Doughnut shops (also spelled donut shops) specialize in the preparation and retail sales of doughnuts. A doughnut is a type of fried dough pastry. The doughnut is popular in many countries and prepared in various forms as a sweet snack that can be homemade or purchased in bakeries, supermarkets, food stalls, and franchised specialty outlets. They are usually deep-fried from a flour dough, and typically either ring-shaped or without a hole and often filled.
Doughnut shops have been described as common in Canada and as a "national institution", and doughnuts have been described as an "unofficial national food."[1] Per capita, the largest concentration of doughnut shops in the world exist in Canada, and Japan has the second-highest concentration per capita.[2] Per capita, Canadians eat the most doughnuts compared to all world countries.[3] The large number of Tim Hortons restaurants in Canada (over 4,600) significantly contributes to this consumption rate.[3]
Within the United States, the Providence metropolitan area was cited as having the most doughnut shops per capita (25.3 doughnut shops per 100,000 people) as of January 13, 2010.[4] Many doughnut shops, such as U.S. national chains, serve coffee as an accompaniment to doughnuts.[5] [6]
The following is a list of notable doughnut shops (i.e. shops whose doughnut sales have been the subject of significant coverage in reliable, independent sources).
| Name | Founded | Country | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Allie's Donuts | 1968 |  | Doughnut store in North Kingstown, Rhode Island, United States |
| BeaverTails | 1978 |  | Founded in Killaloe, Ontario (1978), the company's headquarters are in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. |
| Bess Eaton | 1953 | | Founded in 1953 by Angelo (Bangy) Gencarelli Jr. and was known for its coffee and hand-cut donuts. The corporate headquarters were located in Westerly, Rhode Island, with up to 56 retail shops spread between Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and Connecticut. At one time, it was Rhode Island's seventh largest private employer of 750 workers and 650 workers when it was sold. |
| Big Apple Donuts and Coffee | 2007 |  | Cafe retailer in Malaysia specializing in donuts and coffee. The company is owned and managed by Big Apple Interasia.[7] |
| Café du Monde | 1862 | | Coffee shop on Decatur Street in the French Quarter in New Orleans. It is best known for its café au lait and its French-style beignets. |
| Cardigan Donuts | 2017 | | Minneapolis chain featuring daily made doughnuts, available in three, tiered varieties.[8] The restaurant has two locations in the Minneapolis Skyway System.[9] |
| Churromania | 1997 | Venezuelan chain of churro stores founded by Ariel Acosta Rubio and his wife, Maria Alejandra Bravo, in 1997.[10] The company is based in Miami, Florida, and has more than 120 franchises in six countries. | |
| Coffee Time | 1982 | | Chain of Canadian coffee shops that has its headquarters in Toronto, Ontario. It was founded in 1982 in Bolton, Ontario. |
| Country Style | 1962 | | Fast/casual chain of coffee shops operating primarily in the Canadian province of Ontario (where it ranks second among coffee chains)[11] |
| Dawn Donuts | 1958 | | A doughnut chain begun in Flint, Michigan. Although most of the chain was sold to Dunkin' Donuts in 1991, the bakery for the company's donuts remains operational, as do two locations in the Flint area. |
| Daylight Donuts | 1954 | | A chain with about 1000 stores, founded by Tommy and Lucille Day in Tulsa, Oklahoma.[12] [13] [14] |
| Donut Dip | 1957 | | Family-owned donut shop that has been operating out of this West Springfield, Massachusetts location since 1957. The building and its neon signage are great examples of 1950s restaurant/diner architecture.[15] [16] |
| The Donut Hole | 1963 | | Bakery and landmark in La Puente, California. An example of programmatic architecture, the building is shaped like two giant donuts through which customers drive to place their orders. The bakery is one of the most photographed donut shops in the United States.[17] |
| Donut King | 1981 |  | Australia's largest doughnut franchise, based on the Gold Coast, Queensland. There are over 360 franchised locations. |
| Donut Wheel | 1962 | | Donut shop in Livermore, California, an example of Googie architecture. |
| Duck Donuts | 2006 | | Founded in Duck, North Carolina with 87 locations in the United States, primarily on the east coast. |
| Dunkin' Donuts(Dunkin') | 1950 | | Founded in 1950[18] [19] and now based in Canton, Massachusetts, the company has grown to become one of the largest coffee and baked goods chains in the world, with 11,000 restaurants in 33 different countries.[20] [21] |
| Five Daughters Bakery | 2015 | | Doughnut shop chain with 6 locations in the United States.[22] [23] |
| Go Nuts Donuts | 2003 |  | Doughnut shop chain based in the Philippines with its headquarters in Manila. It is also referred to as "The Manny Pacquiao of the Donut World."[24] |
| Honey Dew Donuts | 1973 | | Plainville, Massachusetts–based franchise selling donuts and other breakfast foods. It was founded on Church St. in Mansfield by Richard J. Bowen in 1973. |
| Hypnotic Donuts | 2010 | | Popular doughnut shop in Dallas, Texas |
| J.CO Donuts | 2005 |  | Cafe retailer in Indonesia specializing in doughnuts, coffee and frozen yogurt. It was founded in 2005 and its headquarters is in Jakarta, Indonesia. |
