Donut Nook

The first thing that hit me when I walked into this donut shop was the glorious smell. I’ve never met a donut shop that was filled with the amazing aroma of fresh donuts the way this place is. The inside is a little divey, just as any good donut shop should be, and the display case is filled with all manner of delicious looking offerings. I asked the lady at the counter if they have a signature donut or anything that is super popular. She directed me toward the maple bar and the fritters, and I took one of each, choosing the apple variety of fritter (they also have cherry). As I paid, she told me their donuts are all from scratch and people just go nuts for these things. I’ve had a lot of over-​hyped donuts in my life, so I was not really expecting much.
I was never really a donut person until I met my husband. His family owned a successful donut shop when he was a teenager, so he taught me how to find a really good donut. Over the nearly 12 years we’ve been married, we’ve eaten at a lot of donut joints of varying quality, so I figured I’d pretty much tasted the range of donuts the world had to offer.
I was so very wrong. When I got to my car with my little white bag of happiness, I pulled out the maple bar intending to take a bite and put it back in the bag to finish when I got home. When I took that first bite, I was transported to another world where time and space don’t exist. All there is in this world is happiness and glorious maple frosting. I sat there savoring the donut until every last crumb was in my ample belly. The apple fritter, which I had intended to save for my husband, was devoured with in minutes of my return home.
With just the right amount of sweetness, these donuts are fresh, home made, and perfectly balanced. I did grab a glass of milk at the end, but they weren’t so sweet that I NEEDED milk to get through them like I do with many donuts.
In short, I have a new favorite donut shop. It’s not that close to my house, and soon I will move farther from it, but no matter where life takes me, I hope it will always eventually lead me back here to the Donut Nook.

Not flashy. A bit Midwest feeling. Slightly rundown. Not overly welcoming or inviting. Not a great location. Coffee isn’t great. A bit dated. Not super comfortable.
Best donuts in the world. I would live in Donut Nook if I could.
Don’t even bother going anywhere else if you like donuts.

Loved all of the different varieties of yummy donuts! A great value! Bought 3 boxes for the office! Went like hotcakes! I will be back!

Honestly, I love their made-​from-​scratch donuts but I’m just not a fan of the people there inside and let me tell you why. Yesterday morning a friend and I were in line to buy donuts. We are both Asian-​American. The only people of color inside the store. When we got in line, there was a man in a huge mustache with a trucker hat behind us that kept yelling «NO Rice!!! No rice???» over and over and was just being racist. The owner and employee did not say or do anything about it and neither did other people in the establishment already eating and just stared at us even more. I can go on and on but Unilocal would never allow me to post this if it had a lot of cuss words. I can’t believe racism still exists? And people allow it? Unilocal,please raise awareness and allow my post. Thank you.

Great fresh doughnuts! But don’t tell anyone it is a nice place ;) bacon maple bar is better than VD. Everything I got was very good ! Not over the top sweet too.
Cheers!

I love an old fashioned donut shop. Cherry fritter and buttermilk bars are where its at.

Just cannot be beat.
Great Service.
Wonderful Attitude.
Free Music from the Server.
Absolute Best Donut Selection Ever.
Plus they are coffee pushers …

To start, the look of the place is, that whole in the wall type of feeling, a little dated. But that’s not why I came. The ordering was a little uncomfortable. The doughnuts were just ok, nothing amazing just taste like a typical doughnut. The coffee was better than I expected, if I went again I would get it again. The price was perfect, 12.00 for a dozen. The employee was a little Inattentive just didn’t seem to care what was happening, but that may have just been personality and he did fine at his job.

I don’t know how they’re open until 4:30pm and yet they hardly ever seem to have enough chocolate old fashioned doughnuts to get them through half the morning. At first I went closer to 2pm but they hardly had anything left so little by little I went earlier and earlier and for the most part I can’t seem to be able to show up at a time when they have all of their doughnuts.
I guess their doughnuts are great if you can accomplish arriving there at a time that they actually have them.

Okay, listen up donut fans — you have got to check this place out! BF and I were out running errands this morning, and were not too far from this place. He suggested we go, and I said a hesitant okay, I wasn’t really in the mood for donuts, but was hungry and agreed.
It is definitely hidden, and obviously a hit with the older generation (when we walked in there about 8 older men and women there). The place looked like their hangout — it reminded me of someone’s grandpa’s house. Dated, with darker wood tables and paneling, as well as random art for sale on the walls.
But forget about the décor — let’s talk donuts. These are old school delicious donuts, probably some of the best I’ve tasted. Forget the fancy (and expensive) donuts at Blue Star, and the crazy flavors at Voodoo — these donuts are SO freaking GOOD. We both got two donuts, and three flavors between us: Banana Fritter, Maple Bacon Bar, and Raspberry Filled Glazed. They were all delicious, but my fav was probably the Maple Bacon Bar. So much better than any other one I have tried.
One thing I should have done when I walked in, instead of after we sat down at a table to eat our donuts — check in on Unilocal.They have a check in special that if you buy two donuts, you’ll get two free! How awesome is that? And dammit if that just ensures that I’ll be back to take advantage of that great deal! :)
The prices are already really low, and they don’t have fancy lattes, but I had a cup of coffee and it was pretty good. I think we paid about 6 bucks for the 4 donuts and coffee, so overall the prices are great.
I would highly recommend checking this place out if you like donuts. It’s a hidden gem that obviously a lot of folks in Vancouver know about, and it’s been around about 40 years (I asked the owner). I cannot wait to go back for more donuts, and take advantage of my great Unilocal offer. Go check them out!

