KingPin Donuts

Food: 3/5 Service: 3/5 Ambiance: 2/5 Overall: Pretty standard fare for taste. Good thing is it's open late. The extended review... Donuts: Buttermilk Donut - 3/5 - It's a solid donut but standard fare. Service: 3/5 - Standard service. Ambiance: 2/5 - Definitely a grab and go.

If you?re on a quest for the best donuts in the Bay Area, look no further?this little gem is run by the legendary Charlie, a baker so dedicated that I?m convinced he never sleeps. No matter what hour you swing by, he?s usually there, working his magic. The old-fashioned donuts? Absolute perfection?crispy on the edges, soft in the middle, and hands down the best you?ll find anywhere. The fancy donuts? Equally amazing, with flavors that will make you rethink everything you thought you knew about fried dough.

Tried this place for a midnight sugar craving and highly recommend coming here if you?re looking for something quick, fresh and delicious to eat for a sweet treat. These donuts don?t come close to any donuts I?ve eaten in the area before, they are sweet but not sickly sweet, decadent but not too heavy and freshly prepared. They have a bunch of different textures/types, old fashioned which was firm and dense, buttermilk which was rich and less dense, and the cake variant which was fluffy and light. We got 3

I love donuts and have been coming here for years when I'm close by. With that said, last time was my last time buying donuts from here. I ordered 2 old fashioned, glazed donuts. Total was $6-$7, and I paid cash! It's extra for using card. Never paid that much for an average donut, especially after looking at these other reviews. Go elsewhere! Parking around here is almost impossible too. Service wasn't all that either.

Worst donut I?ve had in my life. Got a jelly filled donut and it had maybe a teaspoon of jelly in it. Also was glazed rather than powdered!? Also the price was outrageous cost me FOUR DOLLARS AND SEVENTY FIVE CENTS for a basic donut. The lady was sweet but took a million years to come out after I?d been calling for her. Sub par donuts sub par service never coming back.

Kingpin donuts is more than a donut shop, it is a beacon of old school Berkeley delicious food. If you're old enough around here to remember when they were located on the corner of Channing and telegraph, then you understand what I'm talking about. Still to this day, Charlie, who is a personal hero to me for the billions of donuts he has churned out over the past 30 years, is still there, and was still there tonight doing what he always does, making great donuts. This guy should get a plaque or a national

the girl working here somehow has messed up my order every single time. i ask for 1 thing and she gets me another, and puts it in the bag so fast. i got hot chocolate from here another time and she gave it to me flooding over the top and spilling everywhere.

Located in a convenient spot close to the Berkeley athletic complex, these donuts were delicious and fresh. The coffee was pretty good as well. For people complaining about the price, what's not expensive nowadays?

The donuts were super good. I came here the morning of graduation and they had my order ready. I?d definitely come back again. The guy at the counter was really nice too. 10/10

cheap, affordable good food, donuts were really good, chai latte was straight gas

As an east bay local, have been frequenting King Pin for 15 years, since back when the small shop would make their dough fresh daily and you could watch them do it through the window. I would tell literally all my friends that these donuts were the best, even better than Bob?s in the city. Well, I went back last night around 1am for old time?s sake and it was $22 for 4 donuts and a dozen donut holes. Seriously?! Portland prices for no artistry on my donut?. Anyways I ate the donut holes immediately and the

Ordered delivery an hour ago and they cancelled it without giving an explanation. This place is unreliable. I would strongly suggest not ordering anything from them.

A little pricey..yet this is a rare spot that offers old fashion holes- hence the extra star. They are huge!!! Received great service and the other donuts look tasty. Open late night- fresh and delicious. Check them out?

I stopped by the donut shop around 5pm. I tried the donuts and they were fresh. Especially our family loved cinnamon crumb buttermilk and Boston cream.

