Jolly Donut

Very nice diner! Kids loved the French Toast and pancakes. The donuts were very tasty too.
The service was quick and prompt.

This place has the best and most affordable breakfast around. The staff is friendly and polite and the food is amazing. You have to get there early if you actually want donuts, because they sell out fast. The atmosphere is homey and comfortable and even on days when it’s crowded you can’t help but feel relaxed.

Come for the basic breakfast, stay for the donuts.
The coffee was strong and quickly refilled.
Once the donuts are gone, they’re GONE, so come early and often.
I tried a chocolate iced raised donut, and it was heavenly. We came later, so the options were a bit limited.
I also enjoyed a half order of biscuits and gravy, which needed just a touch of hot sauce, but was otherwise delicious.
Better than other options in the area (Perkins & McDonalds) for sure!

we’ve found a new tradition! we must stop here every time we are in Sandusky. breakfast and donuts were phenomenal. great service, great atmosphere, great food, great price!

On a family trip to cedar point and kalahari, we decided to try breakfast at jolly donut. Love the retro atmosphere. It’s an old diner. The donuts are good and the coffee is #awesomesauce like for real. And it’s great for selfies like lol omg cool.

We used to go all the time with the kids and there were some nice waitresses. The staff there now is EXTREMELY rude. The ladies are the exact opposite of jolly. My husband needed a refill and our waitress never came back, so he took his glass up to the bar to ask. The waitress told him «no, there’s other people here who haven’t had anything to drink yet!» Umm… seriously? I ordered a donut from my waitress and she told me to go up to the counter and get it myself. Terrible service. I hope they fire the staff and hire some nicer people, otherwise I can’t see why anyone would come back.

Unreal. If you want to experience a bit of nostalgia visit Jolly Donut. A really cool atmosphere that other restaurants have tried to capture but yet fail in an ever-​changing world. Took my three kids ages 9, 6, and 3 while visiting Cedar Point. The ambience, quality of the food, and service were awesome. But when you get the bill be ready to feel as if you have truly set your watch back 50 years. Wouldn’t go to Sandusky unless I could visit Jolly Donut!

I’m a fan, those donuts couldn’t be any fresher. If you want your kids to experience a little bit of history, this is a place right out of the 50’s. The service was ok, the food was what you’d expect for a small diner — the donuts were exceptional and I’d come back just for that. We were able to get a seat when we walked in on a Thursday am, no problem, but it’s pretty tight!

Never stepped foot inside the shop, but The Maples Motel in Sandusky has a few dozen Jolly Donuts waiting for their guests every morning when they wake up. Its something I look forward to every time I visit Sandusky and stay at The Maples Motel.

Food is decent but lots of staff are kinda surly and sullen. Unhappy doesn’t fully describe. Being a donut shop, I get that they run out fast.
I got biscuits and gravy clearly from a can and nuked. My friend got a single egg, which wasn’t cooked all the way.

This place is very unwelcoming. I see what waitress the rest of the people that gave bad reviews are talking about. The owner/​manager should fire her. We walked in and literally turned around and walked back out. I only gave one star and that is because I have to. Hole in the wall place, pretty sure this business will not be open much longer. Management should hire happier people to work there, we the consumers are what’s keeping those doors open. Horrible place.

Dirty, not very friendly staff and for a place called jolly donut, there sure aren’t very many donuts. We won’t be back.

The donuts had to be the best I have ever had. Wow. Coffee is great. I like to old diner style good cheap food before I’m off to Kalahari to blow threw needless amounts of money…

This place is great. My fiancée and I have been going here for years and we are (almost) never disappointed. The best pace to get breakfast in Sandusky, in my opinion.
The food is typical diner food done right. We usually get some variation of eggs, bacon, toast, and pancakes. The eggs are always spot on (hard to find places that do this), and the service is always quick. The donuts are good, too!
The prices are very affordable, as well, especially when you are comparing them to the other local breakfast places (Bob Evan’s, for example, is way too expensive for what you get).
However, what really won me over was the following experience:
One time, we ordered a meal that came with a side of bacon that we did not receive (we ordered it as carry-​out). Mistakes happen, so we just let it slide.
Well, the next time I ordered from them, I mentioned this. The lady not only refunded me the difference off of my current order, but she personally double-​checked to make sure I received the correct order this time (she even gave me a few extra slices of bacon to make up for it :)).
Oh, and the best part… they are open until 2pm everyday! No other place that I know of serves breakfast that late.
I would recommend Jolly Donut to anyone looking for a solid breakfast in Sandusky.

The service was mediocre, our waitress seemed so miserable to be there. Definitely a townie restaurant! Food was very generic, nothing special. Oh and for having the word «doughnut» in their name you would expect them to have more then 4 varieties of doughnuts

What a deal! I’ve been watching Jolly Donut from afar for years now… Every time I come to Sandusky I think about it and miss out because the hours are short. I finally came for breakfast today and I was so surprised! They have an actual menu, not just donuts! And so cheap too! For $ 20 we got one full biscuits and gravy, one half biscuits and gravy, two coffees, two hash browns, and two orders of bacon. In Chicago this would have cost us like $ 40. My dining companion also went to the counter and got 2 donuts. I tried a bite of the maple raised and jeez Louise it was SPECTACULAR. I usually shy away from maple things because they’re too sweet, but this was just amazing. I think Jolly Donut is going to be my new breakfast place before Cedar Point.

After enjoying a long Saturday at the park, my friends and I rolled out of bed, packed out stuff and looked for a place to eat breakfast. We drove around a little while and almost decided on grabbing Little Caesars before seeing this place across the street.
We crossed the road and walked in to a full restaurant set up like a 50s diner. We stood around for a while before a waitress told us we had to seat ourselves.
The menu was very simple and the prices were extremely low. I ended up getting the Western Omelette and picked up a donut on the way out. The omelette was pretty bland. I had to douse it in hot sauce to get a little flavor on it. The slice of cheese on top didn’t do anything for me either =/​. That said, the sausage inside the omelette was fine, and the toast was good, but really that’s all I have to say about that.
The donut was good. I ordered the Apple Spice and it did taste just like an apple pie. That said, for a place called the «Jolly Donut» I was expecting better.
On another note, this place definitely isn’t clean. You seat yourself at tables before any plates have been cleared and if you stare too long at the floors, you may get a little grossed out. But that’s probably just the North Shore coming out in me.
Overall, a good breakfast place after a long day at Cedar Point. Low prices, mediocre food, good local flavor I suppose.

Nice little diner! They should call it Jolly Donut & Diner, if you had never went into the place you would just think its a Donut shop.

It was a good morning for the unexpected. I did not expect to find a solid independent diner in a sea of tired chains. I did not expect to find a homemade doughnut bakery either, but I found both in the form of Jolly Donut.
You know what else I did not expect? I did not expect to find sausage in my Western omelette! I only glanced at the menu perfunctorily enough to see that they had one and went ahead and ordered it. But when it arrived there were sausage and potatoes inside! What is this strange creation? Thank Jeebus that at least it had the requisite peppers and onions too. The sausage was a-​okay but I still prefer ham.
I took three doughnuts to go – chocolate coconut, maple raised, and apples and spice filled – and was pleasantly satisfied with each. Yep, I ate them all today!
You know the best unexpected thing about this find? I did not expect breakfast for two, plus three doughnuts, plus tax to cost only $ 11.70! Yee haw!

This place was across the street from the HOJO I stayed at. I ran here on the mornings I woke up in Ohio to get some coffee. I don’t remember if I had any donuts so I can’t give a fair rating on the donuts, it just gets three stars for having some coffee at the ready for a desperate caffeine addict.