Harold’s Doughnuts

I was in Columbia, MO for graduation weekend and my brother over his 4 years at Mizzou was always texting me about these donuts. They would get him out of bed in the morning and he is not an early riser. I was so excited that Harold’s was part of our Saturday plan. Unfortunately, due to a late start to our day, we arrived at Harold’s at noon and they were almost out of everything.
THANKFULLY, the only type they had left was one of my all time favorite types of donuts: the sour cream dunker. I love the rich, creamy dense texture of a sour cream dunker, but not so dense that it sits in your stomach like a brick. This sour cream dunker stick was as good as it gets. It was moist, creamy, the perfect amount of rich /​dense, and was perfect enjoyed dunked in a cup of coffee from Kaldi’s down the street. I’ve had a lot of sour cream donuts in my life that are too dense they are hard to swallow and this wasn’t that.
My only regret is not waking up sooner so I could try more of their other flavors. Clearly the hungover college crowd is a fan of their donuts, and I am too! Added bonus: these donuts don’t break the bank. They are a dollar each. My family got 3 to share amongst ourselves and it was perfect!

First stop of many in Columbia! Found Harold’s and enjoyed every crumb of the doughnut! I got the turtle and my friend got the cake long john. The prices were reasonable and the selection was simple. Great staff and music which made the visit even more pleasant! Only complaint is not a lot of seating (it filled up fast). Would definitely make it a go to next time I’m in town!

Great! Got in class from a group presentation and it was delicious! Would definitely recommend to others in Columbia!

Fantastic, the peanut butter chocolate cake was the best! A little pricey, but worth it. And the apple fritter. OMG! Delicious!

I was really hungover, and then I went to Harold’s, and was a little bit less hungover. The doughnut girl there gave me the best doughnut I’ve ever ate in my life, and I’m completely serious. You should go to Harold’s.

What a delicious surprise! Wandered in after a burger from Booches (trip down memory lane) to find an effervescent young lady working her orange kitchen aid mixer. She offered details of her wizardy donut making from home made sprinkles to salted Carmel Bavarian cream donuts. We wandered in for one but took home a variety of ½ dozen. The salted Carmel was to die for, the bacon maple was a bite of breakfast for a little afternoon delight and the apple fritter brought too mind what fall must taste like! Great value-​superior product!

The only other time I went here was three weeks after they opened. At that time I thought their donuts left much to be desired. I returned today while walking to peace park pushing my daughter in a stroller. I thought I’d give this place another chance and have something to share with my daughter at the park. I ordered a maple bacon donut and chocolate glazed cake. Both fantastic! Well done guys. I even saved some for later in the afternoon and they were still perfect!

So far I have tried Harold’s twice while visiting Columbia, and I really have not been disappointed. The donuts here are large, and come in a wide variety of flavors, and three distinct types Classics, Craft and Creations. The Classics consist of your typical donuts such as Glazed, Sprinkles, Cinnamon Sugar, Frosted Chocolate, and so on. While the Craft donuts come in flavors such as White Chocolate Red Velvet, Blueberry Lemon Citrus, Maple Bacon, Boston Crème, Peanut Butter & Jelly (a personal favorite), and several other unique flavors. The Creations are Cinnarollnut and Strawberry Shortcake, unfortunately I haven’t tried any of the creations.
Prices are reasonable, with the classics starting at $ 1/​each, craft donuts for $ 2−3/each, and the creations for $ 3/​each. Yes that might seem like a lot for a donut however these are not your ordinary sized donuts. The inside is rather small, however there are several tables for eating your delicious selection. The staff is friendly here too, and can offer some great recommendations, which really helps when you are trying to decide on getting the perfect donut.
Overall Harold’s is a solid choice for donuts in Columbia.

Came in yesterday and ordered 6 donuts: a chocolate cake with glaze, a buttermilk, two red velvet, a chocolate custard filled, and a yeast donut with chocolate frosting and pretzels.
The donuts have a strange shape. They are slightly bigger than most donuts, but they aren’t quite shapes like a tire.
I sampled all but the custard filled. None of them had any flavor. The red velvet was almost like eating a cake without the sugar. The buttermilk almost tasted like a buttermilk donut to me. All the rest, not at all. They were on the dry side, and unfortunately all of them had little or no real «taste.» Like they didn’t put enough sugar in them. I’ll go to a Minimart and get mine from now on.

Great place. guys were great. Donuts were fantastic. Have a late donut bar on Friday and Saturday nights. Make your own donut with fillings and toppings or create your own. Wish they had something like this in Lake Forest, CA.

