The 14 Best Doughnut Spots In NYC - New York - The Infatuation (2024)

photo credit: Emily Schindler

While there aren't a ton of bad doughnuts out there, the are some that stand out as the very best. These are the doughnuts you'll think about eating late at night, right when you wake up, and all the hours in between while you're sleeping.

THE SPOTS

Unlike most of the places on this list, Kora doesn’t have a physical storefront. In order to get a box of their Filipino-inspired doughnuts, you have to visit their website, when orders open on Saturdays at 12pm, then pick up your desserts the next Saturday at their makeshift window in Long Island City. The process is kind of a hassle, but it’s 100% worth it. At $37.50 for a box of five, the doughnuts aren’t the cheapest in the city—but you aren’t going to mistake this place for Dunkin’. Past highlights have included a brioche doughnut with a whole flan embedded in the middle, and a perfect, sticky ube doughnut stuffed with ube custard.

The Firni Doughnut at Little Flower Cafe in Astoria is a transcendent experience. It’s fluffy on the inside, crisp on the outside, and has delicate, lightly floral, and nutty flavors that make it the most unique filled doughnut we’ve had in recent memory. It’s not too big and not too sweet, so we recommend that you don’t plan to share it.

Yes, the completely vegan doughnuts at Cloudy Donut Co. in Brooklyn Heights are incredibly cloudlike. Besides being fluffy, airy, and downright dangerous, they come in 40 different flavors that rotate every week. We’d take their grapefruit mimosa doughnut—which has a grapefruit champagne glaze topped with brûléed grapefruits and a pipette of champagne—over a birthday cake any day. Get to the shop early as they tend to sell out fast.

Don’t be fooled by Super Nice’s unassuming takeout window. This East Harlem spot is beloved by neighborhood residents for their coffee, pastries, and doughnuts with flavors like strawberry lemonade and mango chili. If you’re having trouble deciding, go for their glazed loganberry with just the right amount of sweetness, or a beautiful pistachio creation that gets some oomph from a crumble with a heavy dose of cardamom and star anise. There are two other locations, on the UWS and in Chelsea, and they often have afternoon deals if you sign up for texts.

Ask anyone who knows their Brooklyn food bonafides where to get the best doughnuts, and they’ll tell you Peter Pan. If they don’t say Peter Pan, they’ll say Moe’s (more on that below). This Greenpoint spot has been open since the 1950s, and their doughnuts are old school, but still draw a line that's usually out the door. Order a box (make sure this includes the apple crumb) or sit inside and pair your doughnut with a breakfast sandwich and a coffee.

Moe used to work at Peter Pan, which is why you’ll often hear people talk about these two spots in the same sentence (they're also a seven-minute walk away from each other in Greenpoint). Some people have strong opinions about which one is better, but we think they’re pretty much equal. At Moe’s, though, you probably won’t have to wait in a long line like you will at Peter Pan, so you're that much closer to a blueberry doughnut if you opt for a Moe's visit.

We wake up at least once a week thinking: “Doughnut Plant sounds good today.” The hefty yeast doughnuts, with their slightly dense, spongy, and chewy texture, made this place well-known. But don’t ignore their other types like the sourdough, cake, and mini filled ones. Some of our favorites are the coconut cream, tres leches, and the crème brûlée, which gets the brittle, somewhat bitter caramelized top layer just right. They have multiple locations throughout the city, but we prefer their original spot on the Lower East Side.

Yellow Rose may very well have the best flour tortillas in NYC, which is already an accomplishment. In a move that's almost unfair (to all other restaurants), they do doughnuts just as well. At this Tex-Mex spot in the East Village, doughnuts are only available during brunch on the weekends, and they’re incredibly light and fluffy. The chocolate one tastes a little bitter, like dark chocolate, and the hominy sugar one is mostly savory with just a hint of sugar.

Mochi doughnuts are everywhere now, but Alimama in Chinatown was one of the first spots where you could get these crispy, chewy treats in NYC—and we think they’re still the best. The doughnuts are extremely consistent, and the flavors tend to be modern takes on Asian-inspired flavors, like roasted black sesame, and matcha.

In the battle for Bed-Stuy doughnut supremacy, Caroline’s scores an upset over Fan Fan, like a bracket-busting win from a 15 seed during March Madness. The consistency of their dough is on the verge of being dense, but stops just short, so you still get that desired squishiness. If you’ve only allotted yourself one treat, get the Orange Cream Cheese. You also can’t go wrong with the plain glazed. This place is takeout-only, so grab your doughnuts and head to the tables and chairs at Brevoort Playground just two blocks away. Caroline's has a second location on the Upper East Side.

Supermoon on the Lower East Side does all pastries perfectly—that’s kind of their schtick—and doughnuts are no exception. Like the rest of their menu, the flavors change on a weekly basis, but expect an incredibly light yeast doughnut with fillings like honey goat cheese and pistachio cream. They're all a lot without being too much.

Getting your hands on the doughnuts at this Lower East Side restaurant will take a little planning. They’re only available on Saturdays at noon sharp, and you’ll have to check their Instagram to see what flavor they’re offering. They might have three kinds, or just one, but whatever’s available, get some. We recently had a fantastic Maldon salted caramel and chocolate glazed doughnut stuffed with fluffy pastry cream. We suggest arriving at around 11:45am to get in line, as they usually sell out within 30 minutes.

We’ve never had classic doughnuts quite as light and airy as the raised sugar-coated doughnuts at Shaikh’s Place in Sheepshead Bay. The prices here are extremely reasonable—a dozen doughnuts will cost you just over $12. Shaikh’s also makes our favorite chocolate cake doughnuts in the city.