Ray's Pastries

I'm not a donut aficionado. I'm way more chocolate than pastry. More caramel than filo. More mousse than sprinkles. However, there is something special, I think, about a warm donut fresh out of the oven once in blue moon.

That brings me to Ray's Pastries. Apparently this gem has been around since 1966 baking up donuts, cookies, cakes, pies, pepperoni rolls and bread. But I didn't know about it until fairly recently. That could be because it's hidden in a small plaza just behind Long John Silver's in Sabraton. That's 1383 Earl Core Road for those of you keeping track (304-296-5105).

When I walked in, all I could see is one long counter encasing pastries of all sorts. My friend Tony and I quickly decided that we basically need one of everything. Maple-glaze cake donuts, chocolate twist donuts, coconut coated, lemon-filled, powdered, blueberry, glazed, Bavarian-cream donuts! We got a dozen. As well as a bag of pepperoni rolls. And a large provolone cheese pepperoni roll. And a large hot pepper cheese pepperoni roll.

But the woman behind the counter was so sweet and helpful, it was difficult not to. I also probably shouldn't have admitted it was our first time, because then she wanted us to try a little of everything. So we did.

They don't take credit cards here, so make sure you have cash or checks on you. I think altogether, we spent about $22 on this carb-coma-induced lunch. We started splitting donuts so we could taste a little bit of most of them. The pepperoni rolls weren't bad. I had a few bites where it was totally dough, and I like my pepperoni/cheese combo to be split up a little bit more evenly. I enjoyed the hot pepper cheese ones slightly more, as they had a little bit more of a kick. The bag of pepperoni rolls didn't include cheese, actually, but my coworkers seemed to like them.

While the donuts weren't warm by the time we got back to the office (or I'm not sure if they were under the case, either), they were still pretty tasty. A simple glazed donut had a bit of a crisp to the outside with a soft, pillowy inside. Quite tasty. Some of my other favorites include the maple cake donut, too, as a cake donut is just good. Crumbly, thick, filling with a nice maple frosting on top. And, of course, any filled donut is a friend of mine. We don't have a ton of places in town offering pastries, so this place is filling a nice little niche. And not doing a bad job of it.

Grade: B