Original House of Donuts

Good donuts. Great customer service. Go earlier in the day if you want more choices.

We had a coupon and decided to treat ourselves! The apple fritter was by far the best we’ve had in ages. Our regular doughnut place has been a disappointment lately and we are happy to give this place a try. The place was clean and the staff is extremely friendly.
The reason I didn’t give it 5 stars is 1. I hate street parking and 2. The coupon states buy 1 get 1 free, however that is not the case. It has to be a doughnut with holes, the other coupons do state that but it was not printed on the one I tried to use.

This place has all of the other donut shops beat hands down on customer service.
Dockside still has the best donuts here in Tacoma, but sometimes customer service wins the $$, so we do come here from time to time, plus these donuts are fairly inexpensive too, so that’s always another bonus…

Solid! A light but good selection of donuts to choose from. The overall feel of the place wins it over for me. It’s clean! The floor, tables and different areas appeared to be maintained which is really nice for a downtown Tacoma place in my opinion. They’ve got some retail stuff but you’re not overwhelmed with it. They have your standard beverages like coffee, milk, soda and water. They’ve got chilled water for free by the coffee machine if you don’t want to pay for bottled water.
If you’re looking for more of the specialty type of donuts, then you ought to head up the hill to 6^th Ave and check out Legendary Donuts.
Otherwise, I think it’s a solid stop and average priced to suffice your donut cravings.
(Street parking is metered and will cost you!)

These might be the worst donuts I’ve had in awhile. They were cold and nothing about them seemed fresh. They do have a bunch of different ones to pick from, but none really stood out. My favorite out of all of them was probably the bacon maple donut. Even that one was just ok. I don’t think I will be back. I gave two stars because even though I didn’t care for the donuts the staff was really friendly.

Not sure about this location. The original house of donuts shop i went to is located on broadway st. In tacoma, wa. I went to the 70^th annual light of the christmas tree and the coffee shop was holding their grand opening. They gave out free doughnuts and coffee or whatever your beverage choice was. You know i love free both my husband and i enjoyed i beverages and doughnuts.

A friend of mine was in town from Canada attending a convention down the street. We hadn’t seen each other in about two years and we desperately wanted to catch up over a cup of tea. Thing is, a lot of coffee house type places are CLOSED on Sunday. Even Starbucks! I get it, but it was not conducive to our plan. My friend mentioned seeing a doughnut place by the Subway the day before and wondered if they might carry tea. A quick check on Unilocal confirmed they deemed themselves as a coffee and tea house, on top of doughnuts. Off we went!
We were greeted as soon as we walked in to that little corner shop. The place is super quaint and clean. The guy and gal behind the counter were super smiley while they helped a customer in front of us and waited patiently while we looked over all the amazing options they offered. I asked for an apple turnover, but sadly they were sold out, so I picked up a raspberry almond one instead and a bottle of water. My friend got a small chocolate cruller and a cup of Earl Grey. Both of our orders came out to about $ 5. Super affordable and worth it. I’m actually a little surprised how inexpensive they are!
My turnover was awesome. A little on the super sweet side (I ended up not being able to finish the very center that was chock full of raspberry filling and very little pastry — personal preference though), however I would buy another in a heartbeat. I will definitely have to come back to grab an apple one in the future. I don’t often get down to Tacoma, especially for food, but I would make this a habit.

Donuts are ok, a few are great and some bland and doughy.
They only have one pot of coffee and they do not keep it filled. I ordered a coffee and I had to get a refund because they’d run out. They knew it was empty before I ordered and still expected me to stand around while they made another batch. If all you sell is donuts and coffee, you should have those products available. I even tipped them at the point of sale, so despite my refund I actually paid them to do nothing.

I love you, Original House of Donuts!
I love your store, I love the people who work there, I love the donuts and I really, really love that the donuts don’t cost an arm and a leg!
I completely agree with Jessica D. These donuts are not so sweet that you have to have insulin ready to go into a vein. And I should know, I’m a diabetic! I can have one or two of these marvelous creations without feeling as if I’m going to become sick from too much sugar. THAT’S the mark of a great pastry: Sweet but not too sweet!
They have a great selection of donuts for most people. Sure, I miss Dunkin Donuts, back in Atlanta, GA (but I HATE Krispy Kreme. Go figure!) with the cinnamon-​spiced applesauce filling but these donuts are a good substitute. I don’t know what else I can say about this place or their donuts. Just try ‘em out!

Easily some of the best donuts I’ve had. Some donuts make your guy ache from too much grease and some have weird mouth feel, leaving your mouth feeling slick. Others are too sweet or bland.
Donuts here are none of these. They are crisp without being overdone, sweet without being overly so, and not at all gut bombs like so many other places I’ve been to.
Truly amazing donuts and easily way better than some of the big name shops like Top Pot or Voodoo.

Great selection of doughnuts! All sorts of sizes, Flavors and colors. Doughnuts are a bit sweeter.
The first time I went, I got the Maple Bacon doughnut, and it was HUGE! Definitely big enough to share. Bacon was definitely tasted throughout each bite, which some doughnuts shop tend to lack.
Similar to many other doughnut shops around. However, prices are a bit high. Not exactly affordable on a day-​to-​day basis.
The customer service here is just lovely. The employees are helpful, and not to mention kind.
The ambience was casual with a little bit of a retro-​like style to it. It was kept clean and tidy.

