It’s hard to choose which donut shops to go to in Orange County, so we compiled a list of some of the best donut shops to grab pillowy, delicious donuts. From small shops to wildly popular chains, these are some writer and fan favorites that you are sure to love.
If you’re a person with a sweet tooth, Orange County is a great place to be! From cookies to ice cream to cotton candy burritos – Orange County is stuffed to the brim with sweets galore. But today we’re going to focus on a guilty pleasure of many: donuts!
The Donuttery
17420 Beach Blvd, Huntington Beach, CA 92647
714-847-7000
The Donuttery is one of the most popular spots on the list and for good reason. The Donuttery has some fantastic options for whatever kind of donut you’re craving. There’s traditional plain, yeast, cake, and enriched donuts.
The yeast donut options have several glazes to choose from, including classic, chocolate, maple, and marbling, as well as a cinnamon sugar dusted donut that is reminiscent of ones you would find at a state fair. Also under the yeast options are filled donuts like strawberry nutella, peanut butter and jelly, and bars like a chocolate chip or maple bacon bar.
For the cake donut selection, they offer standard donuts with a myriad of frostings including lemon, strawberry, and dark chocolate. There’s also birthday cake donuts, Oreo crumble donuts, and red velvet donuts with a delicious cream cheese frosting, but my favorite is the old fashioned cake donut.
The great thing about The Donuttery is that they have options for gluten-free and vegan diets that are just as special and unique as their standard options. There’s gluten-free vanilla and chocolate cake donuts, and vegan malasada donuts, pistachio cake donuts, and one of my personal favorites: a matcha cake donut.
Mag’s Donuts & Bakery
University Park: 18048 Culver Drive, Irvine, CA 92612
949-786-1955
Quail Hill: 6781 Quail Hill Pkwy, Irvine, CA 92603
949-861-8878
From the second you walk into Mag’s Bakery, the aroma of fresh baked donuts is in the air. One of my favorite parts about the bakery is the menu – there’s a beautiful mural on the wall with all of their donut options and prices that’s equal parts informative and gorgeous.
On the wall are options like blueberry donuts, apple fritters, French crullers, and specialty filled donuts. The orange French crullers are my favorite from their main donut list, as they pair wonderfully with a cup of coffee and a seat right outside in the sunny California weather.
Also on the menu are some specialty cronuts that are heaven in a bite. My favorite is the strawberries and cream cronut – which is cut in half and filled with a decadent cream and sliced strawberries.
If you want to have a drink with your donut, there are many options at Mag’s including americanos, cappuccinos, and café lattes. If you’re sticking away from caffeine, there’s also customized smoothies with your choice of base and fruits.
DK’s Donuts of Orange
3744 E Chapman Ave, Orange, CA 92869
714-633-5858
When I think of a quick and easy donut shop to stop by during a busy day, DK’s Donuts of Orange immediately comes to mind. It’s the perfect place to grab a smoothie or coffee and a donut before embarking on your day.
While we’re focusing primarily on donuts, it’s worth mentioning the aforementioned coffee and smoothies. The smoothies range from coconut, peaches and cream, and my favorite: matcha green tea.
Their drink specialty lies in coffee though, with a $25 coffee traveler that gives you 96 ounces of hot coffee, enough cups and lids for 12 people, and sugar and creamer for everyone. You can also add many of their other menu options, including a dozen glazed donuts.
Now to focus on the donuts. DK’s has three categories – classic, premium, and gourmet.
The classic tier is ¢95 per donut and there are options like buttermilk bars, double chocolate, and old fashioned donuts. You can get a dozen of them for $10.26. On the premium side there’s donuts like cinnamon rolls, bear claws, apple fritters, and cereal donuts. These run for $1.95 and are oh so delicious!
Last, but certainly not least, is their premium donut options like peanut butter and jelly, samoa, rocky road, and a decadent peanut butter Oreo donut that’s to die for – these options can vary daily so they recommend asking staff what’s in stock.