| Krispy Kreme | 1937 | | American global doughnut company and coffeehouse chain based in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. It was founded on July 13, 1937. See also: Krispy Kreme UK and Krispy Kreme operations by country.[25] |
| LaMar's Donuts | 1933 | | Chain of gourmet doughnut bistros founded in Kansas City, Missouri, and headquartered in Denver, Colorado.[26] LaMar's has 25 stores in five states—Arizona, Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, and Nebraska. |
| Leonard's Bakery | 1952 | | Well known purveyor of Malasadas in Honolulu |
| Long's Bakery | 1951 | | Has been named one of the best donut shops in the US multiple times by national publications. Famous for their glazed yeast donuts. |
| Mighty-O Donuts | 2000 | | Seattle, Washington wholesaler and retail coffeehouse donut shop making GMO-free, zero trans fat, vegan, organic donuts. |
| Mister Donut | 1956 |  | Fast food franchise founded in the United States in 1956, now headquartered in Japan, where it has more than 1,300 stores. The primary offerings include doughnuts, coffee, muffins and pastries. |
| Mmmuffins | 1979 | | Canadian coffee and muffin retailer founded in 1979. It granted its first franchise in 1980. The company, which has locations throughout Canada, is one of the largest specialty baked goods franchising companies in Canada. |
| Mochinut | 2020 | | Chain with over 148 locations as of 2023. Specializes in Korean hotdogs and mochi donuts.[27] |
| Psycho Donuts | 2009 | | Doughnut shop in Campbell, California, owned by Jordan Zweigoron and opened in March 2009.[28] The theme of the shop is "craziness": it specializes in unusual donut flavors and many donuts' names are puns on mental illnesses or other mental health conditions, and the store's decorations include a straitjacket and padded cell.[29] It has been the subject of controversy because mental health advocates claim its theme promotes negative stereotypes of people with mental illnesses. |
| Randy's Donuts | 1953 | | Bakery and landmark building in Inglewood, California, that opened in 1953. The building is a style that dates to a period in the early 20th century that saw a proliferation of programmatic architecture throughout Southern California. The building has a giant doughnut on the roof of an otherwise ordinary drive-in that is a dedicated doughnut bakery. There were 10 locations, built over the course of the 1950s. Only one remains, which is located at 805 West Manchester Avenue. At least four other big donuts survive, under different company names.[30] |
| Robin's Donuts | 1975 | | Large Canadian chain of over 130 doughnut shops that operate in Canada. The first store opened in 1975 in Thunder Bay, Ontario.[31] |
| Shipley Do-Nuts | 1936 | | American doughnut chain with more than 250 franchised stores located in the states of Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, Tennessee, Mississippi, and Alabama.[32] Its headquarters is located at Northside, Houston, Texas.[33] [34] The chain originated in Houston, in the 1940s after selling direct by wholesale since 1936. |
| Spudnut Shops | 1940 | | Former American franchise chain that retailed potato flour doughnuts called Spudnuts. The parent company no longer exists, but independent stores remain. The original recipe is based on a folk recipe that traces back to Germany. The company was founded in 1940. In 1946, the company began establishing a nationwide chain of franchised Spudnut Shops. By 1949, over 225 Spudnut Shops existed across the United States.[35] |
| Tim Hortons | 1964 | | Canadian multinational fast casual restaurant[36] known for its coffee and doughnuts. It is also Canada's largest fast food service; at the end of 2013, it had 4,592 restaurants in Canada, 807 in the United States, and 38 in the Persian Gulf region.[37] It was founded in 1964 in Hamilton, Ontario by Canadian ice hockey player Tim Horton and Jim Charade, after an initial venture in hamburger restaurants.[38] [39] |
| Top Pot Doughnuts | 2002 | | Chain of coffee and doughnut cafes started in the Capitol Hill neighborhood of Seattle, Washington. Top Pot began in February 2002 and was started by co-founders Mark and Michael Klebeck, who are brothers.[40] |
| Voodoo Doughnut | 2003 | | Independent doughnut shops founded and headquartered in Portland, Oregon; known for: eclectic doughnut and shop decorations, signature pink boxes, year-round downtown Portland line-ups, hipster staff, and occasional on-site weddings. Shops are located in Portland, Eugene, Denver, Colorado, Dallas, Texas and Taipei.[41] |
| Winchell's Donuts | 1948 | | International doughnut company founded by Verne Winchell on October 8, 1948, in Temple City, California.[42] It is now headquartered in City of Industry, California., there are over 170 stores in 12 western states, as well as Guam, Saipan, and Saudi Arabia. Several stores also operated in Nagoya, Japan in the past, with most stores located inside the Uny supermarkets, as Uny Co., Ltd. was the master franchise holder in Japan. |
| World's Best Donuts | 1969 | | Doughnut shop and American restaurant in Grand Marais, Minnesota. It is an independent family-owned business that was established in 1969. The company has received accolades from various sources for having quality doughnuts. |
| Yum-Yum Donuts | 1971 | | Chain of doughnut shops based in California with 71 locations. In 2004, Yum-Yum Donuts purchased Winchell's Donuts, but continues to operate Winchell's shops under their historic name.[43] The headquarters for both chains are in the City of Industry, California. |