Bob’s Donut & Pastry Shop

I want a donut right now, so I am walking over there now. That’s how good this place is. If there’s a line for a donut at noon, they have to be that good and I am worth it and I am amazing and it’s Friday and I don’t really care what you think. This is old skool no frill fat-​face donuts and they are always good!

Yes, there will most likely be a line, but it goes fairly quickly. You cannot go wrong with a french curler! I am not a huge fan of donuts (my knowledge of them runs as far as Dunkin) so I only came here to indulge my husband. I was however, sincerely and pleasantly surprised as soon as I bit into the french curler. You just have to try it to understand. You will never look at donuts the same way again!
You see them making the donuts behind the counter. It’s cool to watch the glaze go on. It’s nice to know that they’re fresh! I was however, disappointed that they had run out of custard– filled. I will just have to go again! :)

Holy moly, Bob’s just brought my love for donuts to the next level.
Like my love was real before but it now runs deep through my sugar coated veins. The classic glazed is what did it for me. Perfectly glazed, perfectly fluffy, and perfectly still warm.
There was a line at 9pm and a flow of freshly cooked donuts to keep the eager patrons happy.
I definitely recommend going by at any time of day because they are open ²⁴⁄₇.

I see a lot of non-​locals making Unilocal-​fueled pilgrimages to this place looking for the World’s Greatest Donut. Let me save you a trip — you’re not going to find it a Bob’s. Their donuts are average, so you might as well stay in Fairfield or NYC.
And that isn’t the point of Bob’s, or the reason it’s around for 70 years. Bob’s in the only place in this part of the city where you can get a pastry while walking your dog at 5AM. They’re made right there, and are crazy cheap. And the service is always friendly, despite god-​knows-​what kinds of drunk, homeless, city underbelly-​ites they have to deal with on a daily basis. A neighborhood institution, for folks in the neighborhood. Health score = ⁹⁶⁄₁₀₀.

I have a lot of respect for establishments that are open 24-​hours a day. When do they find time to clean? Do inventory? Calculate sales figures? etc…
Other bakeries don’t have it much easier. I’ve seen many bakers start prepping around 4AM, most likely earlier, to accommodate people who need sugar. Thank you for the carbs.
I used to achingly wake up at pre-​dawn hours to work east coast hours. I am not a morning person, so sometimes (many times), I would run late, but Mr. Joy would kindly cart me off to work to save me a few minutes. Little did I know, after he dropped me off, he headed over to Bob’s Donuts. He said before the sun comes up is the best time to get a doughnut. Not all selfless good deeds are selfless. lol, I kid of course.
I had never been inside Bob’s Donuts. I’ve never been crazy about doughnuts. I like them okay, but I just prefer other types of baked goods over doughnuts. Mr. Joy has brought me doughnuts from Bob’s a couple of times and I think they’re pretty good.
I’ve heard about how popular Bob’s is, so when I finally paid a visit, I was surprised that it was such a bare bones shop with a less-​than-​attractive display and simple counter. It looked like any other neighborhood doughnut shop.
Even though presentation doesn’t seem to be one of their priorities, they make up for it with a huge selection. There are the usual glazed doughnuts & filled doughnuts as well as fritters, eclairs, bear claws, cinnamon rolls, danishes, & croissants. Then there’s the BIG Donut, a comically large cake-​sized doughnut. Apparently they do a Big Donut Challenge — finish it within 3 minutes. It looks do-​able. I think I’d like to take on this challenge.

Really disappointed in quality of donuts, I remember comming hear about a year ago seemed as if I found a new spot, purchased some donuts for the fellows at work they had nothing good to say wasted money here box’s still
I tasted the donuts they taste like old oil just was not worth the money terrible I don’t want to give a star cause that would be lying

I wanted to fall in love with this place, no exaggeration here because I love me a bomb donut!
With sooo many rave reviews, a couple from my fellow Unilocal buddies, and some of my co-​workers hypin this place up I just knew I would be in for a real treat!
Maybe I came too early, 6AM to be exact because I was beyond disappointed before my dozen old fashion glaze donuts were even placed in their box.
One thing that drives me insane is the smell of bleach. An older lady was washing down the sidewalk in front of Bob’s and you had to maneuver around her in the hopes of not getting your shoes all wet. I get it, you have to clean… but maybe another time, this would be helpful so customers taste buds aren’t being hijacked by the smell of bleach and soap, YUCK!!!
I am all for the «hole in the wall» type places that look a little eery to the eye, but come on!
In the window is a heap of different donuts. You can barely tell which is what because they are packed on top of each other, super disorganized and gross looking. I could tell right away that these donuts WERE NOT FRESH! They looked super crusty and dry, at least a couple days old (see my pics below). The cases to the right were super empty and looked dirty. In fact, this whole donut shop just felt icky to me. The overall presentation of the donuts was very disappointing to the point where I lost all desire for an old fashion glaze.
A dozen donuts for $ 12?!! HA!!! Bob’s should be ashamed when they are giving you crappy, stale, below average donuts.
I won’t be back… sit tight… I will show you what a REAL donut looks like =)

