30 Great Donuts in America
This article contains affiliate links. We may receive compensation if you make a purchase using one of these links at no additional cost to you. See our Disclaimers and Terms of Use for more information.
We’re on a never-ending quest to eat delicious donuts from sea to shining sea. Discover our picks for the best donuts in America.
Donuts have come a long way from the old fashioned, glazed and jelly varieties that were a staple of our youth. Now, it’s entirely possible to enjoy flavors as varied as Grapefruit, Maple Bacon and Froot Loops at donut shops in cities both big and small. And that’s exactly what we did in our quest to find and eat the best donuts in America.
During an ambitious road trip, we started mornings with donuts and coffee, but we didn’t stop there. We also ate donuts with fried chicken for lunch and as afternoon snacks. Posting colorful photos on Instagram motivated us to eat more and more donuts in various shapes, sizes and flavors.
Donut vs. Doughnut
The only difference between a donut and a doughnut is the spelling of the two words. Many believe that the word was originally spelled in the “gh” form, with the shorter word emerging from the popularity of Dunkin’ Donuts and Mister Donut in the mid-20th century. One peculiar note: Krispy Kreme uses ‘doughnut’ despite the fact that the Southern chain purposely misspells both words (krispy and kreme) in its brand name.
We researched the best donut places in cities as far south as Miami all the way to the country’s opposite corner in Seattle. When it came to eating donuts on our American road trip, the only limits were set by our stomach space and belt notches. By the end of the epic road trip, we were donut-eating pros who needed a break from consuming copious amounts of fried dough. Yes, donut burnout is a real thing and we’re living proof of the non-contagious eating disorder.
Don’t worry – we quickly got back on the wagon and are currently hunting for the best donuts in the world.
Our Picks for the Best Donuts in America
Eating dozens of donuts across America converted us from donut fans to donut pros. We honed our donut skills the old-fashioned way — by eating donuts at famous donut shops and local institutions.
As we zipped through the country on barren highways and scenic backroads, we kept our eye on the doughnut prize. Sure, we occasionally digressed by eating butter cake in Kansas and ice cream sandwiches in Charleston, but we rarely ate a donut that didn’t make us smile.
Sadly, some of our favorite donut shops in Houston, Kansas City and Indianapolis have bitten the proverbial donut dust since our visits. This just means we have a good excuse to try donuts at spots like Atlanta’s Revolution Doughnuts, Richmond’s Sugar Shack and Seattle’s Top Pot during future road trips.
After a much-needed break and with fresh eyes and hungry bellies, we’re now ready to present our picks for the best donuts and donut shops in America. Some of our favorite donuts had sweet toppings and even sweeter fillings. Although every donut didn’t have holes, they all tasted great.
1. Federal Donuts (Philadelphia)
Open since 2011, Federal Donuts sells two types of donuts – ‘hot fresh’ donuts dusted with sugar and ‘fancy’ donuts with unique ‘cheffy’ flavors like strawberry lavender and guava poppy. We use the word “cheffy” in the highest regard – the chain was founded by noted Zahav chef Michael Solomonov and Tom Hanneman. Beyond donuts and fried chicken, Federal serves amazing chicken sandwiches and excellent coffee sourced from Philadelphia’s Elixr Coffee Roasters.
Discover more Philadelphia food favorites.
2. Five Daughters Bakery (Nashville)
Although Nashville has several notable donut shops, Five Daughters Bakery stands out with a menu that includes donut-croissant hybrids inspired by Dominique Ansel (see below). The owners named their bakery after their five daughters in 2015 and have since expanded beyond Tennessee to Georgia. They sell their famous layered donuts at all locations as well as options for donut lovers who are follow paleo, gluten-free and vegan diets.
Discover more Nashville food favorites.
3. Doughnut Plant (NYC)
Mark Israel started selling yeast donuts inspired by his grandfather’s recipe in 1994 and opened the original Doughnut Plant store six years later. Fast forward to the present and there are now Doughnut Plant shops in three boroughs that sell cake donuts, jam-filled square donuts, rose-shaped donuts, vegan donuts, gluten-free donuts, sourdough donuts and donut ice cream sandwiches.
