The Buttermilk Drop

This doughnut shop doesn’t just have doughnuts, it also has breakfast. The neighborhood is getting better, but for the scary people, early morning is your best time to go.
They have mostly all the types of doughnuts that are available. I particularly like their chocolate glazed donuts. They don’t over do the chocolate in the dough. This place is not set up to welcome the costumer. U go in (a confusing door) and u order at a window in a wall. I hate that. No interaction with costumers. It looks wretched and damp.
They serve breakfast food in the morning. All kinds. Bacon, eggs, hash browns, and the normal stuff. It’s pretty good, but not really up for the wait. The wait is maybe 4 – 5 mins a person depending on the person’s order in front of your.

The butter milk drops, while similar to donut holes, are unique and tastier than most. Other than that, nothing worth getting. Friendly Service.

I used to love their donuts. Until i saw a roach crawling on the butter milk drop. Other costumes have called and complained also. Do not eat here !!

When our Über driver dropped us off at this bakery, she asked «Are you sure you want me to leave you here?» It’s not the best neighborhood in the seventh ward. We ran in, bought our buttermilk drops, and ran out while our Über driver waited for us. The interior of the bakery is very simple and no nonsense, with a large display of pastries and nothing else. No tables/​chairs, no nonsense. I bought a half dozen drops, and finished them in an embarrassingly short amount of time. The drops remind me of popems donut holes at the grocery store, but larger, and SO soft and moist inside! They were pretty good for about 2 days, and started drying out on day 3. The salesgirl suggested freezing them if taking them on a long trip out of town. Luckily, they’ve started shipping now for anyone who cant make it out to the 7^th ward.

Wonderful place! Wanted to find a little breakfast/​coffee spot off the beaten path. Ya know, something more local. no glitz, no glam. Was a short walk from the AirBNB place I was staying at. man, I was not disappointed!!! Lots of options… their breakfast rice (jambalaya w/​scrambled eggs) was fantastic! I also had one of the square raisin pastry things. kinda of a donut-​ish treat of some sort. Doesn’t matter what the name was. its great! Oh and the massive donut holes AKA buttermilk drops. woooah! Anywho… this is a wonderful local spot. Try everything there! I definitely will :)
Until next time NOLA

There’s no such thing as a bad donut. Just my humble opinion. Now, there are kinda crappy donuts (Krispy Kreme!) and highly mediocre donuts and OFF THE FREAKIN’ CHAIN donuts for sure. There’s also just ‘darn good’ donuts. That, my friends, is what you get at The Buttermilk Drop.
Let me break the experience down, eh?
Parking/​The Area
Like almost areas of the city of New Orleans, the roads are a bit shite. We parallel parked down the street but when we drove by on the road next to the place there were potholes so big you could bathe a baby in them. Just be careful if you drive a low car. There *is* a fair amount of street parking on that side street (maybe 15+ places?) but there’s a ton of parking in the area in general. No signs about towing or time limit or the like.
I’ve been a bit confused as to why people are giving this neighborhood such weird or negative vibes. There are at least 10 places I frequent in the area and I’ve never felt any more unsafe here than anywhere else in the city. That’s just me though. When you have a great record shop, used cookbook store, some of the best Caribbean food ever, coffee shop, art space, unique oils, tons of small local businesses, and just about everything under the sun, well, that’s something. I’m just trying to let you know that you should NOT be deterred from visiting here for any reason. Remember, it’s a darn good donut/​drop!
Place
Mostly cleanish with a tinge of grungy as par per New Orleans but you can tell a lot of it is from age rather than pure neglect.
It’s a really simple setup. There’s a few booths, a pole with a strap to herd the fried dough seeking folks, several cases full of a variety of options with no signage, a few small window cubbies, and a small price sign. When we went at 12pm we found the place really empty initially but a good number of people cued up behind us shortly after we arrived.
People
Everyone was so nice and helpful. I kept saying crueller instead of bear claw for some stupid reason but the woman behind the glass just laughed (with me, not at me) and steered me right. With the exception of one place (a well known record shop… see some of my older reviews to find), I find that people in New Orleans will be gregarious and kind to you if you’re willing to be cordial to them. She wrapped our drops, claw and twists just as we requested and handed our change back with a smile and a wish for a good day. Yay!
Product
Drops are moist, dense and sweet. Cakey. Not yeasty. They don’t have that crispy edge that many cake donuts have and I kind of wish it did but it’ll do just fine. They could pull back on the sweetness by a hair but in a city where people love extremes — bitter coffee and piles of powder sugar for example — it’s not a surprise these drops will make your teeth ache a wee bit. Bear claw was classicly gooey with a diner-​esque flair. Prices are very, very cheap. Buy lots of stuff for not much.
So, well deserved 4 star!