These donuts unfortunately were stale and the glaze was clearly not done correctly on the maple bars. The donut holes were $3.25 for 6 and they were all stale just like the maple bar. I don't think they're selling their donuts within 12 hours and so they just keep them on the shelf for probably up to 2-3 days. The only thing that was good was the custard in the maple bar. Really disappointed.

The lady working at the counter was extremely rude. When I got to the front of the line to order, she decided to service the customer who was behind me in line before me, which is extremely disrespectful. When I ordered my drink, she charged me for a more expensive drink because she said she made ?a larger size,? which I did not ask for, as there was only one size available. Even after the horrible service and overpriced drink, the drink tasted awful. The coffee was extremely acidic and the almond milk tast

Kingpin Doughnuts is one of those rare gems that truly sets the standard for what a neighborhood doughnut shop should be. Nestled in the heart of the city, Kingpin is not just a place to grab a quick bite but a beloved institution where craftsmanship, passion, and community come together over the simple joy of doughnuts. From the moment you step inside the cozy and welcoming space, you know you're in for a treat. The delicious aroma of fresh doughnuts, sugar, and spices immediately engulfs you, and if you?r

Delicious donuts, open early to late for all those early birds and night owls! Small establishment typically with a short line out the door. Worth the wait for the coffee and donut to go. Great deal on day-olds too! Definitely recommend for a quick, sweet treat!

This place was pretty good! The Donuts were Huge! Definitely the place to hit when y'all got the Munchies or a sweet tooth ????

This will be my last visit here & I have been coming for over 10 years. My first problem was when they changed ownership some years ago. They made the donuts bigger which made them undercooked inside & then raised their prices to the highest price I have ever seen for donuts. Now every time we come the donuts we buy are stale & still ridiculously priced. There are much better shops that I know of. Too bad because King Pin used to have the best donuts but they consistently sell stale donuts for years now.

Came to get a donut around 10:30pm, it was freshly baked! It was so warm and yummy!

I recently had a terrible experience at Kingpin Donuts. Not only was my order incorrect, but the customer service was absolutely atrocious. The employee had a terrible attitude when I returned to correct the order. To top it off, I was charged for specialty donuts I didn't even order, and they refused to refund me. Avoid this place at all costs! #KingpinDonuts #badcustomerservice #horribleexperience

Best Old Fashioned donut I've ever had! Not too sour, crispy on the outside, and perfectly sweet! The cake donut was excellent as well...very crispy exterior! I like the white coconut cake. The apple fritter is very cinnamon-y and had a nice, crunchy exterior. The raised donuts were denser than I like...seemed less fresh...but maybe it's just the type of dough they use.

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Yep, this is the yeast donut experience that I am always yearning for. No frills, no ridiculous millennial modifications, just excellent classic donuts.

Really amazing delicious donuts! Huge ones, small ones... all all all delicious and satisfying!!

The place is nice with the store person being very nice and friendly! This place is open late night in Berkeley which is a bonus if you are craving for sweet. The place also adhered to Social distancing protocols which is good to see! We tried few things here: --> Tiramisu Cake Slice --> Carrot Cake Slice --> Donut Holes --> Coffee Au Lait Amongst the all the Tiramisu and Donut Holes were pretty good! Perfect sweetness and taste! Carrot cake felt a bit Dry with too much cream on it! Coffee was decent but

Amazing. Simply divine. I don't have photos cause that donut was finished in 2 minutes. It's just that good. (I got a cinnamon twist)

Not fancy, but yummy. Tried 3 different varieties and all were better than average by quite a bit. Tasted fresh, not just a mix. I've made my way through most of the donut shops in Berkeley and Oakland, and this is the only one I would travel to go back to again. I never think of service quality in a donut shop, but I do think a LOT about quality donuts. So far, this is it. Just a note, the heavily iced donuts are REALLY sweet, so order accordingly . And I say this as someone born with 32 sweet teeth.