Discover more NYC donut shops.
4. Doughnut Vault (Chicago)
Chicago locals flocked to the Doughnut Vault when Brendan Sodikoff opened the shop in 2011. Back then, the shop was unique for its artisanal, handcrafted donuts. Fast forward to the present and the River North shop is as popular as ever. Eschewing tricks and trends, the Doughnut Vault sells classic old fashioneds, glazed donuts, gingerbread stacks, vanilla birthday cake, apple fritters and donut holes. Daily specials and coffee complete the shop’s short and sweet menu.
Discover more Chicago food favorites.
5. District Donuts, Sliders & Brew (New Orleans)
Not surprisingly based on the name, donuts aren’t the only offering at District Donuts, Sliders & Brew. Open since 2013 in New Orleans and more recently Las Vegas, the donut shop also serves great coffee and donut sandwiches called croquenuts. But, in our opinion, donuts are the star attraction at this sprawling eatery. Flavors range from simple glazed donuts to more evolved options like banana pudding, chocolate blackout and peanut butter cup.
Discover more New Orleans sweet treats.
6. Union Square Donuts (Boston)
Ironically, Boston’s best donut shop opened its original location in nearby Somerville back in 2013. Union Square Donuts has since opened additional locations in Brookline as well as at the Boston Public Market and Time Out Market. While many visitors (including us) opt for the shop’s signature maple bacon donut made with brioche dough, real Vermont maple syrup and chunks of smoky bacon, there’s nothing wrong with ordering a Boston cream donut instead.
Discover more places to eat in Boston.
7. Dominique Ansel Bakery (NYC)
The cronut became an instant pastry classic when it debuted at Soho’s Dominique Ansel Bakery in 2013 and hasn’t lost its luster yet. After training as a pastry chef in Paris, Ansel gained fame working for Daniel Boulud before inventing the croissant-donut hybrid at his now iconic New York City pâtisserie. Still today, whether you’re in NYC or Las Vegas, scoring one of his cronuts is the equivalent of winning the donut lottery.
Discover more notable NYC bakeries.
8. Voodoo Doughnut (Portland)
Voodoo Doughnut has been keeping Portland weird since it opened its first location back in 2003. Although the iconic donut store now has locations in cities like Austin and Denver, it retains its status as Portland’s official donut. Crowds queue for the chance to eat a dizzying array of yeast and cake donuts decorated with both colorful creativity and a slightly naughty note. We went the creative route during our visit by ordering a Marshall Mathers cake donut topped with vanilla frosting and miniature M&Ms.
Discover more Portland food favorites.
9. Paula’s Donuts (Buffalo)
Paula’s Donuts has been a Buffalo institution since 1996 when the original donut shop opened in the Queen City. Paula’s now has three locations in Tonawanda, Williamsville and West Seneca. Famous for its peanut stick, a stick-shaped cake donut that’s glazed and covered in crushed peanuts, Paula’s offers 30 donut flavors each day.
Discover where to eat in Buffalo.
10. Pinkbox Doughnuts (Las Vegas)
Packaging donuts in a pink box is a west coast tradition. Since 2012, Pinkbox Doughnuts has been taking this tradition to the next level in Las Vegas by baking pink velvet donuts in addition to dozens of other flavors. The colorful donut shop now has multiple locations including one in Utah.
Discover more Las Vegas food favorites.
11. Sidecar Doughnut (Los Angeles)
Los Angeles has more than its fair share of donut shops including Randy’s Donuts, the Inglewood institution flanked by a large donut. Sidecar Doughnut is one of the city’s best. Originally opened in Costa Mesa in 2013, Sidecar now has multiple shops in LA plus one in San Diego. Popular flavors include Butter & Salt, Choc-A-Lot, Chocolate Chunk Cookie, Huckleberry, Old Fashioned and Vanilla Bean Glazed.
Discover more Los Angeles food favorites.
