A Taste of Melissa: Trying Sugar Babes Donut Shop & Deli

The Anna Progress visits the Melissa favorite for classic donuts, specialty flavors and breakfast.

Melissa, TX — Sitting along State Highway 121, Sugar Babes Donut Shop & Deli has become a familiar part of Melissa’s local restaurant scene.

Located at 2212 Sam Rayburn Highway, the shop offers traditional glazed and chocolate donuts alongside more distinctive varieties, including red velvet, strawberry iced and blueberry cake. Its menu extends beyond sweets, with breakfast sandwiches and other deli offerings also available.

For The Anna Progress, Pablo stopped by Sugar Babes to try six donuts and a sausage, egg and cheese croissant.

The entire order came to $12.22, including tax.

The Visit

Pablo visited Sugar Babes during the morning, initially finding the restaurant relatively quiet before several customers arrived shortly afterward.

Despite the sudden increase in business, he said the employee working was able to communicate effectively between customers and keep orders moving in an organized manner.

The restaurant itself immediately reflected its Melissa roots.

Inside, Pablo found a clean dining area filled with an eclectic collection of decorations. One wall transitions through rainbow colors and features china plates and tableware, while children’s drawings and other items add to the collection.

Customers dining inside were served their food in paper-lined baskets.

“It gave a feeling reminiscent of a classic American diner,” Pablo said.

Melissa Cardinals imagery and local memorabilia also appear throughout the restaurant and on its windows, tying Sugar Babes closely to the community surrounding it.

“Their high school memorabilia [is] decorated along the walls and even painted on the glass outside,” Pablo said.

The Classic Donuts

Pablo started with several of Sugar Babes’ more traditional offerings, including glazed, chocolate and sprinkle donuts.

The glazed donut was soft and only slightly sweet, offering a straightforward version of the neighborhood donut-shop staple.

The chocolate maintained a similarly soft texture but carried a much stronger flavor.

“The chocolate donut was also soft, [with an] intense chocolate taste that is very sweet,” Pablo said, describing it as the “kid favorite” of the group.

The sprinkle donut remained relatively close to the traditional glazed.

“The sprinkles do not add much other than appearance,” Pablo said.

While slightly sweeter, its colorful topping made a greater difference visually than it did to the overall flavor.

The Specialty Donuts

Sugar Babes’ more distinctive offerings ultimately stood out the most during the visit.

The red velvet donut reminded Pablo of a Bundt cake, pairing the cake itself with a sweet cream cheese-style frosting.

The combination provided something considerably different from a standard glazed or chocolate donut.

The strawberry iced became Pablo’s second favorite.

“It reminded me of the strawberry milk we would get at school as kids,” Pablo said.

Its soft texture and strawberry icing created one of the more nostalgic flavors of the tasting.

But the blueberry cake donut took the top spot.

Pablo described it as having a soft cake texture, with its glaze providing an additional layer of sweetness without overwhelming the blueberry.

“The glaze adds a thin sugar layer that complements the blueberry taste,” Pablo said.

Of everything in the box, Pablo ranked the blueberry cake first, followed by the strawberry iced.

The specialty offerings also helped distinguish Sugar Babes from what diners might expect from larger donut chains.

Unlike a Krispy Kreme-style experience centered around donuts served hot from a production line, Pablo described Sugar Babes as offering the more familiar experience of a traditional neighborhood donut shop.

Its specialty varieties, however, provided flavors that could be more difficult to find elsewhere.

Sausage, Egg and Cheese Croissant

The breakfast sandwich received a more mixed review.

At $4.59, the sausage, egg and cheese croissant combined breakfast sausage, egg and American cheese inside a buttery croissant.

“I was not impressed with the sausage, egg and cheese croissant,” Pablo said.

While the bread had a good buttery flavor, he found its texture somewhat tough.

The sausage fared considerably better.

Pablo described it as fatty and good quality, comparing its familiar breakfast flavor to Jimmy Dean sausage. The American cheese provided another strong flavor, while the egg contributed more to the sandwich’s texture than its taste.

“The egg had no taste, though it added a unique mouthfeel to the sandwich as a whole,” Pablo said.

While the sandwich didn’t stand out alongside the donuts, the overall price of the meal did.

For six donuts and the breakfast croissant, Pablo described $12.22 as a lot of food for the price.

A Melissa Donut Shop

Beyond the food itself, Sugar Babes carries signs of its relationship with Melissa throughout the restaurant.

Melissa Cardinals memorabilia decorates the shop, including artwork painted on the front windows. Children’s drawings and years of accumulated decorations further separate the restaurant from the standardized interiors of larger chains.

“Overall, it is clear Sugar Babes is a Melissa, Texas classic,” Pablo said.

The restaurant’s location along State Highway 121 also makes it highly visible, while accessible parking and a ramp provide access to the storefront.

Sugar Babes’ traditional donuts largely delivered the familiar flavors expected from a neighborhood donut shop, while its specialty varieties proved to be the stronger part of the visit.

The blueberry cake took Pablo’s top spot, the strawberry iced followed closely behind, and the red velvet provided one of the more unusual options in the box. The breakfast croissant received a less enthusiastic response, though the entire order remained relatively inexpensive.

But Sugar Babes also offered something that went beyond the food.

Between the Cardinals painted on its windows, community decorations covering its interior and the small-town diner atmosphere, the shop carries pieces of Melissa’s identity alongside the donuts in its display case.

As Pablo put it, the restaurant contains “town history that only few could know.” But don’t take our word for it — visit Sugar Babes Donut Shop & Deli for yourself at 2212 Sam Rayburn Hwy., Melissa, TX 75454.

Food review and photographs by Pablo Gutierrez for The Anna Progress.