Yum. Yum. Yum!!!
Go here and go early. These donuts are positively delicious and definitely made in-​house, from scratch, daily.
On weekends, we make a 30 minute round trip for the good eats found at the Donut Nook– happily bypassing several sub-​par donut shops (i.e. Tonallis on 4^th Plain) along the way.

I moved to Vancouver 15 years ago and this donut place has always been the go-​to place for doughnuts.
I agree the décor seemed to have never change and they do have their solid regulars who you can tell has been there during their younger years.
Service is always ever-​so-​friendly! My mom is quite indecisive but they seem to have the patience when she decides to change her mind every 5 seconds haha.
Their goods are fairly priced and fresh! I noticed they are even expanding their options as well.

Good selection of doughnuts, and very tasty! The smell as you enter is very delicious!
We were greeted soon as we walked in the door, and picked out our doughnuts we wanted, they have a nice selection, and different varieties o fritters which is always nice when there is more then just apple fritters.
They do have a early closing time,

Great donuts. The chocolate iced buttermilk bars were my favorite. Original 70s décor without irony. Coffee cups for the locals hanging behind the counter.
If you’re in the area, well worth the stop.

Admittedly I’m not a big donut connoisseur, I might eat donuts 3 or 4 times per year.
I grabbed a dozen to bring to a work party, I picked out about 4 then asked the guy behind the counter to give me an assortment for the rest. The ones he chose seemed like the ones they were just trying to get rid of, the ones nobody would order… I won’t do that again.
The entire ambience and experience felt like going to my grandpa’s old house, everything was old and needed replacement. Everything looked and felt dirty. The mom-​and-​pop behind the counter didn’t look happy to be doing this job.
The donuts were pretty good. A lot of people compare them to Voodoo, I’d say they were around the same quality. Voodoo has too much hype and gimmick associated… and their cereal bars always seem stale to me.
They had a few purchasing options… $ 0.95 per donut or some are $ 1.50 each, or you can buy day-​old ones for cheap, or frozen ones as well. Maybe a couple other options… pretty confusing, I just went with fresh to guarantee the best quality available.
They charge an extra $ 0.50 for credit card transactions. Seriously? How is that legal?!?
Pet peeve: they ask for tips on their credit card receipts, while no services deserving tips are rendered.
I don’t think I’ll return.

The atmosphere. The donuts. The coffee. The service. Five stars all the way around.
And extra star for the guy in the kitchen singing!

Best unknown donut place in the PDX area.
Though I should write two reviews, one for the donuts, and another for the ambiance. The donuts get a 5+, the décor is straight from the 70’s, in fact, I think that was the last time it was updated. But that just makes Donut Nook the Donut Nook.
Being a fritter fan, I declare their apple fritters the best I have ever had. One time I had the fortune of walking in when some had just come out of the oven. I can’t describe the experience without making sexual comparisons, so I will just say it was really really good.
Their buttermilk bars are to die for as well, but really everything is great.

I’m going to bump this up a star because it really is as good as it gets, IMO.
While you will not be inundated with myriad choices, I find their selection more than adequate. The classics are well represented here. There is also a selection of some of the more unique choices, the bacon maple bar being my fave.
Previously, I compared stepping into here to being time-​warped to 1964.
I meant that in a good way. I still do. These folks are awesome.

Ive been working down the street from this donut shop for the past two years and each week it’s pretty likely I’ll run into a box of these delicious donuts in the lunch room.
Their donuts are fresh and tastey. The apple fritter is one of my favorites. They’ll have the occasional new flavor to try as well.
The location has a humble down to earth feel. As if somone is making you donuts in their own home. Yum!

Donut Nook is a hidden gem in the St. Johns area of Vancouver.
The location is very small, but very clean and nice people work here. They had a good variety of donuts to choose from. Various cake and glazed, multiple fritters, although the banana type I originally sought from the Unilocal review is FRI/​SAT (Maybe SUN) only.
Oh damn, I guess I’ll have to come back. LOL
They also had a maple bar with bacon bits on top. It seemed to be a specialty. I passed on it this time, but will likely try it next time. It looked very good.
I ended up with a white cake that had a kind of crumble on top, and a ***SUPER DELICIOUS*** cinnamon layered glazed affair that was just awesome.
I want to return on a weekend soon to try that banana fritter!