To continue our Boston area tour, just north of Boston on U.S. Highway 1 lies Saugus, MA. The highway is a crazy, hair-raising stretch through Saugus. Six lanes wide, but with driveways and cross-streets, and the traffic moving at 50 to 60mph while cars are trying to make left turns across the highway! The stretch is lined with neon signs that make it well worth the drive at night, including the famous Hilltop Steak House’s huge neon cactus (erected in 1964), the spectacular Kowloon Polynesian restaurant, and the Prince pizzeria with a neon leaning tower of Pisa. For dinner I skipped the Hilltop because the interior is updated and nothing special, and instead headed for the Kowloon with much excitement. Unfortunately, it was a real letdown. Greasy, bland food, watery tropical drinks with cheap rum, and inattentive service. The decor is a mishmash of cheesy, cheap decorations, ugly art, and the lighting is too bright for a tiki establishment. I’m a big fan of tiki bars and Polynesian Pop restaurants, but despite my usual lowering of standards I was disappointed.
I felt better just walking in to Kane’s Donuts, in the old part of Saugus since 1955. In 2010 Bon Apettit magazine put Kane’s on their list of the top 10 best donut places in the U.S., one of only four older donut shops on the list (the others are in St. Louis, Los Angeles, and Round Rock, TX). I ordered up one of their famous honey dipped raised donuts and a PB & J donut, frosted with peanut butter glaze and filled with black raspberry jelly that was better than any jelly in a donut I’ve ever had (more like a jam consistency instead of the usual cornstarch-filled, gummy texture). Both donuts were super delicious!
P,B & J donut
Kane’s Donuts
120 Lincoln Ave, Saugus, MA 01906
(781) 233-8499
Open Mon-Fri 3:30am – 8pm, Sat 3:30am – 5pm, Sun 3:30am – 1pm
