Explore Columbus: Buckeye Donuts!

For my second explore Columbus outing with my mentees, I decided to grab breakfast and coffee with Kate and Lindsey at Buckeye Donuts! Scheduling a time that we could all meet was challenging with finals time right around the corner. Because we all have different majors, we had different exams that conflicted and times when we had to study. Thankfully, we were all free on Wednesday after reading day! Around 10 in the morning we all met up at Buckeye Donuts because it was a central location to us all and we couldn’t resist some donuts. I also wanted to visit the legendary donut shop again before leaving for the summer. Kate and Lindsey live in Smith-Steeb on south campus so I thought it would also be fun for them to explore a different area of campus.

Buckeye Donuts is an Ohio State favorite and has been in the same location since 1969. Walking in feels like stepping in a time machine with Beatles and Star Wars posters and an old school diner feeling. Buckeye Donuts has pretty much any food that you could possibly want. From gyros and mozzarella sticks, to breakfast sandwiches and donuts. Kate opted for the classic donut option whereas Lindsey and I ordered an iced coffee and a breakfast sandwich. Surprisingly this was the first time Lindsey and i have tried their breakfast sandwiches! As soon as we placed our orders we took a seat at the counter in front of the kitchen in some cute red barstools. It only took a few minutes until our food was ready which was good because we were all very hungry, I even had to take a bite of my sandwich before I could snap a picture!

It was so nice to be able to catch up with Kate and Lindsey, since we have all been so busy we haven’t had the chance to catch up in a while. I learned they both will be returning home for the summer and working at their jobs to save money for next year. They also mentioned how they were both planning on going on vacation together to Chicago just for fun! Kate’s mom won free airplane tickets to anywhere and gave them to Kate and Lindsey. I immediately told them that they should use the tickets and go to Lollapalooza in August because I know we all love music festivals. We then started talking about the lineup and I learned a lot about their music tastes and how similar we all are! We then got to talking about all the trips we might go on and Kate’s family is also planning a cruise vacation!

We all then started talking about school and our classes. Kate was actually leaving that day to go home because she didn’t have any more finals until Monday. Lindsey is done with her finals on Friday. I asked them how they were feeling about next semester and if they were feeling good about coming back to Ohio State. Lindsey seemed concerned about her grades right now and especially next semester because of more difficult classes. I told her that everyone stresses about grades but as long as she tried and used her resources she would be more than ok! Kate was also worried about some of her classes but was able to pull off great grades and get super involved in Undergraduate Student Government! We then were comparing our schedules for next semester and I found out that Kate and I will be in the same accounting recitation! Lindsey has a very full schedule with a majority of her classes being art classes. We then started talking about how different moving off campus will be for me and Lindsey could also relate because she will be living in her sorority house next year which is also off campus. Kate will be living in Canfield which she was a little sad about because of the no air conditioning.

Overall, I would recommend Buckeye Donuts to anyone visiting Ohio State! It is a campus essential and the service there was very kind and welcoming. The atmosphere was very homey and welcoming and we felt alone in our own bubble, despite being surrounded by other students. The food was also very good and filling, and a bonus is that you can use Buck ID cash there! This was such a great place to meet up with Kate and Lindsey at the end of the year and I can’t wait to catch up with them in the fall!