Stan's Donuts

Update Review, November 2023

After several years, I was reunited with my favorite donuts in the Bay Area: Stan's!  A coworker diligently went before opening and brought them up to San Francisco from Santa Clara.  I went in with high expectations (and some fear that my memories at this point were too strong!).

I've still never tried Stan's jelly donuts, cream or custard filled, cinnamon rolls or twists, their daily buttermilk flavors, or their fritters (Mondays only!), but I got to indulge this time in their signature famous raised glazed donuts, old fashioned, and decorated cake donuts that I've tried before, and also two new styles for me: the powdered cake and French cruller.  All were marvelous, although the classic raised glazed still remain my top pick.

Famous Raised Glazed. $1.50.

I generally roll by eyes at places that dub their items "famous".  But in Stan's case, I do no eye rolling.  They are famous in my mind, and well deserved of the recognition.  This was my first fresh Stan's donut in at least 3 years, so I went into it with high expectations, and was thrilled to find that Stan's has remained unchanged in that time. 

I've reviewed this many times before.  I don't think you need to hear me say it again.  A raised, glazed donut simply does not get better than this.  So lofty.  So soft.  So fluffy.  Doesn't taste oily.  Perfect amount of glaze that isn't cloying.  Simply the best. Even better if you lightly warm it (or get it fresh).  *****.

Powdered Cake.

When I saw this, I assumed it was a filled donut.  After all, I couldn't see a center ...

It turned out, nope, it was a ring shaped cake donut, just absolutely smothered in powdered sugar.  And I adored it.   Cake donuts aren't usually my top pick, but, this was so light and moist, my brain nearly thought it was a raised donut, although it was clearly denser.  I've never had a cake donut with such a lightness to it.  Excellent base.

And then, the coating.  Yes, it was a ridiculous amount of powdered sugar, but I loved it.  I truly don't know the last time I had a powdered sugar donut, and it instantly transplanted me back in time to when I was growing up and our church had donuts once a month from an excellent local donut shop.  I often had the powdered sugar donuts then, and, wow, the memories.  This was about a zillion times better than those, and certainly the best powdered sugar donut I've ever had.

I'd get another of these no question.  It went so well with my afternoon coffee. ****+.

Chocolate Glazed French Cruller. $1.50.

Not all donut shops make French crullers, since they require separate technique, but, Stan's does ... some days of the week.  Glazed and chocolate are available Wed-Sun, and strawberry and blueberry available Fri-Sun.  We had only the chocolate glazed, which would be my last pick of all the varieties, but, I still wanted to try it, as I've never had a Stan's cruller before.

For the unfamiliar, whereas raised donuts are yeasted, and cake are leavened with baking soda/powder, crullers use an entirely different base, pâte à choux, which is egg based.  And they are shaped differently.  Still fried like other donuts, but, quite different in look, taste, and texture.  More rare to find, and thus, I was eager to see how Stan's did at this technique.

The answer?  Very well.  The donut was perfectly light and airy, with big open pockets inside, which I think is a sign of a good pâte à choux.  Lightly eggy, not too strong of an egg flavor.  A very good cruller base.

The chocolate dip was a darker chocolate, and quite intense.  I actually didn't care for it because I felt it really overwhelmed the delicate cruller, but, if you are in the mood for legit chocolate, it certainly delivered.  I'd love to try the strawberry or blueberry ones sometime.

****+ base cruller, **** overall just because I didn't actually want the chocolate dip.

Decorated Cake. $1.25.

I had a decorated cake donut from Stan's one before, and didn't care for it then, but still gave another a try when there was still a bunch of these left later in the day.

I didn't dislike it as I had last time, but I certainly didn't think it was a particularly good donut.  It didn't seem as remarkably light as the powdered sugar one, although I think it was the same cake base.  The glaze was sweet, the sprinkles standard, and it just didn't come together to be anything special for me.  Pretty average donut shop quality, albeit perhaps a bit more fresh and less fried tasting than average.  My least favorite that I tried, and I'd skip in the future.  ***.

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Maple Old Fashioned $1.25.

Old fashioned are available plain, glazed, maple, and chocolate.  I tried the maple this time (previously I had tried the glazed).

The maple glaze was sweet and had good maple flavor.  The donut was nicely crisp on the outside, moist inside.  A very good, but not exceptional, old fashioned donut.  In the future I'd stick to regular glaze or plain, although I like maple in general, I find that I don't like it on donuts much these days.  ***.

