The Best Donut Chains in America
Donuts are a time-honored American treat, enjoyed as a breakfast sweet, an afternoon pick-me-up, or whenever you’re craving a dessert. Luckily, there are many donut chains in the US serving incredibly delicious donuts.
These donut shops offer every shape and flavor you could ask for, from classic ring-shaped donuts to long johns, donut holes, and filled donuts.
So whether you like chocolate, vanilla, fruit, or maple, these donut places are sure to satisfy your craving.
In this article, we’ve compiled a list of the best donut chains in America, so you can enjoy a delicious donut no matter where you are.
15. Tim Hortons
Tim Hortons is a Canadian chain famous for its coffee, donuts, and other breakfast items.
There are over 600 Tim Hortons locations in the United States, plus many more throughout Canada.
Tim Hortons was founded by and named after iconic Canadian hockey player Tim Horton.
The first Tim Hortons location was opened in Hamilton, Ontario, in 1964.
At the time, Tim Hortons was selling a cup of coffee and a donut for only ten cents each.
Fun fact: Canada is the number one donut-consuming country in the world. Annually, Canadians eat about one billion donuts!
Much of this donut consumption is directly attributable to Tim Hortons.
Of course, the Tim Hortons menu still revolves around donuts.
The exact selection of donuts at Tim Hortons varies by location.
However, at your local store, you can expect to find flavors like Boston Cream, apple fritter, chocolate dip, honey dip, old fashioned, chocolate glazed, honey cruller, vanilla cream, and even seasonal flavors like pumpkin spice.
Tim Hortons is also famous for its Timbits, which are donut holes.
Timbit flavors vary from store to store but include options like honey dip, chocolate glazed, birthday cake, and sour cream blueberry.
14. Yum Yum Donuts
Yum Yum Donuts is a California-based donut chain famous for its 24-hour locations and serving 14 donuts in a box instead of a dozen.
There are over 90 Yum Yum Donut locations, all of which are in California.
The first Yum Yum Donuts was opened by Philip C. Holland in a former Orange Julius in Highland Park, California, in 1971.
Holland learned the ropes of the donut shop business from Vernon Rudolph, the founder of Krispy Kreme.
Yum Yum Donuts’ menu offers nearly 90 different flavors and varieties of donuts.
There are a ton of different donut shapes on the menu, including cake donuts, fancy donuts, filled donuts, French donuts, donut holes, old-fashioned donuts, twists, and raised rings.
Some of the most popular flavors at Yum Yum Donuts include chocolate iced cake, lemon jelly with donut sugar, maple iced old fashioned, cinnamon crumb raised ring, bear claw, apple fritter, and raspberry jelly with glaze.
13. Honey Dew Donuts
Honey Dew Donuts is a New England-based donut chain with almost 80 locations in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island.
The first Honey Dew Donuts location was opened by Richard Bowen in Mansfield, Massachusetts, in 1973.
Since then, Honey Dew Donuts has expanded to become New England’s largest locally-owned donut and coffee chain.
The Honey Dew Donuts menu revolves around donuts but also contains breakfast sandwiches and other kinds of pastries, like muffins and bagels.
There are over 30 different flavors on the menu, including apple cider, Boston cream, chocolate frosted, cinnamon, coconut, French cruller, jelly, powdered, strawberry frosted, and vanilla frosted.
The signature donut at Honey Dew Donuts is the Honey Dew Donut, which is essentially just a glazed donut.
Finally, Honey Dew Donuts also offers their version of donut holes called Dew Drops, which come in flavors like blueberry, chocolate, cinnamon, honey, jelly-filled, plain, and powdered.
12. Winchell’s Donut House
Winchell’s Donut House is a West Coast-based chain with 100 locations in California, Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, Nevada, and Oklahoma.
The first Winchell’s Donut House location was opened by Verne Winchell in Temple City, California, in 1948.
Winchell’s Donut House is the West Coast’s largest donut chain, and many of its locations are open 24 hours a day.
The Winchell’s Donut House menu specializes in donuts, but they also sell muffins, pastries, and breakfast sandwiches.