12. The Salty (Miami)
Operating in Miami’s funky Wynwood neighborhood since 2015, the Salty bakes a range of donuts with 24-hour brioche dough and serves them with Intelligentsia coffee. However, the innovative donut is no longer just in Miaimi. There are now Salty shops in an array of cities that includes Atlanta, Austin, Charlotte, Dallas, Denver, Fairfax, Nashville, Tampa, Washington DC and West Palm Beach.
13. Peace Love & Little Donuts (Pittsburgh)
Peace Love & Little Donuts, a donut shop that opened in Pittsburgh’s Strip District in 2009, sells three kinds of miniature cake donuts – funkadelic, far out and groovy. Although PL&LD now has grown over the years with franchises in multiple states, these three categories remain on the menu. And, in case you’re wondering, our favorite is miniature raspberry lemonade donut that’s appropriately decorated with a peace symbol.
Discover how to eat like a local in Pittsburgh.
14. Win Son Bakery (Brooklyn)
Open since 2019 as an offshoot to Win Son, a popular Taiwanese restaurant, Win Son Bakery only has two donuts, a gluten-free millet mochi donut and a fermented red rice donut, on its eclectic menu. With its sweet and savory flavors, the freshly fried millet mochi donut is excellent. It’s also the chewiest, most satisfying gluten-free donut we’ve ever eaten.
Discover great pizza in Brooklyn as well as in New York City’s other four boroughs.
15. Astro Doughnuts & Fried Chicken (Washington, DC)
Following in the footsteps of Federal Donuts (see above), Astro Doughnuts & Fried Chicken has been pairing fried chicken and donuts in DC since 2013. But, unlike FedNuts, Astro offers just four donuts (vanilla glazed, maple bacon, PB&J and créme brûlée) plus seasonal specials to go with its crispy poultry. As in Philly, the combination is a match made in donut heaven.
Discover the best American breakfast cereals for those rare times when you’re not in the mood for donuts.
16. Pip’s Original Doughnuts (Portland)
Pip’s Original Doughnuts is different from the other Portland donut shops featured in this article. Not only does Pip’s serve freshly prepared miniature donuts in flavors like candied maple bacon, cinnamon sugar and Nutella & sea salt, but it also serves chai by the cup and in chai flights.
17. Dynamo Donut & Coffee (San Francisco)
Sara Spearin has pushed the donut envelope since 2008 at Dynamo Donut & Coffee in San Francisco. Her flavors go that extra step by adding apple to maple bacon and by combining passion fruit with milk chocolate. Spearin also bakes vegan and wheat-free donuts for customers with dietary restrictions.
Discover how to eat like a local in San Francisco.
18. Fan-Fan Doughnuts (Brooklyn)
While Fan-Fan is far from the only donut shop in Brooklyn, it’s the only one that’s helmed by a James Beard Foundation semi-finalist – Fany Gerson. Crowds queue seven days a week for the Bedford-Stuyvesant shop’s yeast donuts. Some of those donuts are round while others are eclair-shaped. They’re all baked in small batches without any food colors throughout the day. One flavor, guava & cheese, was recognized by the New York Times as a top NYC treat. After trying one ourselves, we agree.
Discover more great donuts in NYC.
19. Holtman’s Donut Shop (Cincinnati)
Holtman’s Donut Shop (open since 1960) is the second oldest donut shop in this guide. Popular flavors include long johns and buckeye donuts. Don’t be late when you visit this Cincinnati donut shop – it closes when these and other flavors sell out. If you plan your day right, you can eat a donut for breakfast and a bowl of Cincinnati chili for lunch.
Discover more Cincinnati food favorites.
20. Mighty-O Donuts (Seattle)
Open since 2000, Seattle’s award-winning Mighty-O Donuts shop only uses ingredients that are vegan and organic. In other words, these donuts are some of the healthiest in this guide. They’re also some of the most delicious donuts in this guide.
Discover how to eat like a local in Seattle.
