Mary Lee Donut Shops

With the demise of my local non-Shipley’s donut shop [pause for funereal bell, please], I’ve had to wander the countryside looking for a new place to banish the Houston winter blahs with some hot glazed goodness.
I stopped in here Tuesday since I wanted to rally the troops [or induce a sugar coma, take your pick] for a meeting over accounts receivable at our office down the street. Yes, we’re going to put the sizzle back in receivables, thank you!
Sitting at the confluence of Ella and 18^th, this modest donut hut isn’t much to look at since it shares the parking lot with a downtrodden convenience store and cash advance storefront. Its trademark baby blue awning isn’t the most exciting, either — every time I’ve seen one around town, my first thought is: «They really should put a new coat of paint on since its fading.» Hardly the stuff to tempt a new customer in.
Since I go the distance for you, I can report that the inside is a bit tatty, the lighting a bit ghastly, and the offerings a bit threadbare. Price for a dozen glazed donuts was $ 6.00 including tax. Minimum of $ 5 purchase for credit cards. The half-​empty shelves made me wonder if I had gotten there after their morning rush (it was 745 AM) or if they don’t make that much in the first place.
Counter staff were smiling and prompt. They have «regulars» since one young lady arrived after me and the counter gal asked her if she wanted the «usual». Either that, or they put on this show for me, which would be a lot of trouble since I arrived with the same cloak-​and-​dagger effort that former President Bush used to covertly fly to Baghdad for the holiday turkey grip-​and-​grin. [Okay, not at quite that level for me.]
All in all, the donuts were fair but I’m not rushing back or making this my donut dealer. My fellow staff members ate only half of the items so I’ll assume they were just dazzled with my accounts receivable pep talk that they couldn’t even think of donuts.