Duck Donuts
Garden Grove: 1290 Euclid Street, Suite 150. 714-867-6761
Huntington Beach: 18591 Main Street. 714-375-5430
Irvine: 2222 Michelson Drive. 949-734-6900
Duck Donuts is one of the most unique donut shops in this article. They have signature donuts on their menu, but where they really shine is their options for customization of your donut.
The company also offers seasonal options for donuts and, as of summer 2022, those options include peach pie, strawberry shortcake, smores, and coffee cake.
On the fan favorites list, there’s chocolate caramel crunch, chocolate covered strawberry, and bacon in the sun – which is a maple glaze with chopped bacon and drizzled with a salted caramel.
There’s also the incredibly unique and delicious donut sundaes offered. There’s a peanut butter crunch sundae, confetti sundae, and a chocolate madness sundae that’s equal parts rich and indulgent.
Now onto the best part of Duck’s: the customization. You start with the donut coating, opting for a regular base, sugar coated, or choosing from their many icing options – including lemon, maple, and peanut butter.
Next comes the toppings! There are rainbow and chocolate sprinkles, peanuts, bacon, graham crackers, and Oreo cookie crumbles.
Lastly there’s the drizzle options, which are: Hot Fudge, Marshmallow, Salted Caramel, and Raspberry. All in all, this is a wonderful place to get fresh baked and customized treats!
Friendly Donuts
4442 Chapman Ave., Orange, CA 92869
714-538-4942
There are plenty of options for people looking for vegan options and incredible Dossants. A fantastic place to get both is Friendly Donuts.
Dossants (which you may recognize by the more common name cronuts) are a mix between a donut and a croissant and are a true symbol of a baker’s skill, as taking the time to fry such delicate pastry takes patience and time.
Friendly Donuts doesn’t disappoint in this area as they have a large selection of Dossants ranging from a classic or chocolate glaze, to the luxurious dulce de leche Dossant with a rich Ghirardelli caramel drizzle.
For any vegans reading, you’ll be happy to know that Friendly’s has some amazing options for you to choose from, including apple fritters, cinnamon rolls, coconut glazed donuts, jelly filled, and perhaps the most exciting: boston creme donuts with an incredible vegan bavarian cream inside.
This artisan doughnut shop also doesn’t disappoint with their mochi and cereal topped donut collections.
Zombee Donuts
802 E. Chapman Ave., Fullerton, CA 92831
714-879-1079
Zombee Donuts is the perfect place for kitschy horror fans. Donuts that are beautifully decorated and equally delicious make this a must-see spot for anyone. Zombee Donuts specializes in specialty donuts that delight!
There is something exciting about walking into this bakery because the décor, which is black and zombie themed, immediately takes you into the bakery’s environment.
The highlights of Zombee includes their Cereal Killers donuts. This also includes a Cookie Monster donut with a mini cookie stuffed in the mouth. There’s also a Zombee mascot with a jelly filled head that makes for a frightfully delightful bite!
One of my favorites is the Eyeball donut, which is a red velvet and white swirled donut with a raised donut hole for the pupil.
It is also worth noting that their drinks are to die for, particularly the ‘Dead Elvis’ – a classic banana mocha that is blended with a peanut butter sauce that is rich, creamy, and delicious.
The Doughnut Parlor
22361 Antonio Parkway, Rancho Santa Margarita, CA 92688
949-709-0099
The Doughnut Parlor has a huge collection of gourmet and wonderfully decorated donuts and is a place I’d recommend to anyone looking for donut shops in Orange County.
Before we dig into the donuts, it’s worth mentioning some of the drinks from The Doughnut Parlor on their menu. Their peach oolong milk tea, cinnamon fig hot tea, and hibiscus lemonade make it worth a visit here!
While we haven’t touched on savory options, which many of these donut shops have, the bagel and croissant sandwiches here are heavenly. The pepperoni croissant sandwich is especially delicious!
Now to the donuts – The Doughnut Parlor has some of the best decorated unicorn cupcakes I’ve ever seen, and the good news is they taste as good as they look!
They also have a large selection of donuts layered with toppings, like their cookie donuts and smores donuts with a shard of chocolate covered graham cracker in the middle of a rich marshmallow crème.