Service isn’t the best, but the food is delicious. It’s a hole in the wall type place in a sketchy neighborhood. But! I’m from New Orleans. That’s the identity of most of the establishments in our city. I’ll definitely continue to come back.

Just to let y’all know on weekends they close at 2:00 p.m. and on weekdays they close at 3:00p.m.

Well to my surprise when this establishment opened, I thought it was going to be ‘All things McKenzie’s’; much to my dismay, it wasn’t. BUUUUUUT it was/​is a good place for ALL DONUT eating.
Most donut bakeries close a little after the noon hour, but not this place, sweeeeet (no pun intended). In addition to dounts & other pastries, Buttermilk Drop sells ‘made-​to-​order’ breakfast sandwiches & breakfast items. Inexpensive & quick, winning!!!
The ‘ordering/​line setup’ is a little chaotic, but I think most people get it & fall in line & are able to place their order.
Unfortunately, the ‘made to order’ ordering area requires you to talk through a plexi-​gas window, ummmmmm yeah, this isn’t an easy feat, as I’m sure you can envision. But they can understand you & once your order is complete you can walk to the donut window to pick up & pay for your order.
Parking is limited as this is in a residential area. Cost is fair. And taste keeps ya coming back.

I asked for and paid for extra meat and didn’t get it. I asked for a biscuit and got a roll. Grits were plain and bland and eggs were overcooked. Hash browns were supposed to be seasoned and had no seasoning. Overall, of my three trips there, the hot breakfast has been an extreme disappointment because of uncaring employees. My breakfast was cold and flavorless.
However, some of the best donuts in town if you can deal with the blatant racism and rude service. I did notice all the black folks were treated with respect and got smiles, unfortunately, whitey isn’t welcome here.

So I went back for the fried rice, scrambled eggs, and shrimp. It sure was good, and for $ 8. Yah, I might start going there for the breakfast.
Unilocalers, Unilocalers, why do you keep hyping this place up? It’s just like any other donuts I’ve had. Really nothing special about it. It’s hot in there and no seating. And I may go back for the breakfast. Ghetto fried rice with scrambled eggs and shrimp did look good. I’m being serious. No sarcasm here.
But the donuts and buttermilk drop is very ordinary.

We found this place after a recommendation while we were staying in the French quarter. It’s a bit of a hike to get there, and probably worth getting the taxi /​Über to wait for you, but the result is worth it! The buttermilk drops are good, but the rest of the sweet treats are amazing! The jam filled glaze is great, and the original glaze songs are out of this world… the best I’ve ever had!

Very close to the real thing! The lady who took my order was very sweet. Wasn’t the best of neighborhoods but the bakery is still pretty yummy.

I just discovered this place about a month ago. And the breakfast sandwiches are awesome. Go early because the lines are always long. And the pastries are good also

Sketchy neighborhood, only good for grab-​and-​go. The buttermilk drop had a nice crunch and good flavor/​icing but after the first bite, we could see a nice thick oil ring on the inside. Place smelled of old frying oil and I wonder when the oil was last replaced. Apple fritter was meh, not memorable. Chocolate iced donut was meh, not memorable. Everything was cheaply priced which was the only saving grace really. Lots of better options in NOLA for donuts /​buttermilk drops.