There are 90 varieties of donuts on the menu, and they come in a wide range of shapes and flavors.
Some of the donut shapes offered by Winchell’s Donut House include cake, fancy, filled, old fashioned, raised ring, and twist.
Winchell’s Donut House’s donut flavors include chocolate iced, chocolate sprinkles, coconut, cinnamon sugared, vanilla iced, maple iced, glazed, cinnamon crumb, powdered sugar, and rainbow sprinkles.
Finally, they also serve donut holes in flavors like chocolate sprinkles, coconut, plain, cinnamon crumbs, donut sugar, and powdered sugar.
11. Legendary Doughnuts
Legendary Doughnuts is a small, Washington-based donut chain with seven locations, all of which are in Washington.
Legendary Doughnuts locations are generally open until 6 pm on weekdays and until 7 pm on weekends, but individual locations may close early if they sell out of donuts.
The Legendary Doughnuts menu predominantly features donuts, but they also sell cakes, pastries, and sandwiches.
There are almost 90 different donuts on the menu, from classic, simple flavors to extravagant types with crazy toppings.
The Legendary Doughnuts menu features over-the-top flavors like Snickers bar, hot fudge sundae, caramel apple, blueberry cheesecake, chocolate cream pie, coconut cream pie, mud pie, Oreo cheesecake, Samoa, tiramisu, Twinkie, and creme brulée.
The Famous section of their menu offers decadent flavors like mocha almond fudge, lemon coconut, caramel sea salt, chocolate chip, and buttermilk.
The Amateur section of the menu serves more classic donut flavors like double chocolate, old-fashioned, and maple.
Finally, Legendary Doughnuts serves doughnut balls or golf ball-sized donut holes, some of which are filled.
10. Dunkin’ Donuts
Dunkin’ Donuts is one of the largest and most popular coffee and donut chains in the United States.
There are over 8,500 Dunkin’ Donuts locations in 41 states.
The first Dunkin’ location was opened by Bill Rosenberg in Quincy, Massachusetts, in 1,948.
At the time, the restaurant was called “Open Kettle.” Its name wasn’t changed to “Dunkin’ Donuts” until 1950.
In 1973, Dunkin’ Donuts introduced one of its most iconic menu items, the Munchkin.
Nowadays, Dunkin’ sells over one billion Munchkins per year!
The centerpiece of the Dunkin’ Donuts menu is still donuts.
Although the specific selection of donuts varies by location, you can expect to find a wide variety of donut flavors at your local Dunkin’.
Dunkin’s popular donut flavors include apple fritter, Boston Kreme, chocolate frosted, cinnamon, coconut, frosted vanilla, glazed chocolate, glazed jelly, maple creme, maple frosted, powdered, strawberry frosted, and vanilla creme.
Of course, no trip to Dunkin’ Donuts is complete without some Munchkins.
Dunkin’s Munchkins come in flavors like cinnamon, glazed, glazed chocolate, jelly, and powdered.
9. Stan’s Donuts and Coffee
Stan’s Donuts and Coffee is a Chicago-based donut chain with 20 locations, all in Chicago or the Chicagoland area.
The first Stan’s Donuts and Coffee location was opened by Rich Labriola in Chicago, Illinois, in 2014.
Stan’s Donuts and Coffee is an offshoot of Stan’s Donuts, a legendary donut shop located in the Westwood neighborhood of Los Angeles, California.
The Stan’s Donuts menu revolves around donuts, but they also offer an array of breakfast sandwiches.
There are over 40 different varieties of donuts for sale at Stan’s Donuts.
Their most popular donut flavors include glazed, maple long john, lemon pistachio old fashioned, Biscoff pocket, chocolate glazed, carrot cake, birthday cake, and Boston cream.
Stan’s also offers a few vegan and gluten-free donut flavors, like chocolate vegan, chocolate glutenless, and cinnamon sugar vegan.
8. Duck Donuts
Duck Donuts is an East Coast-based donut chain.
There are over 100 locations in Arizona, Arkansas, California, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, and Puerto Rico.
The first Duck Donuts location was opened in Duck, North Carolina, in 2007.
