Krispy Kreme Triumphantly Returns to Chicago With 8 New Stores

Although Chicago has plenty of great donuts, when Krispy Kreme packed up its warm donut conveyor belts and fled the Chicago area during the recession, we were left with only the inferior, packaged, grocery store variety to fill the donut hole-shaped voids in our hearts. But despair no more! Actual Krispy Kreme stores are coming back. Mmmm. Donuts.

The iconic "hot now" glazed donut purveyor, which prefers to spell it doughnut, announced Tuesday it will open eight new shops in Chicago and suburban Cook County over the next few years in a push to meet what Patricia Perry, Krispy Kreme’s Vice President of US Franchise Development, said is the "high demand for Krispy Kreme in the greater Chicagoland area."

Currently, the closest thing to a Krispy Kreme outpost is a factory store in Elk Grove Village that pumps out the aforementioned grocery store breed of Krispy Kreme donuts -- down from what was several donut-slinging locations a franchise once operated in the area, according to a report by the Chicago Tribune. Overall, Krispy Kreme has over 1,000 stores in 24 countries that somehow aren't here... yet.

There's no word on exactly when new stores will open, but in the meantime, we keep dreaming of those warm glazeds melting in our mouths. And soon enough, they will.

Tony Merevick is Cities News Editor at Thrillist and fondly remembers going there with his mom to get them hot and fresh at the drive-thru in St. Charles, when it was there. Send news tips to news@thrillist.com and follow him on Twitter @tonymerevick.