Donuts were $3.75 each + $0.50 for credit card fee. I ended up paying 8 dollars for 2 donuts. The donuts weren't even good and 100% not worth more than $2 MAX. Only redeeming factor is that the donuts were pretty big, but that's only because they had so much oil in them I felt like I was taking an olive oil shot with every bite. I couldn't even finish it because it was so bad.

What a normal donut shop should be: cheap, convenient, fast, decent flavor, buy a dozen for 8 bucks-ish I spent 4 dollars on a single glazed donut with cream. Terribly overpriced for its quality. If this was an artisan crafted wheat/mochi/something-else donut then I would understand. This is yet another business surviving on the gullibility of college students with no means of getting anywhere cheaper. Do you want donuts of the same quality for 1/4 the price? Hit up a Dunkin's or something.

Update: It has NOTHING to do with the time or glaze. It was oil. The donuts were made incorrectly and were overpriced. What a combo! What a joke that your response is they were too fresh. "It is unfortunate you had a terrible experience" ??? No. You should be sorry you gave me sopping wet donuts for $20 per half dozen. Where is my refund? Original Review: I was charged over $17 for 6 donuts. I thought I heard wrong, still left smiling. I would've let it go, but when I ate the donuts they were soggy and di

They have 2 different types delicious donut hole. Small shop, variety choice!

Thank you so much! We love stopping here when we are visiting from Wisconsin. All the donuts are fantastic, as is the service. The apple fritters are loved by our entire family!

Exterior, morning, low din of an awakening city. I enter the small shopfront, drawn by the dazzling display case stocked with enough fried dough to kill a man. Attendant: "Hello, what can I get you?" Me: "Two donuts, one of the glazed yeast and a Boston creme." He packages the donuts in a brown paper bag and gives me my exorbitant west coast total. I hand over my credit card to be scanned by one of the fastest tap receivers I've ever seen. Seriously I think this machine was fresh out of the box. I scu

CHARLIE YOU SWEET MAN ???????????? we will be back ? amazing donut holes

The cheesecake and carrot cake cheesecake was light, airy, moist, so creamy, and the perfect amount of sweet

Tiny little donut and coffee place. They have a lot of options for donuts and cakes. I tried the chocolate cake. The chocolate cake was just amazing and worth trying this place. The coffee was great. I didn't love the latte as much but was good enough to go with the cake. The staff is very friendly and nice.

I'm a person who has a big mouth which means I take big bites but when I tried King Pin's original glazed donut I felt I needed to unhinge my jaw. The donut was huge height wise but I was still able wrestle it into my mouth. Yum! It was so delicious; I really appreciated how it was sweetened/glazed just right. There was more bread to take in compared to your average size donut but oh how it didn't taste stale-ish since I went around 2 in the afternoon. The service speedy but not what memorable. Told the guy

Good old-fashioned donuts with great deals when the library closes at 2a. This review is based on when I always used to go there when I was an undergrad from 2002-2006. 4 donuts for $1.75. Reliable, sweet and comforting. Never change, good-old fashioned people and donut shop, never change.

My friend went here when she was at Berkeley 30years ago. We got the donut holes and buttermilk donut holes. The doughnut holes were really good, not too much icing, they were light and had good texture. The butter milk ones were awesome! best i've tasted . GO and get some, they are amazing! Just dont go too often.

The best tasting, and most amazing looking donuts anywhere! These people make edible art in a round format. Service is personal and quick. Sandwiches are made to order any way you want them.

They're always so friendly to me and they have a great selection of donuts. They're a little hard to find from the street, tucked away in a little plaza for Berkeley students, and their prices are a little steep sometimes ($2.75 for a large drip coffee that's not great), but you can't beat having a coffee and a donut at a cozy shop where they remember you and you can get literally any kind of donut you want. And it's right nearby a bunch of other stuff so when you get your carbs and caffeine in you there a

Large variety, pretty good donuts.

The Boston Cream Eclair donut was mouthwatering at the first bite. Just writing this review gets my tastebuds excited!! I also had their house coffee, and it was surprisingly good. Will definitely be going back.

