A Bit of 'French' Culture at Jax Donuts in Anaheim

Dave Lieberman

​Jax Donuts in Anaheim has gotten more press than doughnut shops normally do because of Gustavo's writing about the coffee klatsch of men from his parents' home ranchos in Zacatecas who hang out there and sip and talk.

They're very nice people, they tease my daughter and make her giggle, and they have some awesome tejana hats, but that's not why I go to Jax.

No, I go to Jax because they are one of the only places in Orange County that can successfully make my favorite doughnut in the entire world: the chocolate-covered French cruller.

A French cruller is just pâte à choux (cream-puff dough) that's been piped into a doughnut shape and fried. Inside, it's airy, slightly buttery and light, serving as a great foil for a thin smear of chocolate dip on top. As doughnuts go, they're the least calorically invasive, too, but I go for the texture, not the diet book.

Jax's French crullers are spot-on 80 percent of the time. They're light, slightly crispy, a little soft and eggy on the inside, and I crave them. The other 20 percent of the time, they're like little French-cruller-shaped hockey pucks. The times I get hockey pucks are dark, dark days, indeed, but fortunately, they're usually excellent, particularly in the morning. Though the shop is open 24 hours a day, go early; the crullers are popular and sell out quickly.

Jax Donuts, 122 W. Lincoln, Anaheim, (714) 999-0632.