Hurts Donut, a donut restaurant that was formerly located only in Lincoln that Omaha customers could get to, announced in 2019 that they would be opening a Hurts in Omaha in 2020. They were hoping to open in March or April, but COVID-19 kept pushing their opening date back. People on food-lover pages and food magazines were anticipating this opening, and many wondered if they would open or if COVID-19 would stop the construction of the Omaha location.

Luckily for Omaha, Hurts announced they would be having their grand opening on September 30th, and nothing would hold them back from opening their doors to the public. 

Hurts, located off 120th and Blondo, claims they are open 365 days a year, eight days a week and 25 hours a day.

I was able to attend the grand opening on September 30th. They opened for the first time at 5 a.m., and the lines were ridiculous. If customers were in a hurry, they could buy a pre-boxed dozen for $15 with popular donuts such as the Cookie Monster, Little Timmy, Jesus and Fruity Pebbles in it. 

In total, Hurts made roughly 20,000 donuts, and by the end of the day, the flavors were limited.

Going at noon was a wise decision; I waited only about 15 minutes before choosing what donuts I wanted and buying my first box of Hurts. 

I got the Little Dirty, which is half a dozen donuts. I wanted to choose my donuts as I am picky about what I eat and wanted to make sure I would be getting my money’s worth. These donuts do not come at a low price, but their quality is worth it. 

I got the Little Timmy, Jesus, Classic Sprinkle, PBJ, Cotton Candy and the Oreo Cheesecake donuts. I was amazed at the size and perfection of the donuts. The ones that had sprinkles had every inch covered in them, while the ones that had just glaze or frosting looked almost too good to eat. 

One of my favorite things that happened while I was there was when I chose the Cotton Candy donut. The employee pulled out a bucket of cotton candy and put some in the middle of my donut. I was amazed, cotton candy on a donut? Not something you see every day.

If wanted, I could’ve eaten donuts on their patio, but I decided to go home and eat them. I wanted to take a small section of each donut to try and enjoy.

The first donut I cut into was the Little Timmy. The Little Timmy was covered in hard, round sprinkles with an animal cookie in the middle hole. Under the sprinkles was plain vanilla frosting. Taking a bite, I was struck by the sweetness of the dough and the frosting. The sprinkles gave it an added touch, and it was perfect. 

The next donut I tried was their Jesus donut. This donut must have gotten its name from being so “holy.” The flavors were immaculate, and only taking a small section of this to sample would’ve been a sin. The Jesus was one of my most favorite donuts I had. It was covered in brown sugar frosting with a maple glaze dripped over it. It then was sprinkled with brown sugar. It wasn’t overly sweet, which I love. The thick maple glaze and frosting combination was perfect; it tasted like a maple syrup waffle. Add the crunch of the brown sugar, and it left me licking my lips for any last taste of it. 

The Classic Sprinkle donut was next on my list. When I think of a classic sprinkle donut, I think of plain white frosting and the long red and green sprinkles on top. Classic Sprinkle shouldn’t even be classified with that type of donut. With a thick white frosting on the bottom, it was covered in small pink sprinkles that covered the frosting completely. This donut was not only delicious but beautiful on the outside. The sprinkles were like rock candy. Biting into them, they popped and crunched underneath my teeth, tasting like a sugary piece of strawberry candy. This donut could be called simple, but once bitten into, I would say it is extravagant in taste and texture. 

The PB&J donut came after, and I was amazed at the taste. It was covered in a thick layer of peanut butter frosting with sugary jam plopped in the middle. Eating it, I was stunned that it tasted  just like a PB&J sandwich. There was no difference between them. If I had been handed a PB&J sandwich while eating this donut blindfolded, I would have never tasted the difference. The ratio of the peanut butter and the jam was perfect, the peanut butter didn’t overpower the jam, and the jam helped sweeten the donut and give it a more of a fruity taste than just salty peanuts. 

The Cotton Candy donut caught my eye by the colors and design of the frosting. It was a bright pink frosting with baby blue stripes. With cotton candy shoved in the middle of the hole, I was ready to try it. The frosting was almost hard to cut into with my knife.. It was sticky and seemed more like it coated and stuck to the donut then just nicely layered on top. Biting it, I was met with an intense flavor of blue raspberry and strawberry.

The last donut I tried was the Oreo Cheesecake. This donut was the most extravagant looking and most giant donut I got. It was covered in a layer of white frosting with graham cracker crumbs on it. In the middle hole were cheesecake filling and Oreo cookies. I didn’t know there would be filling in the middle, and I was shocked and excited to try it. I am not a huge fan of cheesecake, but this cheesecake donut was something I could have as an alternative to cheesecake. It was creamy and soft, tasting like real Oreo cheesecake, only better. I will say I wish the Oreo cookies on top had been crunchy because they were almost soggy and seemed to have their flavor washed away. If the cookies had a crunch to them, I feel this would complete the donut

In total, Hurts Donuts is impressive. They have offered over 70 options of donuts, pastries and drinks. Going here, you won’t find it hard to find they have something for everyone, whether it’s a super sweet donut,an original donut or just a fun coffee to drink. I highly recommend this place for delicious donuts and great service.