The Best Places To Grab A Donut In Chicago

Doughnuts have become a popular dessert craze in the city of Chicago. With doughnut shops constantly developing unique flavors and expanding their reach to several locations throughout the city, it doesn’t seem as if the doughnut trend will be stopping any time soon. Here are our picks for some of the best places to grab a doughnut, or a dozen, in the city.

Stan’s Donuts and Coffee

Coffee Shop

mug of coffee and lemon pistachio old fashioned speciality traditional donut in stans donuts in Chicago IL USA

Stan’s Donuts and Coffee has everything from the traditional glazed doughnut to a captain crunch inspired doughnut called the Captain Crunch Bismark. Their newly opened Lakeview location has a fair amount of seating which is a rare occurrence for most of the doughnut shops in Chicago. Along with doughnuts, Stan’s also serves gelato and intelligentsia coffee.

Do-Rite Donuts

Restaurant, Dessert

Outside of Doughnut Vault | © Benita GingerellaDo-Rite Donuts has become a well-known doughnut destination in the city. While their original doughnut shop on Randolph Street only serves doughnuts and coffee, their second shop on Erie Street has expanded to serving chicken sandwiches as well. Along with their original and rotating seasonal flavors, Do-Rite offers a wide range of vegan and gluten-free doughnut options. Every couple of weeks, Do-Rite partners up with a chef to make their own doughnut creation available for sale.

Doughnut Vault

Cafe, Pastry Shop, Pastries

Mini donuts at Beavers Donuts | © Benita GingerellaLiving up to its name, The Doughnut Vault is a small hole in the wall doughnut shop that offers room for the cashier, a counter, a couple customers, and not much else. The shop is located in River North and its close proximity to the offices in the Loop combined with their tasty doughnuts and one dollar coffee make it a popular destination for the nine-to-five working crowd. Doughnut Vault only makes a select number of doughnuts a day and once they they run out, they’re done until the following day, so make sure to get there earlier rather than later.

Beavers Donuts

Food Truck, Market, American

Beavers began as a food truck, but has now also found a permanent home in the French Market located in the Loop. Unlike at other doughnut shops, at Beavers customers choose a select number of mini doughnuts that they want and then choose the toppings to go on them. The toppings range from regular flavors such as cinnamon sugar, to the more unusual, such as the Rock Star which is a combination of strawberry sauce and pop rocks.

Firecakes Donuts

Pastry Shop, Cafe, Pastries

Firecakes Donuts is a popular local favorite. Enjoy a doughnut ice cream sandwich in the summer or, for late night doughnut lovers, Firecakes is open until midnight – that is, if they don’t sell out beforehand.

About the author

Benita Gingerella

Benita is a recent graduate of Loyola University Chicago where she majored in journalism and minored in photography. She has lived in Chicago for over 10 years and loves to explore all that the city has to offer (especially when it comes to finding the best brunch spots). An avid traveler starting at a young age, she has made it a goal to see as much of the world as possible. In her free time, she likes to blog, read, cook, and watch Disney movies.

Become a Culture Tripper!

Sign up to our newsletter to save up to $300 on our unique trips.

About the author

Read Next

Sign up to our newsletter to
save up to $300 on our unique trips.