The sad thing is how much press this company's failure has gotten. I've seen it at the BBC and all over the place. It's a regional chain. If Top Pot goes out of business it doesn't mean the "donut is dead". Dunkin Donuts going out of business would be the best thing for donuts.

Maybe Rupert Murdoch just hates cupcakes.

But there is definitely a cupcake-saturation point, and in a number of neighborhoods it has been exceeded. Crumbs won't be the only casualty.

Oh my god, who the fuck cares?

I wouldn't call Cupcake Royale delicious.

That's funny, Dan. For a few years there, The Stranger and Slog seemed to be trying to make precisely that proclamation. Not you in particular - it was one of the food critics, can't remember which one now - but it stuck in my mind because the tone was of the posts was rather superior and suggesting that we all agree because she said so. Eventually whoever it was gave up, fortunately, because they couldn't have been more wrong.

Mmm .. Bagels

@1 Actually Dunkin Donuts going out of business would indeed be a bad thing. For national chain donuts (and there are only 2 national chains) they have the best. Admittedly the only other national chain is Krispy Kreme so it is sort of a no brainer on best donuts by a national chain. If Hortons ever decides to go nationwide then they might have competition. Till that happens just you don't want DK out of business.

But the real reason it would be a bad thing isn't actually the donuts, it is the coffee. You know, the stuff that is regularly tagged as the best chain coffee in the US? The stuff the cops are off drinking when they aren't out harassing people? I'm sure you have at least heard of the stuff since it is supposedly the basis for the junk that Starbucks sells (order a plain coffee at most Starbucks and it will easily take 10 minutes to get it since they seldom actually have coffee available).

Do you really want cops that have nothing better to do than stop at DK for coffee to have to find things to do? Especially with the rep that SPD has? And I thought I knew some real masochists but you just might have them beat with that one.

So no you don't want DK to go out of business. They don't have the absolute best donuts (by a long shot) but they do have good to the (very) occasional great donuts. There are a lot of places selling worse donuts that better ones.

The fact that cupcake stores exist at all is almost as embarrassing as the fact that there is a fucking popcorn store in ballard.

Slow news day, apparently.

@9 There aren't any Dunkin Donuts in this state any more and yet we still manage to find donuts.

Tim Hortons?! I actually went last time I was in Canada and, no, it was bad.

@1: Sure, a $2.50 Top Pot doughnut tastes better than an 89-cent one from Dunkins. Doesn't mean Dunks should go out of business. Don't be such a snob.

I miss Dunkin Donuts. Sometimes you don't want "artisanal" or "gourmet" or even "specialty". Sometimes you just want to sit quietly with something plain and listen to the despair.

But cupcakes. That's some demented BS right there, no matter what kind you get. It's just wrong. If you're over eight years old you should not ever put a cupcake in your face, and even then if you enjoy them you're certain to grow up into the kind of person I don't like. It's the food equivalent of listening to "The Wheels On The Bus Go Round And Round" on your headphones in a public place and singing along.

Fuck Cupcake Royale and their $3.65 cupcakes.

@ 14, we all know how you feel about cake, so color everyone not surprised that that extends to cupcakes. And we also know the things you do like to eat and drink, which render most of your screeds against the things you don't moot.

I'm convinced that Cupcake Royale now has the best ice cream in the city. Among its ice cream's considerable charms is that they freeze it at exactly the right temperature for immediate eating. None of that frozen solid bullshit. That said, Cupcake Royale has the worst cupcakes outside of a grocery store, and it's worth noting that most grocery stores in this area mainly carry Cupcake Royale cupcakes.

Trophy and Yellow Leaf are where it's at.

@16, I have the tastes of an attractive, sophisticated bon vivant; an adult (I am sipping a glass of Dubonnet Rouge as I type this). It is unsurprising that those with the tastes of small children find those alarming, much as four-year-olds hate the taste of coffee and beer. You are welcome to your cupcakes, just as you are welcome to your Gerber's pureed carrots.

Fnarf is, regrettably, mostly correct here. I can actually enjoy a cupcake, but then again, I can enjoy sugar-laden apple juice out of a tiny box. That doesn't make it grown up food.

And yes, Trophy cupcakes are much, much better than Cupcake Royale. They might even be the best goddamn cupcakes I've ever eaten in my life. But they're still fucking cupcakes, and they still aren't worth four dollars. It's like arguing which brand of string cheese is the best. Come to think of it, this fucking town could probably get away with artisanal string cheese stores. God damn all of you.

Cupcakes will never be over, so long as I live.

Keep telling yourself that, Fnarf. The rest of us will keep enjoying our lives without having to find things to feel ourselves superior to others.

Fnarf really is an intelligent, worldly guy. That's precisely what makes it so bothersome when he throws one of his temper tantrums and starts calling everyone who disagrees with him a toddler. The world is a big place, and people come in all sizes and shapes. There's plenty of room for differing opinions without someone being "right" or "wrong."

And yeah, it's especially funny given Fnarf's demonstrated poor taste in things like food and music in the past.

It's possible that fnarf is a fucking idiot AND cupcakes are stupid.

I'll admit a preference for Trophy when I can get it... Cupcake Royale is good, but too much icing for my tastes. I prefer a tasty cake topped with a complementary icing, and Royale doesn't do that nearly as well, in my opinion. Trophy's coconut cupcake tastes like they stole my grandma's recipe.

@ 23, and it's possible that you're another judgmental prick who finds fault in the most petty, cosmetic things. Sucks to be that insecure.

I don't NEED to feel superior to you, Matt; I don't even want to. It's just impossible to do otherwise. But hey, it's sunny out, so you and 5280 have a good time there with your cupcakes and your terrycloth onesies. You've got a bit of frosting on your chin there.

@ 26, your comment history proves otherwise. But thanks. I'll keep my childish tastes, and you can keep your childish temperament.