The Duck Donuts mascot is a cartoon duck named Ollie, who was also inspired by the town of Duck, North Carolina.
The Duck Donuts menu revolves around a wide variety of donuts.
They offer over two dozen creative flavors, like blueberry lemonade, chocolate caramel crunch, chocolate covered strawberry, cinnamon bun, cookies and cream, French toast, maple bacon, peanut butter and jelly, pina colada, s’mores, and strawberry shortcake.
Throughout the year, Duck Donuts also sells seasonally rotating limited edition flavors.
Their fall flavors include apple cobbler, apple pie, pumpkin roll, and pumpkin streusel.
Finally, Duck Donuts sells breakfast sandwiches, which are made with donuts as the bread.
Their breakfast sandwiches include bacon, egg, and cheese, sausage, egg, and cheese, and egg and cheese.
7. Daylight Donuts
Daylight Donuts is an Oklahoma-based donut chain with almost 1,000 locations in 28 states.
The chain was founded by Tommy and Lucille Day in Tulsa, Oklahoma, in 1954.
It was originally a flour company but changed tack and became a donut company after Tommy and Lucille Day’s light donut mix became more famous than their flour.
Although the menu at each Daylight Donuts will vary, you can always expect to enjoy different kinds of donuts.
Daylight Donuts’ donuts come in shapes like raised, cake, twist, filled long johns, and donut holes.
Their donut flavors include glazed, blueberry glazed, chocolate, maple, vanilla sprinkle, chocolate sprinkle, cinnamon, glazed pumpkin, cream cheese pumpkin, toasted coconut, buttermilk, blueberry cream cheese, and raspberry.
Finally, Daylight Donuts also sells donut-adjacent pastries, including apple fritters, bear claws, cinnamon rolls, and sausage rolls.
6. Shipley Do-Nuts
Shipley Do-Nuts is a Southern donut chain with over 300 locations in Alabama, Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Tennessee, and Texas.
Shipley Do-Nuts was founded by Lawrence Shipley Sr. in 1936.
Before opening his first storefront in Houston, Texas, in the 1940s, Shipley would sell homemade, hand-cut donuts using his own recipe on the wholesale market for only five cents apiece.
Even now, Shipley Do-Nuts’ plain glazed donut, made using Lawrence Shipley’s original recipe, is still the store’s most popular donut flavor.
The Shipley Do-Nuts menu features donuts exclusively.
They offer seven different donut shapes: cake, coffee, filled, glazed, iced, kolaches, rolls, and donut holes.
Shipley Do-Nuts’ popular donut flavors include chocolate iced with sprinkles, maple iced, raspberry filled, Bavarian creme filled, cinnamon sugar, glazed blueberry cake, and of course, the original variety, glazed plain cake.
5. Top Pot Doughnuts
Top Pot Doughnuts is a Seattle-based donut chain with almost 20 locations, all in the Puget Sound area of Washington.
The first Top Pot Doughnut location was opened by Mark and Michael Klebeck in the Capitol Hill neighborhood of Seattle, Washington, in 2002.
The store was designed to evoke the nostalgia and vintage energy of the 1920s, which reflects the 1920s-inspired recipe for Top Pot Doughnuts’ donuts.
Of course, the Top Pot Doughnuts menu centers on donuts with almost forty different flavors and shapes.
Some of their most popular donuts include glazed old-fashioned cinnamon sugar cake, chocolate cake, maple bar, chocolate bar, and glazed ring.
Top Pot Doughnuts also has a fancy donut section of its menu, featuring more extravagant flavors like cookies and cream, salted caramel, raspberry bullseye, and Bavarian creme bismark.
Finally, Top Pot Doughnuts features a seasonally rotating donut menu of limited edition flavors, like peppermint snowdrift, orange marmalade cake, apple cider cake, pumpkin old-fashioned, carrot cake, chai glazed old fashioned, and pumpkin cheesecake bismark.
4. LaMar’s Donuts
LaMar’s Donuts is a Missouri-based donut chain with over 25 locations in Arizona, Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, and Nebraska.
