Zombie Coffee & Donuts

What can I say on here without swearing?! I was doing an audit across the street and happen to dub myself a donut expert so I stopped by here for breakfast. I ate a half dozen in 30 minutes. I mean the donuts were insanely good. If there wasn’t glass between me and the cook I would have slapped them. Did I mention they make your donuts fresh!!! Who doesn’t like warm, fresh donuts?! You pick your donut and they pull one out the fryer and hand it to you. I’m upset that I am only in the area but I might just make a special trip over here. Go early and go often.

HOWL: Braiinnnnssss. I mean my brainnnnnn.
SPOOKY: Managed to stumble upon this place when my little was visiting me from North Carolina. His sweets weakness are donuts while mine are cookies. He checked Unilocal for donuts and zombie donuts immediately appeared out of thin air. So unnaturally, we had to check this place out.
BEWARE: I would recommend taking the metro to Columbia Heights as the roads are congested and parking is super scarce. Zombie donuts is right off the Metro exit.
THRILLING: When walking up to Zombie Donuts, dont do what I did and walk into the Panda Express next door. That was embarrassing. Once we were in the right joint, the smell of donuts capitulated the entire restaurant. It was nice. Small but functional donut shop that had a very easy menu:
1 donut (assorted/​glazed) = $ 1.20 /​$ 1.20
½ dozen (assorted/​glazed) = $ 6.75 /​$ 5.00
dozen (assorted/​glazed) = $ 11.95 /​$ 10.00
MONSTER: I got the single assorted donut and found out you can put as many toppings as you want on there fo FREE! I definitely created a zombie of a donut. My donut was a regular glaze with pecans, oreos, sprinkles, chocolate sprinkles, and coconut flakes. I never felt more proud when I ate it.
AFTERLIFE: I could’ve had another donut because it was THAT GOOD, however I need to watch my womanly figure. They have specials posted on a blackboard near the front of the store in case you ever need to justify buying more donuts. Amazing experience and I definitely look forward to coming back and reviving my Frankenstein donut.

I kept seeing this place and finally I went in and to my surprise you can customize your donuts!!! #Heaven I am all about finding places to satisfy my sweet tooth this place hit the spot my favorite so far is the maple glaze with pecan toppings. my 5yr old loved the strawberry glaze with sprinkles. my dad and my sister are going to love this place.

If you like cake donuts and you aren’t trying to get more than a few, this is a good option. The box for a dozen is flimsy and gets most the icing off the top of the donuts in the middle. The only option is a very dense donut that doesn’t have enough surface area. Overall I would say the food isn’t worth the money. The service was great though, my cashier was very helpful and brought everything out to my table.

Compared to other reviewers, I feel really disappointed by Zombie donuts. I got off work a little early and figured I would stop in to pick some up on my way home. The cashier was very helpful in explaining the options and helping me select my donuts (A+ for Zombie there) but the donuts themselves were very lackluster.
Maybe I ordered the wrong thing but the strawberry icing was very artificial tasting — almost to the point of children’s cough syrup, and the cinnamon sugar and glazed were both tasty but nothing special or standout. The donut (base) was the same cake donut so there’s not much variety.
The café/​store itself is a little small but I came in when the shop was empty and so I had a lot of space to myself. I would maybe come back to give Zombie a second chance but overall, my first experience was rather bland.

Yeaaaaah… this place is dangerous, especially for someone like me who’s been deprived of the finer things in life.
All I wanted was a fresh, hot, plain donut. At most, I’d get one with cinnamon-​sugar on it. Instead, I came out with the McInsulin.
So here’s how this place works (nobody told me, so I’m telling you): It’s the Chipotle of donuts. You start with a glaze and then check off any other toppings you want for one flat price.
My first donut was cinnamon-​sugar. But I’m cheap, so I figured, «why not get my money’s worth?» It didn’t help that I had my five year old with me. Somehow we ended up with a chocolate covered donut that had m&ms, sprinkles, a glucose monitor, and I think bacon on top of it. De-​lic-​ious!
It’s been about a week. My ‘sugar’ is back to normal, so I think I’m ready for another one.