Doughnuts were very pricy, at least twice what you pay anywhere else. The smell is what brought me to them. I got the doughnut holes and about 6 other ones. I liked how raised they were, you can tell they were made there. What I didn't like was when I saw them bring in Costco muffins and cookies to sell in the window. I was quite surprised and turned off by saying them do that. If I'm paying $4 for a muffin I expect it to be homemade and baked on the premises. They also need to learn how to wear glove

Prices here aren't actually that great for standard donuts, but they have their own niche here, south of campus. If you get here around 10pm (I think that's it), they do have nice, fresh ones hot out of the oven, though! A good place to combo with a boba run to Sweetheart's or Quickly's. :)

I think the donuts here are awesome they taste great they just melt in your mouth but they need to pick some new servers because the customer service absolutely sucks I might just stop going there strictly for how I'm treated when I walk through the door no warm greeting no nothing just a worker there with sleep in her eyes who barely wants to serve me. Other than the lousy customer service they have pretty good donuts

The doughnuts are pricier than most other places, but in my opinion, they are totally worth the price if you're getting them hot and fresh. Their regular glazed doughnut is probably the best I've tried. Their day-old doughnut deals aren't bad as well.

Have dined here several times, super great shoppe, friendly staff Saturday, King Pin donuts...they creatively use flavors and toppings in combinations that have you nibbling all day! Coconut, chocolate chips, nuts, maple.... I especially like refrigerating them too, take out nxt day and have with a delicious cup of French roast , (for me) worth the 30 mi RT drive definitely!

I ordered some donuts at 12:30am on Doordash. At 1:05am, the app still said Kingpin was preparing my order. I called Kingpin to check on my order. Someone answered the phone laughing. He said ?I am the Kingpin? and made several inappropriate jokes. I asked why my doordash order was taking so long. He stated ?oh, yes, sorry? I?ll make it in a few minutes.? I waited up late for over an hour for my order because this guy was too busy goofing off and being unprofessional to take 15 seconds to put a couple donut

Darn good donuts. There's like a 50 cent fee for paying with card, but I don't think that's something would stop folks from getting donuts. I mean, can you imagine walking over to the donut shop, picking out a cinnamon twist with a little bit of chocolate and those crumbly peanut things on top, then finding out about the fee and being all "Nah, I'm cool with $1.50 for this beautiful piece of fried dough, but not two bucks. Put that thing back."? No? That's what I thought.

Donuts in general are great! King Pin usually has great service (good at dealing with drunk people, the baker gave me and my friend fresh donut holes for free one time, etc.) and the day old bags are a great deal if you're not picky about that kind of stuff.

Definitely not my style of donuts, but to each their own. Appreciated the option to get day old donuts for a good price. Great area to be in with lots of food options around.

The glazed buttermilk donut is one of the most amazing things I have ever tasted. I rant about this place whenever the topic of donuts comes up. And they are open late. Do your self a favor and stop in next time youre in berkeley.

I went here on this fine Wednesday evening, in a good mood from finishing my finals. Thought I'd treat myself to a good ol doughnut. Could not have had a worst experience. As if the overpriced, stale, unexciting doughnut wasn't enough - the guy behind the counter had to cr*p on my day too, for the cherry on top. You'd think a polite customer with a positive attitude would be meet with at least an indifferent/neutral customer service. Instead, I got rude impatience and nasty vibes, just because I asked if a

Warm, yummy donuts and quick service everytime! Always get 1-2 extra donut holes with my half dozen order :)) such a small yet meaningful little treat when I open the bag!

I don?t recommend this donut shop nothing was fresh

Great donuts made fresh every night. Owner is very pleasant and we had a nice conversation after he found out we were visiting. Highly recommend this place .

This place is adorable. Incredible donuts with great service.