I was stoked to learn that I wouldn’t need to drive all the way to Lakewood for House of Donuts tasty wares. But it’s not all as perfect as it sounds.
The donuts are the same as the Lakewood location. High quality donuts, terrific flavors, ok prices. Not as expensive or creative as some places not as affordable or straightforward as others.
My problem with the new location is, well, the location. I’m all in favor of the revitalization of our downtown core. I used to live there and I could’ve walked to H.O.D. from my old apt. Partly b/​c it would’ve been a short walk, but mostly b/​c parking downtown is scarce and you have to pay for it.
If I’m already in the area and paying for parking I might go back. But I’ll probably stick to the breakfast joints on 6^th street.

I can only rate this on the service as I do not eat donuts or other glutenous treats.
The guy at the counter… Sorry, he wasn’t wearing a name badge… Was super patient and extremely helpful. I ordered a dozen donuts split into a couple different bags and boxes… I was somewhat overwhelmed by the yummy possibilities but he was beyond accommodating! I have no idea what these «things» taste like and totally appreciate his helpfulness! He also figured out the most cost effective way of ringing up my assortment of donuts… Thank you!
I got my order to go but could totally see myself coming here for coffee… If I could resist the temptation of sugar and glutenous treats!

The cake donuts were moist and the flavor choices were interesting — my husband and I shared the mocha (didn’t taste like coffee at all, but was awesome!) and the chocolate coconut (even with the coconut on top, the donut wasn’t dry). The staff was knowledgable and polite, and could whip through the flavor options.
I only wish they had the flavors marked somehow with signage, instead of customers having to ask.

I was excited to try a new doughnut place and in such a great location! Sadly my excitement was short lived.
The sign says «fresh handmade donuts» they were not fresh and I doubt the validity of the handmade claim. The donuts are made off site and trucked to the store, so fresh like a gas station maybe. As far as «handmade» who knows what loose interpretation of handmade they are using… the doughnuts were dry and reminded me of the supermarket doughnuts that they sell for ½ price at the end of the day. The service was lacking especially considering how new of a place it is. They have a good selection of off the wall choices however I feel that if you can’t get the basics down then why bother with gimmicks?

I don’t typically work in Tacoma, but one early morning I decided to stop by and check this place out and was pleasantly surprised by how awesome this place was:
Ambiance — Simple, yet clean environment with a retro atmosphere. Feels like taking a step back into a 50s restaurant. Huge fans of places like this. There are no excessive ads and papers cluttering the shop which is great.
Selection — Great selection of donuts! Much more than Top Pot selections. What immediately caught my eye was the bacon maple (with an actual piece of bacon on top), red velet (which looked like a cupcake royale cupcake), and the gigantic cinnamon twist.
Taste: Here is the most crucial component of the review — the food:
1) Bacon Maple — I can immediate tell the quality of the fry based on how well the donut gets cut. The exterior of the donut had a slight crisp to it follow with a smooth inside. Thats the donut you want! The crispy of the exterior was what keeps the freshness on it the inside, but its a hard one to master. A donut with too crisp of an exterior will be like chewing into pieces of wood. And boy did that have taste great! One particular part about these was that they have to really get the sugar right to compensate for the actual piece of bacon on the donut. They were spot on by making the frosting extra sugary.
2) Red Velet — Find I do find red velets, I tend to find them dried out; however; this was perfectly moist. Along with looking like a cupcake the frosting funneled down to the bottom of the donut. It was a perfect frost which was light and had great balance to the donut.
Overall, this place was fantastic and highly recommend trying this place out. As of today, I’m making this my number one donut shop in Washington State.
GU APPROVED!

I’m a big fan of the Orginal, Original House of Donuts. The logo on the box is the location in Lakewood, a fixture for what…50 years?
Little known fact: Some of the guys that started the blockbuster Top Pot chain are from Lakewood, so Original House of Donuts probably influenced them a *little* bit.
For this location they took an old optical store that was a jewelry store and have lovingly re-​done it. The cases are more like displays for jewels than donuts. They actually pull your order from the racks behind the cases to keep those displays intact as much as possible.
Nice mix of cake and raised donuts. Unusual: cake donut bars. Usually can’t get those! Fritters and scones too.
Thrilled that they are here to enliven the downtown core! Yay!
For the nitpicky, read on.
Not a perfect score because I’m a bit surprised by a couple things:
A) the price. I spent $ 17 on a dozen yesterday. Prior trips I’d purchased individual donuts — so, when it said «customer called dozen» for something like $ 14, their choice is like, $ 12ish…I was not happy they upcharged me even more without warning me first.
B) the timing. My last visit, I was there less than half an hour before they closed (5:40) and they easily had 5 dozen donuts left ++. Most donut shops — including Top Pot (it’s rare, but get BOGOs when they have too much stock) — will give you a small discount if they have a lot of inventory towards closing. Goes a long way with donut lovers.

This beautiful, darling lil’ donut shop is EXACTLY what the downtown corridor has so desperately needed, it’s like a polished jewel. The staff are friendly, the interior décor is clean & inviting, and what was once a tired old optical shop has been reinvented into this vibrant place where you can comfortably relax w/​quite possibly THE BEST donuts in the local area, as well as generous portions of fresh coffee. The variety of donuts available is endless & they are large & fluffy in texture, so you are NOT getting store-​bought donuts in size whatsoever. As you walk in the door, the sugary smell of warm sweetness greets you like a loving embrace.

New branch of old donut place in Lakewood. Same quality donuts now available for the downtown crowd. Only drawback are the riff raff coming in every mow and them mooching free donuts. Hopefully will be successful so Come on over tacoma peeps.

Original House of Donuts has a tasty variety of donuts that are SO FRESH. The texture is moist and «meaty”– a testament to them being handmade by some people who clearly care a lot about donuts. The location on Broadway and 9^th is convenient to downtown Tacoma, prices are reasonable, and everyone should be able to find something they will like. Since donuts are notorious for making you thirsty, make sure to get some of their fresh lemonade or coffee. Try this place out!