper which is a toasted
• 6:02
  Speaker 4: marshmallow doctor.
• 6:03
  Speaker 3: Pepper, Oh wow, a.
• 6:05
  Speaker 4: Mountain berry cream, a BlackBerry cream sprite, an Amaretto cherry
• 6:11
  Speaker 4: crush which is cherry almond diet coke, and then a
• 6:15
  Speaker 4: pineapple mountain dew.
• 6:17
  Speaker 3: That's what I had.
• 6:18
  Speaker 4: And these have Housemaid creams creamers in them, really, which
• 6:23
  Speaker 4: is such a difference. If you've had a coffee or
• 6:25
  Speaker 4: a drink with a housemade creamer instead of something that's
• 6:28
  Speaker 4: already pre manufactured. It is so delicious and creamy. It
• 6:32
  Speaker 4: makes a difference.
• 6:33
  Speaker 2: You know, there's butter and salt donut. It is really good.
• 6:36
  Speaker 2: But what I'm doing is I'm just picking the top
• 6:39
  Speaker 2: of it off and eating that part.
• 6:41
  Speaker 3: Well, honestly that I have it.
• 6:43
  Speaker 4: It is one of my favorite donuts to have with
• 6:46
  Speaker 4: a drink, So I have it with a glass of
• 6:47
  Speaker 4: milk or you know, other beverages. But that is one
• 6:51
  Speaker 4: of my favorites. It's got to be a huge So
• 6:54
  Speaker 4: they have a friend. Yeah, they have a free donut
• 6:57
  Speaker 4: Day on Thursday where you can come in and get
• 7:00
  Speaker 4: one free donut per person. It's going to be hectic
• 7:04
  Speaker 4: because I get so many this coming Thursday, and then
• 7:08
  Speaker 4: the official grand opening is on Friday.
• 7:11
  Speaker 2: Okay. So so it's right there on seventh East and
• 7:14
  Speaker 2: about twenty first seven.
• 7:15
  Speaker 4: Yep, kitty corner to the D. So if you know
• 7:16
  Speaker 4: where the DS is, it's on the where of course
• 7:20
  Speaker 4: I know where. Of course you know where the DES is.
• 7:24
  Speaker 4: But really this this is a you know, it's a
• 7:27
  Speaker 4: business that has just blown up because it's so high
• 7:30
  Speaker 4: quality and people love it. It started in twenty twelve
• 7:33
  Speaker 4: and it has just become a beloved place to visit
• 7:37
  Speaker 4: when I'm in La.
• 7:39
  Speaker 2: And they just mentioned the coffee. It says here that
• 7:43
  Speaker 2: they do a sourced coffee and espresso designed to pair
• 7:46
  Speaker 2: specifically with the.
• 7:47
  Speaker 4: Donuts, right, and that's what they were doing with the
• 7:50
  Speaker 4: sodas as well. Is I think it's really deliberate to
• 7:55
  Speaker 4: to make sure that it's a full experience. You go
• 7:57
  Speaker 4: in for a donut and you get a drink and
• 7:59
  Speaker 4: it all comes to in one good experience.
• 8:01
  Speaker 2: It says. So what's their website. It says follow Sidecar
• 8:05
  Speaker 2: Donuts for their they have seasonal specials and.
• 8:11
  Speaker 4: The easiest is on their Instagram. They're pretty active on Instagram,
• 8:14
  Speaker 4: and they have monthly flavors that come out. So this week,
• 8:19
  Speaker 4: I don't know if they'll have all of their specialties out.
• 8:22
  Speaker 4: They have the ones that we've already listed in old fashioned,
• 8:25
  Speaker 4: a Huckleberry, a Saigon, cimon crumble, they have a party
• 8:28
  Speaker 4: one with sprinkles, and they have a cookies of creem,
• 8:31
  Speaker 4: a regular glazed. But their specialties are some of my favorites.
• 8:36
  Speaker 4: They have like a basil and egg which is a
• 8:39
  Speaker 4: savory donut.
• 8:39
  Speaker 3: It's so delicious, wow. And they have a.
