St. Louis is known for its plethora of doughnut shops, so how is one to choose? Well, there are a number of—let’s say—unique ones, including Vincent Van Doughnut and Strange Donuts, each recently opened and bringing something special to the St. Louis scene.

Vincent Van Doughnut

The shop sits among the high-class establishments of downtown Clayton. You’ll notice the fancier air of the place right away. Though the company began a year earlier out of a food truck (with which the “van” pun made sense), the shop seems as much like a French bakery as one could expect from a donut shop. The first thing you’ll notice about the doughnuts themselves is their shape. Made square instead of round, these doughnuts are also much larger than average. The flavors also differ from those of average donuts. Though they still have the original glazed, vanilla, etc., they also have varieties of what you might expect from a French cake or dessert shop, from chocolate salted caramel to matcha-toasted sesame, French toast to a number of cheesecake kinds, maple bacon and more.

I chose the French toast and apple pie ones, and learned right away that it’s best to tackle them with a fork. As I said, these doughnuts are bigger than average, and unless you want to get your hands (and much of your face) covered in icing, utensils are necessities. The French toast has a maple icing with walnuts, and the apple pie has its own sweet icing and scoop of sweetened applesauce in the middle. Many of the other kinds have this same kind of addition, a dollop of additional flavor on the doughnut, giving it that extra kick.

The apple pie doughnut uses the same thick dough as the cheesecake flavors, though all of them are dense inside. The dough is not greasy and certainly not too sweet, though the icings and additions easily make up for that. These doughnuts are filling treats, so you’ll want a few friends to help you out. Much like actual cheesecake, these doughnuts are rich, decadent and, in the end, undeniable.

Strange Donuts

Despite Strange Donuts’ eye-catching, bright blue facade in Maplewood, this place aligns more with classic doughnut shops. There is one small room inside with a door to the bakery in back. The line quickly fills the small space and runs into the street early in the mornings. Customers can choose from the 12 or so donuts set out, and there is a cooler for milk and brewer for coffee in the back. The place is simple enough, though the donuts are—yes, I’ll say it—strange.

Instead of the fancy flavors at Vincent Van Doughnut, those at Strange show evidence of a more childlike spirit. Besides the classics, they have a number of “Creation” donuts: candy flavors, campfire donuts with a browned marshmallow in the middle, collective favorites like gooey butter cake and hot chocolate. And yes, the demand has also led to maple bacon.

These creations are what really draw the crowds to Strange Donuts. Their dough is not as dense as Vincent’s is—more like what one would expect from a donut.

They are average-sized, so you won’t feel too guilty—or bloated—to eat a whole one in the morning. Yet despite their undistinguished dough, Strange really does bring a lot with their experimental flavors. The hot chocolate variety is a chocolate donut with chocolate icing, yet the marshmallows sprinkled on top give it that extra gooey texture and subtle, non-chocolate flavor that makes it something special. The sweet potato donut has the sweet maple icing, as well as a dollop of sweet filling in the middle that makes it all taste like a pumpkin or sweet potato pie. Each one lives up to its name. Strange draws the crowds by pulling off flavors other, more respectable places would scoff at.

Either way you go, these two doughnut shops bring something exciting to the classic treats. Both, I would say, deserve a visit; Vincent for a more decadent experience, Strange for a more entertaining, exciting one.