Great little spot for a sweet treat. Don’t be put off by the surroundings, the pasties are worth it. I tried an apple fritter, glazed buttermilk drop, and red velvet drop. The apple fritter was amazing! It looked heavy but was surprisingly light-​fragrant with the scent of cinnamon and apples. The buttermilk drop was a hefty serving, and I think I detected a whiff of lemon flavoring. Will definitely be a stop on my trek from Slidell to the airport going forth.

I love the Buttermilk Drop. Though its in a somewhat sketchy neighborhood, I’ve never had any safety issues. Once a guy approached me for a handout inside the store, but he left without any issues when I told him I only had enough money for my own donuts. Parking is typically available close by.
The buttermilk drops are good, but are not the best thing they serve. I vote for the apple fritter or the raisin square as their top donuts. I think Blue Dot still has the best fritter, but the raisin square is fantastic. It brought me right back to my childhood.
Also, you cannot beat the prices here. A dozen buttermilk drops are $ 7 and change. Most donuts are priced under a dollar, which is hard to find nowadays.
The staff is usually very friendly and accommodating.

Had these after a full serving of beignets from Café Beignet. A 4 donut day is a great day.
These were completely different and tasty on their own. Definitely heft to them, but still fluffy. Obviously a neighborhood fav, the line was long but moved quickly as people picked up their orders.

Ordered egg sandwich which was made on the spot with hot sausage, buttermilkdrop. Both really good. Service was nice and also picked up a king cake. Limited seating, only 2 tables.

The Buttermilk Drop was good, but not quite what I expected.
Have you ever had a craving for something you used to eat as a child? Back when I was growing up, my dad and I would make trips to the nearby McKenzie’s to pick up turtles and eclairs for my mom. While there my dad would let me pick out an item for myself, and that item was always their buttermilk drops. Ever since they closed, I have been unable to find a suitable substitute, but I will keep trying.
It wasn’t that long ago that I was in one of my sentimental moods and I figured a buttermilk drop would take me back to a simpler time in my life. I had tried District’s offering and wasn’t impressed so I figured a place named after the item I sought would be a good bet. While it did bring back good memories, I wasn’t that impressed with the place, or my donuts.
When I pulled up and saw the hand painted signed, I knew I was in for a treat. I love divey hole in the walls, and this place seemed to fit the bill. But when I walked in and saw that the ordering was done from behind glass, I didn’t feel welcomed and actually wondered why the partition was necessary. It seemed a bit thin to be bulletproof, but maybe donut thievery is a problem.
Most of the people in line were ordering breakfast. It looked like they do a daily hot breakfast of eggs, grits, bacon and sausage. It looked good, but I was here for their namesake. My two drops were a little over $ 2 and after I paid I headed outside to my car. As soon as I walked outside I heard «hey big daddy» said in a very raspy voice. Wondering how some rando in the 7^th Ward knew my nickname I turned suddenly, but quickly realized that there must be more than one Big Daddy in the city.
By the time I got to my car, Raspy Voice and Big Daddy #2 were engaged in some sort of heated debate regarding Big Daddy #2’s failure to call Raspy Voice in a timely manner after their last rendezvous. It was getting interesting, but I had to try those donuts!
The buttermilk drops were OK, but I didn’t find them to be anything special. In addition to being softer than I remember, they were also a bit too sweet which I suspect was related to the glaze added after frying. If you love super sweet donuts, you would probably enjoy this version, but it wasn’t for me.
It is always hard when comparing something to what you remember from a long time ago. Food memories have a way of becoming more flavorful than they actually were. For all I know I would hate a McKenzie’s buttermilk drop if I jumped in my DeLorean and had one right now.
In summary, I appreciated the trip down memory lane, but I will probably continue my search.