Donut World
Categories: Coffee & Tea, Donuts [Edit]
Neighborhood: Inner Sunset1399 9th Ave
(between Irving St & Judah St)
San Francisco, CA 94122 (415) 665-4240
- Hours:
Mon-Sun 12:00 a.m.-12:00 a.m. - Price Range: $
- Accepts Credit Cards: No
- Parking: Street
- Wheelchair Accessible: Yes
- Outdoor Seating: No
- Wi-Fi: None
329 reviews
Neighborhood: SOMA
"I love the Vegan Thai Iced tea here. This is also an super impressive atmosphere so don't hesitate to take out of towners here to really…" read more »
29 Reviews for Donut World
I like-a-the donuts here.
I like-a-them a lot.
Minus one star for no blueberry cake donuts (which I was craving).
A hearty four stars for hella good donuts that remind me of home.
And by home, I mean the South.
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This is why Inner Sunset decidedly beats the WP in the neighborhood wars: 24 hour food. Ok, it's just donuts, but isn't there some comfort knowing this place will always be open, whether you're coming back from bars or heading for some 6 AM flight?
Trouble is, it only works if they actually have donuts at all hours (and preferably a decent selection). We snagged some of the last remaining specimens at 10:30 PM, and by 12:30 they were completely out. Maybe they were gearing up for the 2 AM rush, but still, when a donut shop has no donuts, it's time to close. Ergo, if they are going to be always open, there must ALWAYS BE DONUTS. Gotta work on that.
If you do see donuts in there, go for it: they were surprisingly fresh and delicious, especially the crumb cake ones.
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24 hour donuts? Love it. Before a 4 am snow trip, we stopped by here for some morning snacks...not only do they have a great selection of donuts/fritters/baked goods, they have Raspberry Peach Snapple to boot! (the BEST flavor of Snapple, imo). They've also got some single-serving size milk cartons also, which goes great with the donuts. I love the glazed twists and I tried the cinnamon roll/bun today. It was glazed with a hint of cinnamon and donut goodness baked right in.
After a random craving for some donuts, I finally decided to try Donut World
( which I would pass every once in a while when the L is taking for ever and I just take the N because you'd rather walk hella blocks instead of waiting what seems to be an eternity just for a slow crowded train)
*deep breath* sorry about that....
I bought a dozen to bring home for the family and the donuts are huge... it only cost 7 dollars exactly, and this place is open 24 hours. I like the lighting in here, made me feel relaxed and comfortable. Oh yeah... pink boxes are always cool.
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Donuts at 3am when nothing else is open in the area and you are starving and under the influence.
Can you really ask for too much more than that? Nope.
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What, donuts at all hours of the night??
Sheer madness is what it is.
I'm all for supporting mom and pop shops. I am sure they are operating on razor thin margins seeing that their goods were pretty rather economically. But yes, the donuts are yum yum.
Another star for being open 24-hours. God knows SF needs more of them.
You just can't go wrong with a place called Donut World.
We hit this place up last night after hanging out at a couple bars in Inner Sunset. Unwilling to wait the 20 minutes for the fresh batch, I got a glazed old fashioned and my roommate got the oft-Yelp-recommended crumb.
Neither of us are donut connoisseurs or very picky, but I'm telling you - these things were good. I would say it's probably the best glazed old fashioned I've had. I will be taking a dozen of these back to Boise for my mom's birthday (she's a sucker for old fashioned).
The amazing part is that we had them at about as old as they get (right before the new batch) and they were still amazing. And at a cheap $0.75 a piece, I may be the newest Donut World addict.
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I know the donuts are good here.
I can smell them.
The glazed ones are soft, squishy, and donut-ty.
The cheap, oh so good kind - that melt in your mouth and coat your hands with flakes of sugar glaze.
But I rarely go inside Donut World, because donuts -especially fresh glazed ones should require a prescription.
And...
so I admire this magnificent and often empty store from afar. Cocking my head from across the stress to see the lined up-un-eaten donuts propped up behind their donut glass displays cases.
Though I will probably step inside this store - only once or twice a year, I am thankful that it exists.
A 24/7 magical word of sugar and oil is always worth at LEAST three stars.
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Every time I walked by, which was all of the time, I would crave donuts and be tempted. Finally one day I walked in and got one. I was glad I did because it was unremarkable to mediocre, so as a result, I have never been tempted to go back!
