Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Donuts at night

Donut Bar adds space, late hours, beer

Homer’s Donut — a regular feature
Homer’s Donut — a regular feature
Place

Donut Bar

631 B Street, San Diego

Donut Bar has been written about and written about, so most probably know about its wide and interesting selection of giant donuts including triple chocolate, salted caramel, raspberry pistachio, and Homer’s Donut (pink frosted with sprinkles à la The Simpsons). I didn’t expect I’d have anything to add when I dropped by last weekend, but then I didn’t expect to be showing up at 6 p.m.

Sponsored
Sponsored

Donut Bar opens at 7 a.m. (8 a.m. on weekends) and closes when it sells out, which often happens before noon. Getting donuts there in the afternoon is rare — at 6 p.m., unheard of. Except the shop recently started reopening with a whole fresh batch of donuts on Friday and Saturday afternoons at 5 p.m.

That’s not the only change. The shop took over the suite next door, remodeling the ground floor so the counter runs parallel to the sidewalk with the line forming to the right, rather than a line out the door. Where the original counter used to be, you may now watch bakers knead long strands of dough. Which would be hypnotic, if the many colorful finished donuts weren’t there to distract you with more than a dozen tantalizing options.

Thanks to the extra space, there are now also 20 mostly local beer options at Donut Bar, which essentially means they’re making beer and donut pairings a thing. There’s even a house beer, a so-called donut porter made by nearby Resident Brewing. You can really taste the donut.

Since the beer bar operates separately from the donut counter (meaning separate order and payment), I suppose Donut Bar could just become an evening beer destination in its own right. But who can resist the opportunity to match a delicious donut with a delicious stout or porter?

The maple bar, with genuine Vermont maple syrup and crumbles of center-cut bacon

Other beer styles are available, but most tend to clash with sugary food. I did notice a calzone-like “donut pizza” giving hungry customers a savory option (with marinara dip). But I’m hooked on the Vermont Maple Bacon, a genuine Vermont maple bar topped by crumbles of center cut bacon. It was delicious, of course, and probably had enough salt to stand up alongside an IPA or pilsner if I didn’t go for that porter. The shop threw in a rainbow sprinkle cake donut for free to celebrate owner/chef Santiago Campo’s birthday.

One more thing: the new Friday and Saturday hours mean fresh donuts by the dozen are now on the table as a party gift. If you thought showing up to the office with a couple boxes of Donut Bar made you a star, imagine the reception you’ll get bringing them to a dinner party, housewarming, or backyard kegger.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Pacific Beach – car thief's paradise

Take photos of your automobile and license plate
Next Article

Mid-range fleet scoring bluefin limits off Ensenada

Rockfish to open at all depths April 1st (no foolin’)
Homer’s Donut — a regular feature
Homer’s Donut — a regular feature
Place

Donut Bar

631 B Street, San Diego

Donut Bar has been written about and written about, so most probably know about its wide and interesting selection of giant donuts including triple chocolate, salted caramel, raspberry pistachio, and Homer’s Donut (pink frosted with sprinkles à la The Simpsons). I didn’t expect I’d have anything to add when I dropped by last weekend, but then I didn’t expect to be showing up at 6 p.m.

Sponsored
Sponsored

Donut Bar opens at 7 a.m. (8 a.m. on weekends) and closes when it sells out, which often happens before noon. Getting donuts there in the afternoon is rare — at 6 p.m., unheard of. Except the shop recently started reopening with a whole fresh batch of donuts on Friday and Saturday afternoons at 5 p.m.

That’s not the only change. The shop took over the suite next door, remodeling the ground floor so the counter runs parallel to the sidewalk with the line forming to the right, rather than a line out the door. Where the original counter used to be, you may now watch bakers knead long strands of dough. Which would be hypnotic, if the many colorful finished donuts weren’t there to distract you with more than a dozen tantalizing options.

Thanks to the extra space, there are now also 20 mostly local beer options at Donut Bar, which essentially means they’re making beer and donut pairings a thing. There’s even a house beer, a so-called donut porter made by nearby Resident Brewing. You can really taste the donut.

Since the beer bar operates separately from the donut counter (meaning separate order and payment), I suppose Donut Bar could just become an evening beer destination in its own right. But who can resist the opportunity to match a delicious donut with a delicious stout or porter?

The maple bar, with genuine Vermont maple syrup and crumbles of center-cut bacon

Other beer styles are available, but most tend to clash with sugary food. I did notice a calzone-like “donut pizza” giving hungry customers a savory option (with marinara dip). But I’m hooked on the Vermont Maple Bacon, a genuine Vermont maple bar topped by crumbles of center cut bacon. It was delicious, of course, and probably had enough salt to stand up alongside an IPA or pilsner if I didn’t go for that porter. The shop threw in a rainbow sprinkle cake donut for free to celebrate owner/chef Santiago Campo’s birthday.

One more thing: the new Friday and Saturday hours mean fresh donuts by the dozen are now on the table as a party gift. If you thought showing up to the office with a couple boxes of Donut Bar made you a star, imagine the reception you’ll get bringing them to a dinner party, housewarming, or backyard kegger.

Comments
Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Will L.A. Times crowd out San Diego U-T at Riverside printing plant?

Will Toni Atkins stand back from anti-SDG&E initiative?
Next Article

Celebrate Holi, Borrego Springs Music Festival

Events March 23-March 27, 2024
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.