We tried Harold’s Doughnut Bar this morning and our feedback does not reflect the other reviews. It could be that demand stripped supply but in any case we’ve eaten at many local places and say we loved this place! Of course we came for donuts period and love all kinds. The strawberry shortcake donut was delicious and we are still eating cinnamon donut holes with our coffee as we head down the road. Proprietor Michael is an entrepreneur and his staff was very friendly and helpful. Definetly worth a return trip.

I have been excited about Harold’s since I first found out they were opening, and they have not disappointed.
I first had a Harold’s donut when they were only doing delivery. When I placed my order for a dozen donuts, I did not realize they were only delivering to businesses and tailgates. However, when I emailed the owner to tell him about my mistake, he gladly delivered my donuts, even though it was a residential order. This kind of friendly customer service has continued with the storefront opening.
Not even a week after my first encounter with Harold’s, I ordered their Truman paw donuts for my focus group in my sorority. I wanted everyone to try these donuts because they were delicious!
When the store opened, my mom and I were moving me into my new apartment, but we woke up early and were part of the first 30 people in line. It was an exciting time; Columbia was finally getting a donut shop!
Over the past few months since the store has been opened, I have enjoyed popping in for a snack or visiting the donut bar. For those who don’t know, the donut bar is on the weekends (Thursday through Saturday 7−10pm.) Every week Harold’s comes up with a new theme for the donut bar. This is important because some weeks will be more enticing than other weeks based on your personal preferences. Last week when I went, it was pie themed, and being that I enjoy pie, I quite enjoyed the fillings and flavors. Another thing I love about the donut bar is Harold’s connecting with different local businesses around Columbia. Supporting local businesses is something that is important to me because I believe it is what makes Columbia unique, so I love the fact that Harold’s has partnered with Broadway Diner and Sparky’s for their donut bar.
Recently I stopped by Harold’s when a 3^rd grade field trip was going on and found out the donut bar idea originated from their debut at Roots n Blues. They had to figure out how they could sell their product during hot months– the glazes would melt if they brought pre-​glazed donuts, and thus the donut bar was born. They brought various flavors of fillings and glazes and toppings for the Roots n Blues folks and continued this with the donut bar.
Another thing I love about Harold’s is the freshness of the donuts. They make everything from scratch (even the sprinkles) and don’t add any preservatives. As far as donuts go, these are about as «healthy» as you can get (in terms of fresh and local ingredients.)
I have also placed a custom order with Harold’s for my AdZou capstone presentation and they were extremely helpful and created a beautiful donut design. They were easy to work with and my clients loved the design!
Overall, I enjoy Harold’s for not just the donuts, but for the support they provide for other local small businesses, the freshness of their ingredients and the love they put into their craft.

I was on a hunt to find something sweet and had come across Harold’s Doughnuts in downtown Columbia. When you first walk in you immediately see an array of enticing beautifully decorated donuts that make your mouth water the second you lay your eyes on them.
I knew I couldn’t finish a dozen donuts by myself but what the hell I went for it anyway. I walked out of there as happy as a clam and couldn’t wait to get home to try these bad boys out. Well– I really couldn’t wait so I ended up eating one the second I got into the car. To my disbelief– it really sucked. It tasted like flour. So beautiful, red and velvety appearing on the outside but dense and flour tasting on the inside. I put it down and then took a bite out of a few other ones to see if it was just «one bad donut». Unfortunately, the entire box all tasted like overly dense, dry, and flour tasting donuts. Boooo! =(

After all of the initial hype around this place, I was excited to try the doughnuts. The first time I went was for the night doughnut bar. The staff did not explain the pricing, just asked what you wanted in and on your doughnut. When I got to the register, it cost close to $ 6 for ONE filled, glazed doughnut. The dough was hard and the icing & filling were runny and tasteless.
I decided to give them another chance by going during regular business hours. A dozen assorted doughnuts were ridiculously over priced. After eating a sampling of each flavor, my son and I reached the verdict that we would never buy these again. You can get better donuts at your local grocery store for less than half the cost.

We went to Harold’s for the «Donut Bar» (from 7−10pm Thursday through Saturday). We loved the concept and thought it’d be a great way to end the night. We walked in and were promptly greeted by a very nice guy who introduced us to the donut bar process. That’s where the good ends.
Here’s the run down: first they take a cold, (mediocre at best) deep fried doughnut from a pile. Next, you choose your filling. Our options tonight were vanilla cream, peanut butter, cherry jam, and caramel cream. I opted for vanilla cream. It tasted good, but was really soupy. Next you pick from about 4 glazes. I had chocolate (not bad). Finally you choose from a few toppings. Think nerds, cookies and candy bars.
The doughnuts weren’t good but that wasn’t the worst part. When we got to the checkout I was shocked to find out that our two doughnuts rang up to just over $ 10. Ten dollars for a half-​rate doughnut that wasn’t as good as the ones I could get for 69 cents at Schnucks.
In closing I will leave you with a quote from one of my friends that evening, «I could have burned a $ 10 bill and enjoyed it more.»