The first LaMar’s Donuts location was opened by Ray Lamar in Kansas City, Missouri, in 1960.
Ray Lamar learned how to make donuts while working at the Jack Frost Donut Company as a teenager in the 1930s.
The LaMar’s Donuts menu features donuts exclusively, with almost 80 different kinds of donuts.
LaMar’s donut varieties include original, cake, French crullers, bizmarks, knots, bars, buttermilk bars, cinnamon twists, fritters, cinnamon rolls, and donut holes.
Some of the most popular flavors at LaMar’s Donuts include Ray’s original glazed, red velvet cake, banana cream, Bavarian cream-filled, German chocolate, apple fritter, and chocolate cherry fritter.
Finally, LaMar’s Donuts’ offers donut holes in raised glazed, cake glazed, flavored cake glazed, and raised sugared flavors.
3. Five Daughters Bakery
Five Daughters Bakery is a Southern bakery and donut chain famous for its cronuts.
There are six Five Daughters Bakery locations in Georgia and Tennessee.
Five Daughters Bakery was founded by Isaac and Stephanie Meek in Franklin, Tennessee, and is named after the Meek family’s five daughters.
Isaac Meek is a third-generation baker whose great-grandfather owned a cake shop and whose grandfather owned a pizzeria.
The Five Daughters Bakery menu revolves around donuts and other pastries.
Each month, Five Daughters Bakery rotates the donut flavors on the menu.
However, they consistently offer the same donut shapes, which include yeast-raised donuts, 100-layer croissant-style donuts, mini 100-layer donuts, and donut holes.
Some staple donut flavors on the Five Daughters Bakery menu include chocolate sea salt, vanilla cream, maple glaze, and milk chocolate sprinkles.
Their popular seasonal donut flavors include s’mores, blueberry lavender, pumpkin spice latte, molasses pecan pie, white chocolate mocha, and cinnamon sugar.
2. Krispy Kreme
Krispy Kreme is one of the largest and most beloved donut chains in the United States, with over 370 locations in 42 states.
The first Krispy Kreme location was opened by Verne Rudolph in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, in 1937.
Krispy Kreme’s menu is all about donuts!
They have many flavors, but the most popular donut flavor at Krispy Kreme is the original glazed donut.
However, if you’re looking for a more exciting flavor, you might want to try their cake batter, Oreo cookies and kreme, double dark chocolate, dulce de leche, New York cheesecake, or Reese’s classic flavors.
Krispy Kreme also sells donut holes in flavors like original glazed, glazed cake, glazed chocolate cake, and glazed blueberry cake.
Finally, Krispy Kreme sells limited edition seasonal flavors, including pecan pie, pumpkin pie, lemon kreme pie, Dutch apple pie, and pumpkin spice cake.
1. Voodoo Doughnut
Voodoo Doughnut is an Oregon-based donut chain with 14 locations in California, Colorado, Florida, Oregon, Texas, and Washington.
The first Voodoo Doughnut location was opened by best friends Kenneth Pogson and Tres Shannon in the Old Town neighborhood of Portland, Oregon, in 2003.
From the beginning, Voodoo Doughnut was famous for its eclectic, creative donut flavors and live events, including concerts, weddings, and even weekly Swahili lessons.
The Voodoo Doughnut menu features almost four dozen donut flavors, ranging from classic to zany.
Some of the classic donut flavors at Voodoo Doughnut include raised glazed, chocolate ring, maple bar, plain cake, glazed old fashioned, chocolate old fashioned, and apple fritter.
One of the most popular donuts at Voodoo Doughnut is the bacon maple bar, which was crowned America’s Greatest Donut in 2022 by Underground Donut Tour.
Many of Voodoo Doughnut’s donuts are also available as a vegan option, including the dirt, the old dirty bastard, the Portland cream, the maple cream, the voodoo doll, and the school daze PB&J.
Conclusion
These donut chains on our list span every region of the United States, so you’ll be able to find a delicious donut no matter where you are.
Whether you’re looking for a classic glazed donut, chocolate donut hole, or a more exciting, extravagant flavor, use our list to find a donut shop near you and enjoy.