A place that lets you chose the toppings and glaze that go on your donuts? Sign me up!!!
I love the selection of offerings — especially that bacon bits are on the menu. I mean seriously, how can you go wrong with bacon on anything? Of course, one cannot live only on bacon & donuts, which is why higher powers invented Oreos and colored sprinkles, among other goodies.
The coffee is good too. They let you choose your own flavored shots, with no extra charge. Coffee really does wake up the dead — hence the wonderful name. The only thing I don’t like about this place is how hard it is to run in & out; parking isn’t easy.
No undead were harmed in the writing of this Unilocal review.

Delicious! I got lemon glaze with coconut and coffee. They have a great coffee bar.
The donut was warm and fluffy and melted in my mouth. Would definitely come again and recommend to a friend.

This place is great– For a flat rate of $ 1.20 you can get any toppings you might possibly want on a donut. It’s set up similarly to how «&pizza» is. You grab a clipboard with all the options, scan the list, and choose what you want. Some of the possible toppings are various glazes, sprinkles, bacon bits, and captain crunch.
When I went, they accidentally goofed on my order so gave me two complimentary donuts! I will NEVER say no to free donuts!
Beyond that, hey were hot and delicious. Will definitely return.

**3,5 Stars**
Trying out a new donut shop is a great excuse to indulge on a rainy afternoon. Staff was welcoming and explained the donut ordering process– pick your donut base and add as many toppings as you would like. There were some examples on display to get your creativity flowing. I decided on a cinnamon sugar donut topped with pecans. The pecans stuck to the donut with a sugary glaze. I did enjoy my cakey donut and liked that it was on the smaller size so I didn’t get too much of a sugar rush. Their customizable concept is unique, but I wasn’t really surprised by any of their toppings choices. They all seemed pretty predictable– M&Ms, sprinkles, Oreos– and all pretty sweet.

Finally got to Zombie and enjoyed the two donuts I tried (cinnamon sugar, chocolate) — warm and full of flavor — but they tasted fried, and I don’t really like fried food anymore. They seemed a little too heavy to me (compared to Krispy Kreme, for example).
I know that’s sacrelidge — and that these are «real» doughnuts that taste homemade because they are. I will definitely recommend them to friends who are doughnut gourmands. Especially the cinnamon sugar ones.

Chipotle style doughnuts — who’d have thought. The doughnut base on the Saturday morning we went was fresh and almost cider-​like (they only use fresh cake doughnuts). We then checked the types of icing (s) we wanted and the topping (s) we wanted on a form. They also offer a variety of hot beverages — the hot chocolate at least was quite good. Service was fast and friendly. Clearly intended to be more of a takeout spot, they did have a couple of benches for us to eat there.

This place is the first eatery in DC that I’ve left feeling truly impressed. On a whim, we found ourselves trekking to the nearest locally-​owned doughnut shop 30 minutes before close. Upon arrival to Zombie, I assumed the doughnuts that were lined up on the counter were all that they had left for the day – excellent, they all look delicious. Then, they handed us a clipboard and explained the process. Holy cow, custom cake doughnuts. This is the first time since Portland that I’ve been delighted by doughnuts.
We had to throwback to the Voodoo days and make a Bacon + Maple
Others included: lemon + coconut; maple + brown sugar cinnamon + pecans; chocolate + chocolate sprinkles + peanuts; lemon + sprinkles; strawberry glaze + chocolate glaze + sprinkles.
The only let down was that the lemon flavor wasn’t prominent enough in the lemon glaze. Lemon is one of my favorite flavors, so I opted for several doughnuts with that glaze, and was disappointed by how subtle the lemon was (think the flavor of an animal cracker, or the fake lemon flavoring used in low-​quality mass produced grocery store donuts).
While the customizable doughnut overhead must be huge, adding a chocolate cake doughnut option, some fresh toppings would really up the game (berries, fresh mint, basil, cream cheese frosting drizzle) and perhaps some added diversification from the sugar (matcha green tea powder + sugar).
They also take great pride in their coffee. Zombie’s owners follow the coffee from the grove to roasting, down to the cup, and have a very close relationship with those involved in the process. You can buy bags of their coffee roasts in the store.