21. Firecakes Donuts (Chicago)
Open since 2013, Firecakes Donuts is hot and not just because of its name. The Chicago donut shop sells creative flavors at multiple Chicago locations. Popular options include Tahitian vanilla iced, Valrhona chocolate iced and wildflower honey glazed. However, there’s nothing wrong with keeping things simple with a naked donut which is essentially buttermilk old fashioned.
Discover more Chicago sweet treats.
22. DK’s Donuts (Los Angeles)
Open in Santa Monica since 1981, DK’s Donuts isn’t a typical American donut shop. Not only is it opened 24 hours a day, but it’s also owned by multi-generational Cambodian immigrants. These differences are pluses in our book. The same goes for DK’s donut ice cream sandwiches and its double-decker o-nut (a ramped-up croissant-donut hybrid).
23. Dun-Well Doughnuts (Brooklyn)
Dan Dunbar and Christopher Hollowell opened Dun-Well Doughnuts in 2011 and have remained true to their mission. All of the shop’s products are free of animal or animal-derived ingredients, which is certainly commendable. Flavors rotate with vegan versions of caramel apple pie, salted caramel pecan and Boston cream in the mix. We’re not vegan and we love Dun-Well’s donuts, which is saying a lot.
24. Red’s Donuts (Monterey)
The opposite of trendy, Red’s Donuts has been a Monterey fixture since it first cranked its oven in 1950. More than 70 years later, locals still fill the shop’s barstools during the day. Based on the way our fresh donut was generously slathered with sweet maple icing, we get this donut shop’s popularity.
25. Gourdough’s Big Fat Donuts (Austin)
Gourdough’s Big Fat Donuts lives up to its name by serving some of the biggest, fattest donuts that we’ve ever seen. They also serve some of the wildest donuts that are best eaten with a knife and fork. During our visit to Gourgough’s South First Street food truck with a friend, we didn’t finish two donuts between the three of us. It’s not that we didn’t enjoy eating the donuts. Rather, we didn’t want to get too big or too fat from the experience.
Discover more Austin food favorites.
26. Blue Star Donuts (Portland)
Portland’s Blue Star Donuts has shined since 2012 with creative flavors and attention to detail. Starting with brioche dough, bakers at Blue Star add the best available ingredients to their donuts. Popular flavors include blueberry cake crumble, honey lavender, Cointreau crème brûlée and lemon poppy old fashioned.
Discover more Portland food favorites.
27. Saint Honoré Doughnuts and Beignets (Las Vegas)
Open since 2019, female-owned Saint Honoré Doughnuts and Beignets serves beignets and milkshakes in addition to brioche-based donuts at two off-the-Strip Las Vegas shops. Its signature confetti donut topped with whipped cream and sprinkles is a winner as are ‘couture’ flavors like crême brulée, cannoli and carrot cake. Elaborately decorated ‘doughsants’ join the party on weekends while Roman-style pizza takes center stage at night.
Discover more places to eat off the Strip in Las Vegas.
28. Destination Donuts (Columbus)
Destination Donuts debuted as a pop-up in Columbus at the city’s bustling North Market in 2012. Now located in its own shop six miles from the market, it’s become a destination for donut fans in Ohio’s capital city. Flavors change daily and run the gamut from sweet to sweeter. Regardless of the flavor or sweetness level, these decadent donuts are a great dessert option. And, in a relatively recent development, they’re all vegan.
Discover where to eat in Columbus.
29. Beiler’s Doughnuts (Philadelphia)
Since we started in our former home city of Philly, ending at Beiler’s Doughnuts in the city’s Reading Terminal is both fitting and filling. The Beiler family has been frying donuts in the historic market since 1984 and they don’t stop there. Other Pennsylvania Dutch treats include whoopie pies, cakes and cookies.
30. Doughnuttery (New York)
Doughnuttery stands out in NYC by baking sugar-coated miniature donuts in a slew of flavors that range from traditional to exotic. Beyond several New York locations including one at the Chelsea Market, Doughnuttery has shops in Oklahoma, Utah and Wisconsin as well as in Chile.
Discover more New York City food favorites.