I went to Bob’s when I was on my road trip. My brother, cousin, and I heard about their challenge and we just had to try it. If you’re attempting the challenge you need to call in advance and reserve it, the donuts take about 4 hours to bake if they don’t already have some on hand. They had a bunch when I called in the night before.
This donut is HUGE. I totally underestimated the sheer size of this thing. Two minutes gets you a refund, (the donut is 8 $) a t-​shirt, and your picture on the wall of fame; Three gets you the t-​shirt and the picture. I personally had the maple doughnut. Needless to say, I finished only half in the three minutes.
Normally, after scarfing something so dense that fast, you’d except to be kinda sick of it; however, after the three minutes, I kept on eating. It was simply that good. It was fluffy, moist, and tasted fresh; Bob’s is hands down the best donut I’ve ever had.

When I read about the donut challenge at Bob’s, I just had to try it. I gave them a call, placed an order for three of the ridiculously large donuts, and came in at 7 AM to give it a shot with two of my cousins. None of us finished the donuts in the allotted three minutes, but I got close and finished three quarters of it. Once the time was up though, my eating didn’t stop. Even after consuming what is probably the equivalent of 9 donuts, I kept picking away at the addicting donut. IT’S THAT GOOD.
Although I knew Bob’s is highly regarded, I thought the challenge donut wouldn’t be as amazing as the regular donuts. I guess I figured it would be just about the quantity and not the quality, but I was wrong! Instead of the sheer size of the donut being the most memorable aspect, I found that the amazing taste was the most memorable part. Bob’s makes the best old fashioned donut out there; no doubt about it. I definitely want to come back and try more than just the glazed donut.

There’s nothing like a hot (or cold) Bob’s donut. The fact that they’re open 24 hours and they’re constantly making them ensures fresh donuts. If I’m not there at the right time, they run out of my favorites. I’m happy with the glazed donut but would love to get an apple fritter soon.
The line moves fast and it’s worth going out of your way for these.

Not a gourmet donut place by any means, but still had a small line at 11pm (the benefits of being open ²⁴⁄₇). At that hour, a lot of things were already gone, but we still got a decent selection for our breakfast the next morning. Note: they don’t keep as well as some gourmet ones do; some turned soggy the next morning, but they are cheap and still give you the sugar high you crave.

Huge lines on a Friday or Saturday night but the time will pass quickly with the fun bar goers that frequent that place late night. Even a line 8pm Saturday. Strike up a conversation with somebody in line and get their story. So fun to talk with ppl in this city.
The store itself is very old school. A counter and 10 stools. If you love old donut shop ambiance as you’ve had enough of the bright, modern Crispy Cream feel come here. The store was clean enough to live up to the standards of bar goers and the turnover for the donuts are good — so stuff is fresh. Plain glazed light and airy. Good flavor… oil must be replaced often.
A welcome addition to this neighborhood. Give them a try. You gotta love the lady serving the donuts too. Shes packed with personality just like the super jumbo larger than life donuts on display here.

After hearing about Bob’s on Murph and Mac on KNBR, we were actually trying to go to the Oyster place next door but they inexplicably stopped serving. I saw the Bob’s sign and quickly switched gears from oysters to donuts (who doesn’t, right?) and the only phrase that comes to mind is «homemade donuts.» They’re not weird robot donuts that come out of a machine. I picture some dude (Bob maybe?) sitting there handcrafting donuts. I’ve not had donuts like this before and I’m now ruined for any other donut. Happy Donuts will never be good enough now.

I grew up with Dunkin Dounuts and Krispy Kreme my entire life. Mom and Pop donut shops are hard to find where I’m from. So when a friend told me about Bob’s a was a little hesitant. I mean they can’t be that good right? WRONG. They’re better than good. They’re AMAZING!!! On to the breakdown…
Décor: It’s your typical hole in the wall, not in the donut haha. Nothing really on décor. There is a table with a few chairs for those who really run out of breath climbing all those damn hills in San Fran, but for the most part this is a take out only type of place. It was clean and sanitary.
Service. I’ve been there multiple times and I’ve never had a bad experience. The cashier is always patient and makes suggestions if it’s your first time and if you find yourself at the rare occasion that there is not a line the greet you with a warm hello and a smile.
Food: I sort of mad at Bob’s for their donuts. I live on the east coast (between Orlando and NYC mostly) and I can only make it to San Francisco a couple of times a month. They have completely ruined eating donuts for me. No one, and I do mean no one, can make an apple fritter like Bob’s. Omg… just delicious. It more than melts in your mouth, it’s just this soft, fluffy, sugary, just… it’s good. Trust me. The regular glazed, yeah just as good. The donut holes… I mean did you expect me to say anything other than they’re fantastic!!! Seriously you can’t go wrong. pick anything. I’m sure you’ll love it. Just don’t eat all of the donuts when I’m in line. Or better yet do, that way I can get one fresh from the fryer.