Update Review: February 2019

Remember when I declared Stan's the best glazed donut that I've ever had?  Yeah, it turns out, not a fluke.  When I encounter Stan's (which, is rarely, since its located in Santa Clara), my expectations are way too high.  And the thing is?  I'm not disappointed.

I will continue to bribe anyone and everyone to bring me these donuts, all the way from the South Bay ...

Raised Glazed.

The Stan's raised glazed truly is the best raised glazed donut I have ever experienced.

Light.  Fluffy.  Slightly interesting base flavor.  Perfect amount of glaze.

These donuts are good at room temperature, but they are *glorious* warmed up.  Glorious.  10-15 seconds, medium power in the microwave even, and honestly, life changing.  Over and over again.

Simplicity at its absolute finest.

Glazed Old Fashioned.

This time our donut fairy also brought some glazed old fashioned.

I do enjoy old fashioned, so I gave one a try.

It was a good old fashioned.  Slightly crispy outside, very well glazed, bit of tang to the base.  A good old fashioned, no question.  But not as glorious as the raised.

I'd eat one of these of course, but, I strongly prefer the raised.

Original Review April 2018

I've been hearing about Stan's Donuts for quite a while, from my team who works in Mountain View.  They have a donut rotation, where someone brings in donuts, every single Friday.  You know if I worked there, I'd be the most enthusiastic member of the group.  As it is, I lurk on their mailing list, even though I never get to enjoy the treats myself.

And then one Friday, I was FINALLY there on a Friday.  And I lucked out.  The person on donut duty brought in Stan's Donuts.

Simple Box for Donuts.

I've never been to Stan's, but my understanding is that it is an old school donut shop, no frills, no fancy flavors, just classic donuts.  Boxes aren't even pink.  It has been around since 1959.

As a donut lover, I had to try them.

Summary? OMG.  I honestly didn't know a donut could be this good.  And, I eat a lot of donuts.  Just go.  Now.  Get a glazed raised donut. (Side note: I'd love to try their cinnamon rolls, they sound great too!)

Glazed Raised Dozen.

The host of the rotation brought in a box full of just simple glazed raised.  He also brought in a dozen assorted decorated cake donuts, with different frosting and toppings (sprinkles, nuts, coconut, etc).

I was headed for the cake donuts, when he told me the glazed raised are amazing and I really should go for them instead.

Plus, they were still hot!

Glazed Raised Donut. $0.95.

I'm not going to beat around the bush.

This was the best glazed raised donut I have ever had in my entire life.  No contest.

And not just because it was hot and ridiculously fresh.

It was lofty.  Moist.  Doughy in all the right ways.  Amazing tang to the base.  Well distributed sweet glaze coating.

Quite literally, everything about it was perfect.  I had no idea, no concept, that a simple donut could be this good.

As I was leaving the office, there were still a bunch left, so I snagged one to go, planning to waffle it the next day, as per my style with leftover donuts.  But I couldn't wait that long.

That night, after dinner, I tried a nibble.  Yup, still amazing.  A few seconds in the toaster oven and it was even better.  Wowzer.  Yes, even hours old, it was still the best.

I can't wait to somehow get my hands on these again.  Almost worth the 1-2 hour drive!

Glazed Raised Donuts. (September 2018).

I got my hands on them again, a few months later.

Still just as glorious.

This time, I took an extra and did save it until the next day.  I was skeptical about doing something other than waffling it, but a friend said these donuts are just as good, if not better, the next day if you very briefly warm in the microwave, so I humored him and tried it.

The verdict?  I agree.  

I think that because the donuts are so light and airy, not laden in oil, they do actually keep a day just fine.  And when you heat them gently, they don't just turn into oily sponges like other ones I've tried this with.  Microwave, 70% power, 15 seconds, and, well, magic happens.  Warm, light, fluffy, seriously, as good as new.

The only casualty is the glaze, that does somewhat run off, but, you can toss in regular sugar, coat with something else (I think chocolate glaze would go great on these!), or, gasp, just enjoy a more plain donut, and be very, very happy.

Vanilla Frosted Sprinkle Topped Cake Donut. $0.95.

After lunch, I saw the box of cake donuts were still untouched.  So ... I tried one.

I really didn't like it, and not just compared to the raised donuts.

The base had a spicing I just didn't care for.  I'm not sure what it was, but, whatever it was, it wasn't for me.

The toppings were fine.

I didn't mind though, really, the glazed were so good I didn't need to like the cake, and I can still rave about Stan's.