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The donuts here are FANTASTIC.
The only reason I knock them down a star is it took 3 visits until they had an apple fritter for me. I was so bummed time after time. But when I got that apple fritter, seriously the BEST. And their cake donuts are delish. Especially the crumb.
And they have all the standards- maple bars, old-fashioneds, maple with peanut cake, chocolate with coconut cake, donut holes, the list goes on and on.
And a 24 hour donut place is just fabulous.
24 Hr donuts ftw. Speaking of which, brb, it's 2am.
Yes, it's cash only, but how much are donuts going to run you? Sheesh.
This place is so close I stumble out of bed, grab some tasty treats and I'm back grubbing on donuts before I know it.
It only looses a point because in the wee hours the selection gets a little limited. I know, what do I expect? Otherwise the donuts I've tried at various weird hours have always been fresh.
If you really wanted to you could sit at the counter in the window and wave at the light rail passengers while chomping away. I've never done this but the thought just occurred. The store is right on the corner of 9th and Judah where the N-Line makes it's turn.
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I LOVE DONUTS. Especially when I can buy them whenever the hell I want. This is America, people, freedom of choice!
Give me chocolate old fashioneds and maple bars.
That's all.
It's sad how familiar my friend and I have become to the people at the register. It's even more sad that we've tried nearly every kind if pastry in the display case. Well, our stomachs don't think it's so sad, anyway...
The hot chocolate is to die for. They really don't skimp on the chocolate flavoring. And if it's a chocolate fix you need, try the chocolate muffin. But don't get the muffin with the hot chocolate. That's overkill. Aw, screw it. Get 'em both.
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This place rules. They have a great selection of soda and different milks. If you go after midnight, there's almost always someone interesting or weird there.
One time we saw RIDER STRONG there. Yeah, Shawn from Boy Meets World! Another time, we saw an acidic jew reading the Koran clutching a guitar case like he was that dude from Desperado. What's an acidic jew anyways? I'm pretty sure I spelt that wrong.
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Open 24 hours, cash only.
This is a classic donut shop, just up the street from Momentum Chiropractic. I know, it's not the smartest thing in the world to grab a cup of coffee before an adjustment, but I was 1/2 hour early and I have been going by this shop for half a year now. So it was large, and at 5:30 pm it was quiet. All the expected donuts were there, perfectly executed classic recipes, as well as a variety of coffees. I selected my favorites, a chocolate old-fashioned and a French roast. Everything was exactly as I expected. Despite the low traffic at this hour, the clerk was cheerful and patient. I imagine they get a lot more customers between 2 am and 6 am.
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I can't believe that me and my bf decide to find some local goodies @ 1 a.m. Can anyone think???
Well, what we did is .... we went on yelp and started searching and found the closest spot for FOOD. good and not too pricy!!! and our total came up with under $6.50 with hot coca @ midnight. CROISSANT is FRESH!!! so GOOD!!! We even got extra pastries for next morning for breakfast too...... WHAT A DEAL!!! It's not true that they make hot fresh donut between 12-4a.m. The donut is okay, but is obviously not FRESH N' HOT. Service is ver plesantly friendly.
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Open 24 hours. easy walking distance from the bars. you figure it out.
I recommend the ham and cheese croissants rather than donuts when you're drunk. Granted they're both bad for you, but at least there's a semlence of nutrition in the former. You'll probably feel better the next day.
A mere 4 blocks from my house, if Donut World ceased to exist, I don't know what I would do.
The perfect late night stop to satisfy your drunken sugar and dough craving.
Aww donut world donutt world..
me an my lil cousin made a song about this place
tthis is the spot to come have super cheap goodness and sit in front of the window and look at all the traffic & people outside
wat else do u need!!!
I haven't eaten donuts for years, I mean like 10 years (!) until one late night after drinking.... I was hungry... it was open.... Then I got my old favorite: The Chocolate Old Fashioned. It was so damn good. So soft on the inside and slightly crunchy on the out and so sweet. And I had to wash it down with milk and I never drink milk!
Then I got addicted. And ate them once a week. Tried to make a rationale reason to have one like, "i'm getting my calcium intake from drinking the milk." Now I try to avoid this place, but it's so close to my apt! The donuts here are irresistible- watch out.
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Donut World: Not so much a classic institution tasked with serving piping-fresh donut-y goodness as it is a portal into another lifetime- where it achieves another name altogether- "the donut shop of broken dreams".