Sugary breakfast cereal lovers will be pleased to know they can choose between a Fruity Pebbles donut and, my personal favorite, the Lucky Charms donut.
Among all the other items offered to customers, the most popular among kids is the chocolate poop emoji donuts, as they’re a very close copy of the original emoji and taste great too.
KD’s Donuts
31431 Santa Margarita Parkway #C, Rancho Santa Margarita, CA 92688
949-858-8591
KD’s donuts is an incredible bakery that offers more incredible baked goods than just what’s in their name, but their donuts are where they truly shine.
As part of their other offerings, they sell kolaches, muffins, scones, bagels, and wonderful sticky buns that you have to try at least once (they go superbly with a cup of coffee).
On the offerings of donuts, there’s buttermilk bars, lemon filled donuts, and french crullers. For cake donut selections, they have devil food cake donuts, cereal donuts, sprinkle cakes, and other fun shapes and flavors.
One fun shape in question is their number and letter donut offerings for special occasions like graduations, birthdays, and even anniversaries! They also offer a huge custom donut cake which is a great option when you want a unique bite at your event.
Mochinut
Anaheim: Coming Soon! 5675 E La Palma Ave, #180, Anaheim, CA 92807
Brea: Coming Soon!
Buena Park: 6924 Beach Blvd., k-337
Garden Grove: 9760 Garden Grove Blvd.
Lake Forest: Coming Soon! 23646 Rockfield Blvd, #602, Lake Forest, CA 92630
Mission Viejo: 28601 Marguerite Parkway. Ste A2
Newport Beach: 401 Newport Center Drive, A107
Santa Ana: Coming Soon! 1935 17th St #C, Santa Ana, CA 92705
South Coast Plaza: 3333 Bristol Street, Costa Mesa
Westminster: 9711 Bolsa Ave.
Mochinut is an incredibly popular chain of donut shops in California, especially their Orange County locations, and it’s no wonder why – with their incredibly unique mochi donuts, it’s a great stop for summer when you want a sweet and cool bite.
The donut options they have branch out into some of the most unique flavors in this article like yuzu, ube, banana milk, and black sesame, as well as some standards like chocolate, strawberry, cookies and cream, and a fan favorite: nutella
Mochinut also has rotating flavors of the day so you can try every unique option they can think of! These options can include marmalade, milk tea, and dulce de leche, so it’s worth stopping in often.
Now for anyone who is a boba lover as well, Mochinut has a wonderful small selection of boba tea and coffee that come in insta-worthy clear cans. Flavors range from the classic brown sugar boba, to a delightful ube boba!
Randy’s Donuts
Santa Ana: 2232 E 17th Street
657-900-2885
Costa Mesa: 2930 Harbor Blvd.
949-674-5977
Costa Mesa #2: 401 E 17th Street Unit A-2
949-877-0014
This article wouldn’t be complete without Randy’s Donuts. Touted as a staple to OC by many residents, Randy’s is immediately eye-catching with the giant donut on top of their building.
With a roster of donuts that comes in both raised and cake varieties, they always have a donut to suit your taste, whether you’re looking for something classic, sugary, or something loaded with churros. No matter the option you go with, grabbing a cup of coffee with your donut is a must!
From the classics section, you’ll find the majority of the glazed donuts they offer, as well as sugar dusted and a few with sprinkles. I’m personally a big fan of the plain cake donut when I’m in a mood for the classics
Next is their deluxe selections, where they house the french crullers, long johns, twists, and old fashioneds. In this category I am quite fond of the iced blueberry cake donuts.
Then there’s the fancy selections, with luscious filled donuts, Crondys (Randy’s version of cronuts), apple fritters, and delicious coconut donuts.
Lastly, there’s the premium options like matcha tea donuts, maple raised donuts with churros on top, red velvet donuts with a thick and creamy ganache, and oh so chocolatey M&M raised donuts.
In Conclusion
There are many more wonderful bakeries and donut shops in Orange County that we couldn’t include here, but we’ve highlighted some of the best for a sweet bite, great coffee and wonderful places to spend time with friends. Please let us know which is your favorite!
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