Vortex Doughnuts

Cake donuts are more dense and more delicious than the yeast donuts. Tried 5 different donuts while we were there. I just saw on their Instagram they came out with a sour cream donut which I would have loved to try. I guess I’ll have to plans other trip to Asheville. Shucks ;).
The one reason this place didn’t get 5 stars in my opinion was because of the dude serving the donuts. He seemed annoyed when people didn’t know exactly what they wanted and then when people had questions. The line had maybe 5 people in it when we were there, so there really wasn’t a rush. Other than that, the donuts were awesome!

I really appreciate the unique flavor combinations that they offer. All the places that think they are on the edge because they have a bacon maple donut don’t even come close to the what you can find here.

I try donut shops everywhere I travel and these were not my cup of tea. Super bready and dense but not in a normal donut texture. More like bread that had icing on top. I even peeled out the middle because I couldn’t even taste the flavors with all the bread. I really wanted to love them because I love donuts but these were not that good. We tried the coconut vanilla yeast, salted caramel cake, peanut butter chocolate cake, apple fritter and apple sour cream one in our group. No one really loved them but we have amazing donut places in Charlotte so I think in comparison these just weren’t nearly as good.
Great coffee though just didn’t love the donuts.

Cool shop on a cool block, right next to a brewery which is right next to a BBQ joint, just on the outskirts of the main city.
Asheville has a lot of potentially awesome sections and a lot of potentially awesome places to eat and drink; ahhh the potential.
Vortex donuts is pretty sweet!
I didn’t want to carry on being the biggest fatty while in town but I got a couple to try and be able to say I’ve been there kind of deal. The make a great donut, capable of being in a top 10 donuts list of I had one I’m sure. Soft, light, airy, sweet. I think they could go a baby step further and really explore the market and go farther out of the box but they do a great job anyway.
I think they should do crazy lattes and things too, he’ll make a fun bag of donut holes and charge whatever, or at least something a little more different and unique.
It seems everything in Asheville had a great idea, and is ALMOST perfect but always seems to missing something be it a slight touch of charm, a slight boost in flavor, or a larger overhaul on technique.
Vortex is awesome though and does what they do! They do it very very very well.
The Matcha raspberry was light and great, the espresso was a bit dense and hard.

Anyway possible Vortex ships their goodness overnight (We live in Florida???)
I adore this place. The donuts are out of this world! Fresh, soft, and sooo tasty!
The coffee was amazing as well!

We’ve been trying donut shops everywhere we travel and, unfortunately, these just didn’t meet the standards.
Although the outside crunch on the donut was well done, the icing wasn’t that good in both consistency and flavor.
Folks there seemed to like them a lot; may be a regional thing, but for us, not so much.
On a good note, they seemed to be very environmentally conscious: serving on bamboo plates and place for recyclables. Staff was friendly and coffee was good and rich.
Wish them all the best.

Despite the massive line, the most amazing staff just kept going strong! Everything was delicious. The VEGAN donuts are just as decadent and amazing as the regular ones… fresh, melt in your mouth good and you can really taste the flavors.
As a BONUS the espresso and coffee bar is top notch. Friendly barista worked quickly but still chatted with me… And my «long black (equal parts espresso and water)» was expertly extracted and properly proportioned.
5 gleaming stars!

Love the location of Vortex, so close to downtown and next to other great business! The décor is great, love how they transformed this building. Staff are friendly and are happy to explain the section they have, which is vast. Get to Vortex in the morning for the best selection.
Prices are a little high, but I’d say they are worth it, especially with a coupon– we used a
coupon. The doughnuts are quite good, the flavors aren’t as strong as they could be. The Espresso doughnut didn’t have a strong espresso taste like I wanted. But overall, Vortex is a great place to get very good doughnuts.

For those of you that hate the word vegan you will be amazed. Seriously the vegan cinnamon sugar doughnut at Vortex ranks as one of the best doughnuts I’ve had! I’m from the west coast so I’ve been to all of the nationally recognized doughnut places.
I got some of their other flavored doughnuts and was not impressed at all. Sorry Vortex. However I will drive an hour just for that vegan cinnamon sugar one!