This place is the bomb diggity! Got a maple bacon, red velvet, old fashioned, regular glazed, and a chocolate cake. I made it through the maple bacon, old fashioned, and chocolate cake before I had to write a review. The chocolate cake def makes me want to change my name to craven mooredonuts.
Can’t say much about the environment of the place or the customer service since you’re basically handed your tiny box of heaven and then you’re out the door. I suggest coming before 8am or else the line starts snaking around but it moves pretty fast. Better hope they still have donuts tho! My only regret is that I didn’t buy two of each.

After an early dinner a group of friends and I decided to stop by Harold’s for some doughnuts on a Saturday night. We heard their night supply sells out quick so we made it a point to stop by pretty quickly.
This was not your usual doughnut pickup… they had a make your own doughnut bar going on. Think of Subway but with fried dough, candy toppings, and icing. You can order from a pre-​made menu or make your own. I went with the DIY choice and did Kahula filling, vanilla icing, and coconut shavings. This one doughnut was around $ 5…a little higher than your average doughnut but way betters quality. It’s almost like a pastry. The doughnut itself was fresh and soft with quality tasting icings inside.
There is limited seating inside so I would to go if it’s busy. I can’t wait to try their more traditional options sometime.

Tried this new place the other morning. I bought some glazed donuts, a chocolate long john, a red velvet donut, and an apple fritter. The chocolate long john was completely inedible. The chocolate coating was dry and had no flavor and the donut itself was flavorless thick dough. I took one bite and threw it away. The glazed donut has amazing flavor. In fact, the flavor was great on all of the other donuts. There wasn’t much apple in the fritter, mostly cinnamon flavor. My biggest complaint is the chewy texture of the dough. I like donuts that are light and airy. These seemed to be over-​processed. They were very difficult to eat. If my review was based on flavor alone, it would be much higher. I was just unimpressed with the donuts and with the price. There are better apple fritters at donut d-​lite and they aren’t as expensive. Same goes for the other kinds as well.

UPDATE: Still a fan. Second time tried a blueberry cake doughnut, apple fritter (again), and a mystery «sandwich» with chocolate mousse filling and whipped cream on top. Liked everything, esp. the mousse thing.
EDIT: I (below) may have been a bit over-​enthusiastic due to not having had any fresh-​out-​of-​the-​fryer doughnuts in a long time. But, I still like their style, and will be back.
I don’t eat doughnuts often, but these are perhaps my favorite. (Or the doughnuts at the Amish bakery by Clark, MO:
) Depends on your preferences, but I liked the elastic-​y texture of the glazed, the chocolate cake doughnut actually tasting like chocolate (all other «chocolate» or choc-​frosted donuts I’ve had always tasted funny to me), and nothing was gratuitously sweet (I’m sure there’s still tons of sugar in there).
glazed: great; currently $ 1, or $ 11/​doz
choc cake: I generally don’t like cake doughnuts much (my wife ordered this one), but I’d order this again – tasted like real chocolate, and the texture was more like a well-​baked brownie (?)
apple fritter: delicious; lots of surface area with darker (i.e., moving toward crunchy end of spectrum) fried dough, apple-​y
boston crème: only one I wouldn’t get again. The dough part was thick and the chocolate on top was wet, and it was cold while the glazed and fritter were right out of the fryer…
(Total was $ 7.56 incl. tax; I forget the breakdown, though.)
Got there at 8am, plenty of street parking (free till 9am), only a handful of people in line (were more at 8:40am when we left), had to wait a few minutes for the glazed. There’s a long table with stools you can eat at. There were lots of 0−4-year-olds. Will certainly be back for more morning dates.

Well, Harold’s has been selling Tue-​Fri out of Fretboard coffee, and it’s been a serious treat. I’m not sure if my arteries can handle it. From glazed to red velvet to gluten-​free doughnuts to smore’s doughnuts, to kolachas (or something that sounds like that; a corndog without the stick and actually good-​tasting sausage and cheese and jalapenos!), there is an amazing doughnut cuisine to be discovered. I can’t wait for their store to open. Here’s to coffee and doughnuts every day and no heart attacks.