TBH I don’t know what zagging means.
I’ve lived in Salem, Ma going on four years and honestly, I wasn’t sure if Ziggy’s Donuts was ever open or if it was a memory of the past. Their Salem location is on the corner of Essex and Webb, and every time we drove/walked/biked by, it was closed. However, this past December, we got lucky and stumbled upon a time they had the open sign in the window! What luck!
Well, I’m just going to say from the start that Ziggy’s does not offer vegan donuts, gluten-free pastries, or any allergy-friendly, 2019 versions of the New England staple. It does, however, offer some good old fashion, homemade, sweet tooth inspired donuts, as well as some select pastries, chef’s choice.
Ziggy’s is a local staple, if only for the simple fact that they have been around since 1964. It has a family affair with the walls of the establishment covered with family history, memories, and local clippings from over the years. Honestly, it felt like I was in someone’s living room as opposed to a bakery. Messy, but loved. They offer whatever they feel like and apparently, whenever they feel like: their website has listed hours but those appear to be the potential options when they might be open if they feel like it.
So, what did we get?
As their donut offerings were the classics and not at all allergy friendly, we opted to try something that only they offer: homemade fig bars and they apple turn-over ball things. In the summers, they also offer a donut hamburger, which I can only speculate is bound to give you heart disease, and some other oddities. We felt safe in December with a cup of coffee and our two simple choices.
Both pastries had the homemade flavor to them, for which I commend Ziggy’s; so many pastries these days are shipped and frozen. Although nothing they offered was allergy friendly, their fig bar was spectacular. They have a shipment of fig brought in from New York and it’s getting harder and harder to get. When we were there at the end of December, the owner was commenting that that batch of fig bars may be their last. I hope that is not the case but haven’t been back to follow up.
I felt as though I needed to visit this spot since I’ve seen it so many times over the years and it piqued my curiosity. Technically shouldn’t make the blog since they believe in full butter, cream, and egg ingredients, heart health be damned. Yet, as I probably will not be back before we move from Salem, let this post be an omage to a donut shop still living in the past and hope that it keeps finding a way to make those yummy fig bars from Salem, MA.
The Donuteur 