Holy cow. A friend of ours told us to try these doughnuts. On a whim, we drove from Swannanoa to get a dozen. Beware! Their prices are high! ($ 28.00 for a baker’s dozen!)
However, the doughnuts are AMAZING!!! They only use quality ingredients and you can tell. I may need a 12 step program for the salted caramel doughnuts. I’m a Southern girl. I grew up on the «Hot and Ready» sign, but these doughnuts will make you forget all about that other place. Trust me. Worth every dime.

Gosh. These gourmet doughnut places sure are popping up everywhere! I do love doughnuts, so I guess I can’t complain about that. But I have to admit that I didn’t feel like this place offered me any particularly special flavors that I couldn’t find anywhere else. That’s not necessarily a bad thing. I was certainly happy to go with one of my favorites — an apple fritter. Quite a classic, right? And they did a fine job. Nothing life changing and possibly not worth the $ 5 price point. It had great flavor, decent texture, actual chunks of apple. But there was also a layer of undercooked goo. Meh.

Drove through Asheville on my way back to Nashville today. I’ve always wanted to try Vortex Doughnuts, having heard so much about the place! Finally had the chance to swing by this evening and was pleasantly surprised at the amount of doughnuts left around 5pm on a Sunday.
I chose four since they’re kinda pricey and considered ‘gourmet’. I chose a matcha jasmine doughnut, a plain cake doughnut with matcha and jasmine frosting. A salted caramel cake doughnut, covered with salted caramel. An apple fritter doughnut covered with salted caramel, and The Vortex yeast doughnut, their best seller covered in sugar and topped with a drizzle of chocolate.
I was so excited to dive in and try these. Well, as I finally had the box in front of me and sampled the flavors with my husband, we were quite underwhelmed. The flavors were bland. I must say, the yeast and cake doughnut bases were delicious. The Vortex yeast doughnut was pretty boring for a popular house doughnut, but it was the best out of the bunch and the yeast base was really really good. The salted caramel cake doughnut was another one that we enjoyed. The cake base was good and so was the salted caramel glaze. It lacked a bit in flavor but whatever. The matcha jasmine was a big bummer. I was most excited for this one and couldn’t even taste matcha or jasmine in the frosting. It just tasted like a cake doughnut with sugary icing. The flavor combo could have been AMAZING had it tasted like matcha and jasmine :/​The last one, the apple fritter was sneaky. I peeled some golden crispy pieces apart from the salted caramel coating and LOVED IT… but once we opened up the inside of the fritter it was completely raw inside. Like wet doughy batter — so gross. I’ve never been given a raw doughnut before so I was pretty sad about this, ha! I’m sure it’s hard to tell if an apple fritter is cooked or not, but goodness, this one just fell apart into a mushy doughy mess once cracked open. BOO.
Vortex has so much potential to be amazing! It really does. The atmosphere in the shop is so fun and the flavors of their doughnuts sound incredible. Maybe I got the wrong flavors or something but after almost eating a raw doughnut and not really tasting any of the flavors described, I’d have to rate my experience 2 stars.

Simple, quick review:
Vortex doughnuts are okay. Prices are outrageous.
We did a dozen for takeout (a baker’s dozen, true), one each of most of what Vortex had at the time, and the total was around $ 28. Six of us sampled the doughnuts and without exception the reaction was «what’s so special?» I don’t much care for Voodoo out West or the hip donut spots in New York, but at least those places have some pretty creative takes on the trad donut.
I get that most people just come in for a coffee or tea and a donut, and you expect to pay five bucks or more at a pastry place or a specialty coffee shop. Okay, so do that. But go to Dunkin’ or a supermarket for a dozen.
I do think that upmarket donuts are another fad that won’t be around long, like the speciality cupcake fad that’s now dyin’ and cryin’.
I also think it’s kinda sad that a place that boasts being local sells out-​of-​state specialty coffee. We’ve got good local roasters here. An Asheville bar or restaurant would be ashamed to have nothing but out-​of-​state craft beer on tap, but restaurants seem to think it’s okay to serve non-​local coffee.

