Great Doughnuts: A Baker's Dozen

Part deux: After taking a stab at listing America’s top 10 doughnut shops, we heard from readers – so here are 13 more favorites.

By Bret Stetka for MSN City Guides

Some time ago, I recommended 10 doughnut shops around the country worthy of the designation "America's Best Doughnuts." And if I learned anything from the barrage of reader feedback I received it's that Americans take their doughnuts VERY seriously (I'm basing this primarily on the liberal use of all-caps, bolded font and exclamation points on the message board). I also learned that the best doughnut shop in the country is whichever one happens to be in the reader's hometown, making it mathematically difficult to please everybody with a 10-shop list.

So in response to the doughnut obsessed American public – especially all you fried-dough fiends from Indianapolis – I've put together a second doughnut list based mostly on reader comments, with a few of my favorites thrown in which unfortunately I had to omit the first time around.

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More about food from MSN:

• Sound off: Your favorite doughnuts?
• America's Best Doughnuts, Part 1
• A Sweet Little Road Trip
• The Country's Best Cupcakes

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Now I know many of you feel the best doughnuts are fried by franchised establishments like Shipley's, Lamar's and a certain mega-chain that misspells the word "crispy." And it's not like I'm fundamentally opposed to these places; some of them make really good doughnuts. In fact once in San Antonio I skipped a trip to the Alamo in favor of one last encounter with a Shipley's glazed – and this coming from someone who used to run around the backyard in a faux coon-skin cap pretending to be Davy Crockett.

But for the purposes of this list I'll be focusing on independent, small-town doughnut shops, plus a few urban strays which maintain a local neighborhood feel. In general, these places have tastier doughnuts, friendlier clientele and employees, and more interesting décor in a retro-Americana kind of way. And once again feel free to berate me on the message board for neglecting your favorite, but first check part 1 to make sure I haven't already covered it.