Astro Doughnuts & Fried Chicken Opens In Washington, D.C.

It looks like 2013 is shaping up to be the year of the donut in Washington, D.C. Zeke's DC Donutz opened in February and District Doughnut, a popular gourmet donut catering service, is slated to open a brick-and-mortar store in May or June. The latest shop on the scene is Astro Doughnuts & Fried Chicken, which opened April 8. After several months of catering and pop-up sales, pastry chef Jason Gehring, formerly of Fiola, will be dishing out an array of haute donuts, fried chicken, side dishes, and one specialty sandwich. Astro also will exclusively serve artisan drip coffee from Brooklyn Roasting Company, as well as sparkling and flavored waters.

Astro's haute donut menu includes options like crème brûlée (vanilla custard with a brûléed vanilla glaze), Brooklyn Blackout (devil's food cake, chocolate glaze, and cookie crumbs), and in honor of the Cherry Blossom Festival, a specialty donut filled with black cherry compote and an Earl Grey tea glaze will be for sale every day through April 14. The shop will serve a variety of five different donuts that rotate during each week day. Donuts range in price from $2.25 to $2.85 a pop. The fried chicken menu includes traditional buttermilk and Korean style, coming in flavors like spicy garlic and Sriracha.

During the opening week of April 8 to 12, Astro will open at 8 a.m. and close when all the donuts and fried chicken are sold out. All lunch sales, including chicken, sides, and the chicken and doughnut sandwich will begin at 11 a.m. After its opening week, regular operating hours will be 7:30 a.m. to 6 p.m., Monday through Friday. Astro is located at 1308 G Street, NW. 

Teresa Tobat is the Washington, D.C. Travel city editor for The Daily Meal. Follow her on Twitter @ttobat88. View her website at teresaktobat.com.