Portland, Oregon - August, 2017

Blue Star Donuts
Web Site: http://www.bluestardonuts.com/
Address: Many locations
Rating: 

Founded right here in Portland but highly acclaimed nationally, Blue Star Donuts are delicious.  They are traditional—cake and yeast styles—with very lovely glazes.   Staff is quite friendly, décor is sparkling clean and modern, and there is definitely a Portland-vibe here.  We sampled several—including lemon poppy seed and Mexican hot chocolate.  They were all good but I was disappointed that old-fashioned donuts were not among their offerings.  Worth a visit when you’re in Portland.

Donut Byte Labs
Web Site: http://www.donutbytelabs.com/
Address: 12 SW 4th Ave, Portland, OR 97204 (stationary food truck)
Rating: 

When in Portland, go out of your way to locate Donut Byte Labs, a stationary donut food truck around the corner from Powell’s Book Store.  It is true that VooDoo Donuts get all the press, but Donut Byte Labs should be getting your attention.  These are small batch, artisan, mini donuts with many different, amazing glazes and available for catering your event!  When we were there, they were finishing up a batch for a wedding — adorable!. (Note: the seven mini-donuts in the photo below include one freebie they threw in.)  Each donut is about two bites so you can eat many without feeling particularly guilty and they are sold in batches of a half dozen. Don’t miss this wonderful spot and hope that as they get more popular they retain their flavor and funky personality.

Pip’s Original Doughnuts  and Chai  

Web Site: (Facebook) https://www.facebook.com/PipsOriginal/
Address: 4759 NE Fremont St, Portland, OR 97213
Rating: 

Pip’s promotes itself as a “hip, casual coffee cafe specializing in fried-to-order mini-donuts, chai & espresso drinks.”  Located in the northeast Fremont Street neighborhood and also available through their mini-van (not the typical, clunky food truck), these mini cake donuts are delicious—particularly given that they are served warm. For a very authentic Portland experience, don’t miss Pip’s! 

VooDoo Doughnuts 

Web Site: https://www.voodoodoughnut.com/
Address: 22 SW 3rd Ave, Portland, OR 97204
               1501 NE Davis St, Portland, OR 97232
Rating: None right now

VooDoo Doughnuts are renowned in Oregon (Portland brick and mortar plus food cart and Eugene) and now in Denver, Austin, and Hollywood. They have a wide expanse of offerings including very funky flavors. They even have one shaped and decorated as a voodoo doll and they may have been serving maple/bacon donuts before anyone else ever thought of that flavor. They offer many variations including (but not limited to) crullers, old-fashioneds, other cake flavors, and yeast donuts. They have a cult-like following—attested to by the queuing up of hundreds of doughnut lovers in Portland which discouraged us from waiting.

True confession - my last VooDoo doughnut was before my doughnut obsession took full hold in the summer of 2016.  People love VooDoo - I just cannot do a completely credible review at this time. Contributions are welcome!

CoCo Donuts 

Web Site: cocodonuts.com
Address: 2735 NE Broadway St, Portland, OR 97232
Rating: 

What a pleasant surprise!  When driving to our breakfast location during our last visit to Portland, we literally stumbled upon CoCo Donuts. They do not have a huge web presence and certainly do not have the panache and/or reputation of Blue Star Donuts and/or VooDoo (or even Donut Byte Labs).  Still, we found their chocolate glazed old-fashioneds to be absolutely delectable and among the best we have sampled anywhere!

The décor is a little stark and certainly did not have any particular Portland vibe.  But, if you are a donut purist, check out CoCo’s.  You won’t regret it!