• 8:42
  Speaker 4: French toast going on or in February, so start looking
• 8:45
  Speaker 4: for that a French toast donut or French French toast donut.
• 8:50
  Speaker 4: They also have had a like a blueberry champagne, which
• 8:54
  Speaker 4: was so decadent and amazing. I had that one a
• 8:57
  Speaker 4: few years ago, and I dream of it. It's it's
• 9:00
  Speaker 4: living rent free in my head. Do they have a
• 9:01
  Speaker 4: drive up there or it is like the old just
• 9:06
  Speaker 4: the parking lot. Yeah, so they just have the parking lot,
• 9:09
  Speaker 4: and it is going to get hectic.
• 9:10
  Speaker 3: That is going to.
• 9:10
  Speaker 2: Get not a big parking lot, as I recall.
• 9:13
  Speaker 3: Yeah, I was looking around though.
• 9:15
  Speaker 4: Each of the different cross areas have different parking spots,
• 9:19
  Speaker 4: and so my guess is a lot of people are
• 9:21
  Speaker 4: going to park across the street and then just use
• 9:22
  Speaker 4: the crosswalk.
• 9:23
  Speaker 1: I think you want to go inside so you can
• 9:25
  Speaker 1: look at the case.
• 9:26
  Speaker 4: Well, yeah, you want Yeah, you want to go inside,
• 9:28
  Speaker 4: and honestly, like I said, plan to have one hot
• 9:31
  Speaker 4: and fresh when you're there. So if you have a
• 9:34
  Speaker 4: dozen that you're ordering, order one more and have that
• 9:37
  Speaker 4: while you're walking out to your car, because that is
• 9:39
  Speaker 4: an experience.
• 9:39
  Speaker 1: Wow, I like permission to have an extra donut.
• 9:44
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 9:44
  Speaker 3: You don't want to ruin your box and you don't
• 9:46
  Speaker 3: want people you want it.
• 9:47
  Speaker 6: To look all even when you bring it to the
• 9:50
  Speaker 6: party or wherever you're going.
• 9:51
  Speaker 3: Yeah, or your coworkers or you know, you.
• 9:54
  Speaker 1: Don't want them to know you ate a donut on
• 9:56
  Speaker 1: the way exactly.
• 9:57
  Speaker 2: You know. I I'm a and I just don't think
• 10:01
  Speaker 2: we deserve all of these good donuts.
• 10:03
  Speaker 3: No Utah is seriously blowing up.
• 10:05
  Speaker 4: I've said it's the third best, and it's creeping up
• 10:08
  Speaker 4: to be the second best donut place in the US.
• 10:11
  Speaker 4: And I think it's just gonna get better and better
• 10:14
  Speaker 4: because so many brands are recognizing that we're donut lovers.
• 10:17
  Speaker 3: In Utah is just such a hot spot.
• 10:19
  Speaker 4: Oh and I want to call this out too built
• 10:22
  Speaker 4: they have fritter Fridays. I wasn't able to get a
• 10:25
  Speaker 4: fritter today because it wasn't Friday. But what I'm saying,
• 10:31
  Speaker 4: if you like this base and you like this donut,
• 10:33
  Speaker 4: you're gonna love fritter Friday.
• 10:34
  Speaker 2: Oh man. And so these are great. And I keep
• 10:37
  Speaker 2: finding little bits of bacon really good, really good. That's
• 10:43
  Speaker 2: Ben Lee, the donut Critic. Follow him on Instagram. How
• 10:46
  Speaker 2: do they find you?
• 10:47
  Speaker 3: Yep, Instagram donut Critic.
• 10:49
  Speaker 4: D O N U T C R I T I
• 10:52
  Speaker 4: C but just no sidecard donuts is d O U
• 10:55
  Speaker 4: G n.
• 10:56
  Speaker 1: G H and U T s the prop the proper
• 10:59
  Speaker 1: spell traditional tritiy.
• 11:01
  Speaker 4: Yes, thank you, Ben, thank you bet aniss a
• 11:04
  Speaker 2: Polish question, all right,