Hyp Hyp, Hooray!

Hypnotic Donuts Tests Later Hours, Considers Food Trailer Options.

Back around the time of a certain late April “holiday,” we became quite the fans of local donut joint Hypnotic Donuts. Their off-the-wall creations — like donuts topped with hot peppers or dusted with dry Gatorade powder — made them the perfect candidates for our list of favorite stoner food spots.

But Hypnotic owner James St. Peter claims his proclivity for odd concoctions comes from an active imagination and a willingness to take risks rather than some altered state inspiration.

“We've had some misses, but it's pretty interesting,” St. Peter says. “A lot of it is we just start thinking, 'I like this thing. How do we make it work [as a donut]?' We did a donut with wasabi sunflower seeds and ginger — and that was awesome. It was just because we were eating sushi and were like 'We should do a wasabi donut.' Something like that, you'd never think of. We just drew it together and it worked out great. “

But, at the same time, St. Peter says his shop doesn't wholly distance itself from its stoner image, either.

“We've always laughed about it because Hypnotic has nothing really to do with that,” St. Peter says. “But I don't really care. As long as it doesn't discourage families from coming in, it doesn't bother me. The crowd that is into that are great people to hang out with.”

Plus, they like to eat. Like a lot, man.

That being said, though, it can still be hard to peel ourselves out of bed and make ourselves presentable enough to hit up the Casa Linda donut shop before they close at noon every day. And that's just one of the reasons we're so excited that Hypnotic Donuts is opening up at 5:25 tonight (because of today's date) as a sort of feeler to see if this can become a regular thing.

“If we knew we had the support, then we would be open every Friday and Saturday night,” St. Peter says. “I think our store is a very tame store, and I'd like to kick this up like 20-fold.”

Aside from the special menu items tonight — including a chocolate donut with an Andes mint inside, another featuring Reese's Pieces, and an extra special chicken biscuit called the Tony S., which will feature fried chicken, mozzarella sticks, and marinara — the shop will also have baked beans and fried okra.

And it could just be the start of new things for the shop, as St. Peter says he's also considering jumping on the food trailer train. Though Hypnotic has yet to purchase a trailer, St. Peter tells us their plans have already been approved by the city.

As of now, the only things that appear certain are that the shop is looking for a non-motorized vehicle, that no cooking will be done aboard the trailer and that, at least initially, the trailer will only feature donuts.

“It's all going to depend on what we can purchase,” St. Peter says. “That's going to kind of [dictate] what direction we go with it. If it's a certain shape, then we'll go one way. If it's a different shape, we'll go a different way. There's just lots of variables involved.”