How many times have I been riding around the corner from 9th onto judah st on the N - pondering to myself some deep thought, like trying to undestand the ellusive link of the word "toes" in all Frito lay products...only to see the ghostly visage of Donut World appear out of the frosty sunset fog.
Then you see them- the patrons- looking forlon into that "7 flavors coffee" and you realize, that just may be the last 1.37 they'll ever see. Lost are the happy faces of donut flavored yumminess, and all thats left are the faces of 3 strangers, all eating donuts, looking at the n pass by like ghost, wondering.....
...oh yeah, the sugared donut and the fritters here are great, as is the hazlenut coffee of the 7 flavors of coffee......just don't stay past 10pm long, or you'll disappear into the fog as well
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I'm not really that fond of donuts, but this corner coffee place has a place in my heart. I lived right around the corner from here, and it's the only place in the inner sunset open all night. The owner and his wife are kind people, and they make everything right there.
I like just walking by this place and looking in at the people looking out.
If you are an insomniac, a maniac programmer, a people watcher, recently homeless, a novel writer, a drunk, or have a job that starts at 4am...this is the place for you.
*bonus* If you sit at any of the windows seats, you can pick up about 10 open wireless access points. The only 24 hour internet cafe I know of!
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There are 3 reasons why I give Donut World 4 stars:
1. Its open 24 hours- AMAZING for sleepy SF.
2. The location is a great shelter to wait for the N-Judah, 44, 43 and 6 bus. Great place to people watch!
3. The self serve coffee is super cheap ($1.35 for a LARGE COFFEE) and pretty good. And you can add all the cream and sugar you want. They often have at least 3 to 4 varieties on hand. The hazelnut flavor is the best.
FYI: the ambiance does need some major help. The chairs are incredibly uncomfortable (no booths to lounge in) and there are only 2 very small round tables to sit at with larger groups.
Oh and the donuts are okay.
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I used to live right up the hill from this place and every time I'd walk by or ride by on a bus or the N-Judah, I'd grab a Old Fashioned and a little milk before I made my way home from work or school. Now I live in Sacramento, so I can't get my fix at 2am anymore. Nothing is open at 2am here! So, when I had to pick my sister up at SFO at 11pm one night, I stopped at Donut World and made up for lost opportunities and... ate an entire dozen! No, I'm kidding, but really I could go for some donuts right now. It's 10:30 and I know for a fact that I can't get a donut right now anywhere in Sacramento!
Still Best in SF!
I was referred by yelpers to Bob's (pretender to the throne) in the shitty 'Loin, and realized they must only be good immediately after their midnight baking run. DW always has a good selection, are bigger, and seem to be fresh at all times of the day, and you certainly don't need to be wasted to appreciate them!
The best and freshest donuts in the city. Go there between midnight and 3AM and you can get 'em freshly baked. I would go as far as to say that the ones that just come out are orgasmic donuts. DONUT WORLD 'TILL I DIE!!!! 94122!!!
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Hands down, best apple fritters in the city. I love this place. Its open 24 hours which is friggen awesom. The only problem with this place is that its not very close to where i live. Im so sad. :( so If you live near 9th and judah, i hate you cause you have the greatest donut place in the world to go to. Im gonna go weap now....
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This is one of the best places for donuts in the bay area. Sure it is not Rolling Pin Donuts in San Bruno which is superior in so many ways to the outside interlopers like Krispy Kreme. But a close second is Donut World, one of the few places to make a crumb donut that is great and is beyond NOT SUCKING, and has a maple series that is soooo good. Best of all coffee is cheap and good and it is open 24 hours. And, if they actually have it in stock, you should try their ham and cheese croissant. They are not super cheap but they are better than most of the stuff that's out there.
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i remember a while back that i was able to get donuts here at 4 am. it was incredible. i went back just yesterday because i was in a donut-not-krispy-kreme kinda mood. i checked some reviews before i headed out there and based on your fine opinions =) i decided to try the crumb donut. and IT IS THE BEST CRUMB DONUT I'VE EVER HAD. not quite great enough where i would want one everyday...but it is damn tasty. i only wished i had gotten a more fresh one. theyre definitely made that same day, but probably hours old. and service is great too- the guy at the counter was really friendly despite i was ordering pretty slowly, changing my mind, adding things after he started ringing. you know the type. =\
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