If you ever get lucky and make it during a time something was just fried and dipped, it is absolutely heavenly. Seriously, like, melt-​in-​your-​mouth, soft deliciousness.
Any other time, the donuts are still really good. Glazed, crumb, chocolate twist, anything.
Open 24/​7, and the guy (bearded, tattooed) behind the counter is really nice. Stood there and explained the difference between raised donuts and, um, breadier, thicker donuts? I’ve already forgotten, but at the time, very informative.
There’s always some movie or other playing on the TV, so you can sit at the counter, and hang out a bit, or just get them and be on your way.
Great place.

Donuts!!! ²⁴⁄₇ donuts that are cheap and delicious is a universal yes.
The glazed is so airy and fresh. I even liked the chocolate glazed donut, which I’m not usually a fan of. But the chocolate icing did not offend me.
I wished there were signs to provide more explanation of what was available, but it was kind of a guessing game.
It’s honestly nothing out of the norm as far as a donut shop goes, but they got the recipe down.

Proper donut shot with some pastries.
I know only one better donut shop, it’s in Union City. But Bob’s donuts is a great place. It’s better than most donut places in bay area I’ve even been to. Sure it’s a bit dirty, oldfashioned with workers covered in flour and sugar, stained kitchen equipment, but does it really matter?
What matters is how good donuts are and how cheap they are. Believe me donuts are great here: just a right amount of sugar — not too much like most donut shops and not too little. Great stuff, hard to find.
It’pretty cheap — like $ 2 pastries, $ 1.75 med coffee.
5 stars all the way!

So sad… Wanted to love this place after a long time ago remembering it was on Saveur’s Magazine list of top donut shops in the US.
Not quite sure if was the late hour in which we stopped by to satisfy our sweet tooth, although the owner and his wife were in the process of making, frying and putting out freshly baked donuts. We ordered a couple raised glazed, a cake chocolate sprinkles and a couple glazed donut holes. Not impressed… The raised were so greasy and overly sugary, actually made my children throw them away in the trash— what? Kids throwing away donuts!!! (Insert sounds of screams). The cake sprinkles donut was like a dried up, wrinkled, pathetic round version of a donut.
O’well. Onto other donut vision quests…

As another night of fun and camaraderie came to a close in SF my friend noticed the line of people in front of Bobs. It was around 12:30AM. I wouldn’t call myself a donut person in any regards but I wanted to accompany my friend while she sobered up.
I did my due diligence for this place after the fact and it turns out that we did all the necessary things to make our experience very similar to the other reviewers that gave this donut shop such high praise.
— Visited the shop during the sweet-​spot period: 12−2AM when the donuts and pastries are at their freshest.
— Noticed that the line cook was deep frying a batch of cinnamon rolls and decided to order that as we were guaranteed it would be freshly made.
— The visit occurred after a night of at least a moderate level of alcohol consumption where the mind state is slightly altered but slowly recovering.
My friend and I were *very* happy at our cinnamon rolls, which we consumed with sips of milk. Each bite was simply perfect — the dough was still quite warm and very fluffy and pillowy so that it easily dissolved in your mouth AND there was just that right amount of glaze so that you can taste it but you can still taste the dough. I don’t like too much glaze on my rolls as it can make a roll just taste more like sugar and make it past the sugar threshold for me.
Keep in mind that for a perfect repeat visit the following conditions I listed earlier must apply. I can’t visit later in the day as that would ruin my appetite for the next meal and the dough wouldn’t be as fresh. From previous experiences with donuts I don’t appreciate them as much when I’m stone-​cold sober, even if it was paired with great coffee. Should I find myself in the area again late night after a good drinking session, I know where to go to sober up. I also hope that the stars align and we find ourselves in the front of the line when the apple fritters are being made.

Did i come here too early??? Sooo disappointed. After reading all the great reviews, i came here with high expectations. I also read about the excellent customer service and that it was highly recommended to ask what was the freshest donut. I arrived at the donut shop with enthusiasm,
Me: hello, whats the freshest donuts right now?
Chinese lady: what do you mean? They all old fashion
Hmm maybe she misheard me.
Me: what would you recommend?
Chinese lady: they all old fashion.
Great, guess ill just choose whatever my confused self decides on. I chose some sort of apple donut/​cake and an old fashioned chocolate donut. Surely enough when i got home i ended up with a staled donut and a mushy apple cake.