Blue Collar Joe's

I feel a great need to write a review of this infant donut shop as it enters the Danville, VA landscape.

If you are driving up 81 in the Blue Ridge mountains, take 150B, bear to the right (two lanes bear to the right, one to the left- go right!). At the next stop light, take a right and try not to get back on the interstate. Then go straight for just a couple of minutes. You'll see Kroger on the left side of the road and that's your clue to start looking for this flagpole on the left:



Get into the left turn lane and pull into Blue Collar Joe's. Park and prepare for some of the best fresh homemade donuts available. Each cake donut tells a story with it's toppings of coconut shreds, toffee, crumbled chocolate, thick coats of frosting, and I think I saw a few with crushed nuts. There was a couple of plain old glazed and blueberry glazed- and at the end of the row was a very tasty pumpkin glazed. I landed up with a Caramel apple donut (apple donut with caramel drizzled) and a Botetourt(??) Bog donut (chocolate donut with thick chewy chocolate frosting and crumbled chocolate crumbs). These were darn good donuts.

The couple that owns and runs the joint are upbeat and adorable. I worked with one of the owner's at the hospital (speech therapist by day, donut dealer by weekend!) and she's one of those rare people with scruples and an endless amount of energy. They are dog people, as you can tell by both the logo and the pictures of their puppies on the back wall, but I know they'll serve cat people there too. The donut shop itself is converted from an old gas station- the middle payment area of the old gas station will soon become a two way drive through. The prices are comparable to other donut shops, but the donuts are far superior to usual chain donuts. It's only a few minutes from the exit, and there's a few gas stations and a shopping center that make this a perfect stop along the mountainous 81 stretch.

In an economy that's struggling, it's nice to see a new business take a brave step into the shaky world. From the fast-paced flow of business I saw this morning (and the taste of the donuts and coffee), it's going to do just fine.

Good luck Blue Collar!