When a problem set has got you down, what better cure is there than watching donuts being made? Delicious globules of dough splash-landing in hot oil and floating, bobbing, like not-so-delicate synchronized swimmers? I like their fun colored glazed donuts. They go all out for whatever holiday. I remember one year they had Mardi Gras donuts with yellow/green/purple sprinkles. The maple donut is delicious. Sometimes they have bags of day-olds and those are a pretty good deal. Everyone is always friendly to m

OMG!!! There food is sooooo good. I njoyed very much. I had came and got fresh donut holes when thy were finished cooking, and they were warm and like melted in my mouth. The rest of my famly got glazed donuts and we enjoyed all. I would come back very very soon.

Best donut I've ever had in my life.

I decided to get some donuts for nursing staff where my uncle was receiving chemo treatment. The owner/staff couldn't be kinder once he realize what my purchase was for, he gave me a beautiful danish for me to bring back to my uncle. I was speechless and could appreciate more!

Late night donuts are the best when fresh and hot from the fryer. The popular choice is the apple fritter. You can't go wrong with that and it is closer to a small meal than a snack.

Long time favorite and super nostalgic vendor. If you have a sweet tooth King Pin has your fix all day and all night long. Great quality and even better prices!

The donut master has been making donuts for 30 years. He is the Jiro of donuts. The donuts are made in the evening so that is the time to go, when they are fresh out. Sizzling and crispy, best donuts in the Bay.

The best donut shop in Berkeley. Always get whatever is the freshest, if its fresh enough it should be warm and the most heavenly donut like pastry you have ever had.

The staff are amazing, they'll take the time to get to know you. It's refreshing to be welcomed and treated with respect in the city. Also the only coffee on the Ave after 5.

I loved hiking to eat donuts when I was a teen in SF. Getting used to the east bay I needed to find a new donut spot and these are delish! Very tasty indeed ????????????

Generous portion, but very greasy.

Walked in and the guy just stared at me like I had to order within 2 seconds or he was going to tell me to get out. The donuts were pretty good I guess. Only went here because it's open late.

Quite pricy and the doughnuts were overly chewy. None of the doughnuts looked too fresh either, but that might have more been because we went really late at night.

Best donuts in the Bay Area! Always fresh!

Easily the best donuts around, especially if you go at night when they're warm and fresh. Just ask for whatever is the hottest, and you'll be happy.

King pin is the first to offer all vegetable shortening in 1981 and it's the first food stablishment in united state to offer transfat free donut, King pin is not just a donut shop it's an Icon for food industry, the chocolate glazed is so reach and it's real not imitation , King pin has the best donut , if you go there late at night don't ask for last thing out, Get the donut that came out 5 minute before.

Best donut experience of my life, late night hot fresh out the fryer, and glazed up & ready to eat. (I love you lil Asian donut chef...)

Donuts are oilier than average and a bit on the pricier side, but they're open seemingly all the time so it's good as an occasional late night snack

Best buttermilk donut on earth; caramel & chocolate icing & more chocolate chips- so crunchy & chewy & perfect. Thx!

AMAZING donuts and guy gave us an extra donut he was cool and very fast I really love this shop the best donuts in the bay

Pricey but great doughnuts! They are made late at night so get there around 11pm for the freshest ones

This place makes some of the best donuts I have ever had and have been going here for years. A little on the pricy side, but they are soooo goood!

Best hot late-night donuts ever. Just get whatever is hot, right out of the oven. You won't be disappointed.

A great donuts place-a variety of donuts at a reasonable price. The service was a bit unfriendly but who would resist a crispy and yummy donut?

The Best donut shoop in the world. I go about 11:30ish at night yo get the fresh glaze straight out the fryer!!!

Donuts are not very good looking, icing is terrible,over proofed. Just a lazy sloppy job all around. If you need a real donut maker, get in touch I with me.

Sweet but not too sweet.

Best donuts of my life. Any and every time I am in the Bat I will be stopping by. I would pay 4 delivery to Seattle