From onlyinyourstate.com
Doe Donuts is the best doughnut shop in Oregon, and it was the first all-vegan doughnut shop the city ever had
On its opening weekend in May 2017, the best doughnut shop in Oregon sold 1,000 doughnuts in 4 hours. There were no eggs, butter, or milk in any of them. In a city that had somehow reached 2017 without a single all-vegan doughnut shop, the answer to whether anybody wanted one turned out to be emphatic.
Carly Sitner and Crystal Wegener met working at a natural grocery chain, where they were already making doughnuts on weekends, and decided to strike out on their own. Sitner had been vegan for years and baking professionally for more than a decade. Wegener graduated from the Oregon Culinary Institute with a degree in baking and pastry management. They spent about six months hunting for a second-generation restaurant space and eventually took over a building that had been a Pizza Hut for thirty years.
Doe is now in the Hollywood District of northeast Portland, just around the corner from the Hollywood Theatre, and the flavour list is as unhinged as anything in this series. If you're working through the 50 best doughnut shops, this is the entry where the seasonal special has genuinely been a spaghetti-and-garlic-bread doughnut.
What to Expect When Visiting Doe Donuts in Portland, Oregon
Order The Golden Child, the shop's signature and its original claim to being the only chocolate raised doughnut in Portland. It arrives under ganache, brownie, chocolate shavings, chocolate chips, and edible gold pearls, which is a lot of commitment for a single pastry and exactly the point.
Then get the All or Nothing, filled with cookie butter, glazed in chocolate ganache, and topped with raw chocolate chip cookie dough. The namesake Doe doughnut is strawberry milk with sprinkles, and The Oregon Trail throws pecans, kettle chips, strawberries, and chocolate chips at the same ring. Tiramisu, Portland Fog, French toast, baklava, and a peanut butter Old Fashioned all come up repeatedly in reviews.
The flavour inspiration comes from wherever the owners are looking. Sitner has described drawing ideas from seasonal drinks, which is how peach iced tea and Arnold Palmer doughnuts came about, as well as from cookies and ice cream flavours. Six or so core flavours stay put while the rest rotate, with fall specials starting in September.
There is also house-made vegan ice cream and soft serve, which the staff will tell you to eat sitting down rather than carrying out. Portland has an absurdly deep doughnut bench, and the state runs a six-stop doughnut trail that includes this shop, plus a mochi doughnut specialist elsewhere in the city.
How a Vegan Shop Won a City Full of Doughnuts
Portland is the hardest possible market for this. It is home to the country's most famous doughnut chain and a doughnut culture that has been competitive for two decades, and Sitner's own framing of the gap was simple: plenty of shops around town had one or two vegan options, and none had built a whole shop around it.
Her argument for the product is worth repeating, because it is not defensive. Traditional doughnuts have eggs, butter, and milk. Doe's has none of those, and she maintains that the result has the same fluffiness and texture while being a lighter, better product. Ingredients are locally sourced, non-GMO, and organic, which is also why prices run a couple of dollars above a highway doughnut.
Recognition followed fast. Thrillist put the shop on its 2021 list of the absolute best doughnut shops in Portland, and Philip Rosenthal filmed there for a 2022 episode of "Somebody Feed Phil," which is about as good as national exposure gets for a neighbourhood bakery.
The shop has also had a genuinely eventful decade beyond the doughnuts. Staff voted to join Doughnut Workers United in 2023, the place was burglarized in January 2025, and it still chooses two local organizations every month to receive a share of profits or donated doughnuts. Portland rewards that kind of thing, which is why the city's most unusual doughnut shop is a competitive title at all.
Plan Your Visit
Doe Donuts is at 4110 Northeast Sandy Boulevard in Portland, Oregon 97212, and the number is 503-333-4404. Hours run from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Friday through Sunday.
Those weekend evening hours are unusual for this series and worth using, since almost every other entry has shut down by mid-afternoon. The shop sits slightly west of the Hollywood Theatre and is tucked around the side of the buildings there, so it is easier to miss than the address suggests.
Expect to pay more than you would at a conventional shop, in the range of a few dollars per donut, and know that reviews are not unanimous. A minority find some flavours drier than they hoped. Delivery runs through the usual platforms if you would rather not make the trip.
Frequently Asked Questions
What should I order at Doe Donuts?
Lead with the chocolate raised, which carries the gold pearls and the brownie. Add the All or Nothing for the cookie dough, and a scoop of the housemade vegan soft serve. Ask what the current seasonal special is, because those get strange.
Where is Doe Donuts located in Portland, Oregon?
On Northeast Sandy Boulevard in the Hollywood District of northeast Portland, in Multnomah County. The shop originally opened at Powell and 82nd in southeast Portland before moving to its current spot near the Hollywood Theatre.
What makes Doe Donuts worth a visit?
It was the first entirely vegan doughnut shop in a city famous for doughnuts, and it is woman-owned with both founders trained as bakers. Ingredients are organic and locally sourced, and a share of profits goes to two local organizations every month.
Selection note: The editorial team at Only In Your State chose one independent donut shop in each state based on editorial research, local and national awards, longevity, and community reputation. No national chains.
https://www.onlyinyourstate.com/oregon/best-donut-shop-portland-or
No comments:
Post a Comment