THE. BEST. DOUGHNUTS.
We are big-​time into doughnuts, and have indulged in Voodoo (in Portland & Denver) and at The Doughnuttery in NYC. These doughnuts beat every other doughnut, hands down!
The first time we ate at Vortex, we were in the beginning of our 65-​date Honeymoon Tour. We ordered a Vortex (cinnamon sugar yeast doughnut with a delicious dark chocolate swirl) and a vegan lemon raspberry. Even the vegan doughnut was yummier than any other we’d tried. The coffee was fantastic, too.
We talked about these doughnuts the whole tour, and were so excited to be playing in Asheville again so we could go to Vortex for breakfast the next morning. We ordered a Vortex, a salted caramel, and a blueberry lavender. Oh my #^%*!
SO GOOD.
The blueberry lavender was our favorite. We also had a cup of the Ethiopian coffee (had strong notes of blueberry), and a cup of the Costa Rican blend — delicious.
Eli, the owner, is such a nice guy, and we love how passionate he is about the local, non-​GMO, artisan ingredients they use in their doughnuts. We cannot wait to return — probably tomorrow on our way out of town! :)

The doughnuts were on point! I loved the vegan donuts which tasted exactly like it’s normal animal fat filled brother. I got the cinnamon sugar and the vortex (cinnamon sugar with a chocolate swirl) and I was highly impressed. Husband got the chocolate and coconut cake donuts and loved them.
The only drawback to visiting is the lack of alternative milks. They only have soy milk for those who prefer not to drink dairy. How about a little carton of almond milk or coconut milk? If you are going to go to the trouble of making all those vegan donuts, continue to offer another option on your drink menu. I drank my coffee black which was fine but it would have been a little bit better!

This place has a niche. being the only doughnut shop between a bunch a breweries is brilliant. They have many assortments of doughnuts. Each type will tell you whether it is a yeast based or a cake based doughnut. I had the chocolate and sea salt caramel doughnut. I also had a Sweet Bombay coffee. Its a bit bitter to most American palates.
Parking is difficult.

They have the BEST Chai! Yes, I know it’s a donut shop but they seem to take their coffee and other specialty drinks seriously which I appreciate as well. I think their Chai is from Dobra Tea, another local vendor which they proudly display on their chalkboard wall. We got it iced and it was perfect for a hot afternoon after a long day of walking.
Now for the donuts, they were just alright. The flavor combinations were really interesting and definitely appreciated the novelty of some of them. We got a mango basil one which was good, but perhaps a bit on the sweet side that was a bit overwhelming than complementary. The yeast donuts are satisfyingly dense and hefty which I enjoyed! The donuts are a bit pricey and they don’t list the actual prices; when we asked how much the yeast/​cake donuts were, we were curtly told «between $ 2−3». I’m always a bit suspicious if something’s price isn’t clearly displayed… they seemed to definitely have enough room on their huge chalkboard wall!
All that to say, I would come back but this wasn’t my favorite donut shop experience.

Donuts made from scratch. While we waited for the barbecue place to open, we picked up a handful of these monsters to go with our beers as appetizers. It was a bit of a fight to see who got which one, as the apple fritter looked insane and the salted caramel nearly caused a fist fight.
Amazing donuts.

Vortex. You have swallowed my soul. I will be your slave as long as you provide me with fresh donuts and caffeine.
Between chalkboard columns I enter into your grand temple. The expansive wood ceiling draws me forth. The swirling begins, the whirling begins. With an open mouth I plunge headfirst into an array of glistening yeast donuts. Raspberry sugar tickles my taste buds. A creamy, smoky Cortado pulls me in further. I give in and embrace all of its goodness.

Vortex is the place to get flavorful, delicious doughnuts as well as some really, really fantastic coffee. They set the bar very high in that realm, so coffee and espresso lovers alike need to come here. Seriously. Today I ordered a black drip coffee for my man and was given the option of an Ethiopian or Costa Rican blend. What? I’m sorry, my partner is never that explicit in his drip coffee choices. He was thinking, you know, the coffee pot kind that probably sits out all day. It made him feel pretty exotic, needless to say. And my double shot of single origin espresso? Pffft. A+
Now, on to what most people want to know about — doughnuts! Their selection changes day-​to-​day and if you come earlier in the day, of course, you will have plenty of options to choose from. Later in the day it’s a hit or miss, when they’re busy and run out of a flavor, that’s it. From what I have experienced, they seem to make mostly cake and yeast type doughnuts. Occasionally they have fried, but I’d go to Hole for those personally (I don’t like fried dough to sit out).
I also have to mention the location itself. It’s downtown, they have ample parking, and the building is just nice. The light they get through their big windows paired with the open space and yummy smells of warm coffee and baked goods is just so calming to me. It’s the perfect place to study or have that coffee date.
They also hold events with extended hours occasionally, usually to benefit an organization or two. Overall, wonderful spot to check out.