For any Delmarva beach goers, this place is Fractured Prune-​esque but with far superior quality donuts.
As everyone’s mentioned, you select your desired number of donuts, customize the glaze and topping, and they make it to order while you wait. There’s a handful of so glazes and toppings to choose from, bacon being the most (not exactly) out there, so nothing extravagant compared to the Key Lime Pies or Blueberry Cobblers of Fractured Prune. But the donuts themselves are phenomenal — some how light and airy on the inside but with a perfectly crisp exterior. I don’t typically go for cake donuts because I find them too dense for my liking but these were nothing remotely close to others I’ve had. They were delicious!
I took away one star because I found the glazes to be just meh. In fact, the lemon one was so thin that I wouldn’t have known it was anything other than a plain glaze if I didn’t order it personally. But those donuts overcame everything and I will absolutely be stopping in each time I’m in the area.

Came here based off the reviews and I was pretty pleased. I’m more of a yeast doughnut fan but these cake donuts were good. I got 2 maple bacon, one plain glazed, one glaze with sprinkles, and a chocolate with sprinkles. One thing about these donut places that make it fresh to order is that they’re not letting the donuts cool down long enough because if you get a plain glazed one the glaze melts right off.
Will definitely stop by again when I’m in the area and the pricing is very good!

I like the fact that you can customize your donuts and the different toppings/​flavors they had and that the donuts themselves were fresh. Wasn’t a big fan of the dough the donuts were made of though.
Didn’t like that they reminded me too much of eating funnel cake. I think I’ll stick to dunkin for donuts. Haven’t tried the coffee.
The pricing for customizing your donuts with however many toppings, flavors, coatings you want isn’t bad though.

This review is for donuts only.
$ 1.20 for donuts AND toppings? Correct me if I’m wrong but that’s a pretty sweet deal. Not to mention they had some samples too? Really now, stawwwp. These were not the best donuts I’ve had but they are pretty good.
Tip: One donut is enough. With all the topping choices you will definitely get a sugar high.

At first, I was worried that Zombie Coffee & Donuts would be another «gourmet doughnut» place overcharging for sub-​par doughnuts (I’m looking at you, Doughnut Plant). Imagine my surprise when I learned that they only charge $ 1.20 per doughnut AND I can pick the toppings!
My favorite thing about the doughnuts is not even the selection of toppings – it’s the piping hot doughnut. I love how fresh the doughnuts are, with a touch of crispiness on the exterior.

I’m not a big sweets person, but I will give credit where credit is due. I was having dinner at Thip Kao with my friend Jenn W. and we were in the mood for some coffee and dessert nearby afterwards. Low and behold, coffee and donuts a block away. $ 1.20 for a freshly made donut with any coating (eg. plain, glazed, strawberry, chocolate, powdered sugar) and topping (eg. sprinkles, coconut, crushed oreos, m&ms). Count me in!
My normal methodology for the first time I try a place is to order something very basic, or order something with their name in the title. Since my friend beat me to the punch in ordering a normal glazed donut, I went all out and got the bacon maple (maple glaze covered in pieces of bacon, what’s not to love?). I was pretty stuffed from dinner already, but it was so worth it.
There’s quite a few two person tables in here and it wasn’t crowded at 8:45PM on a Wednesday. There was one guy camped out there with a laptop, but this doesn’t really seem like a place you would want to work all day in (the place does smell like heavenly donut grease after all). I could feel my heart health improve as soon as I stepped out of the door.
Why not five stars? I personally thought the espresso was very sour, although my friend enjoyed her decaf espresso. I’ve heard good things about their coffee, so I’ll probably opt for that option next time I’m in the neighborhood.

What a gem in the middle of the Columbia Heights!
service: super friendly and helpful staff. Small space and definitely has the independent/​small-​biz vibe.
Food: they serve Swing’s coffee (two different beans and decaf the morning I was here) and the donuts are a steal — less than $ 12 for a dozen and when I was here, they had a special for $ 10. What makes me more upset than the American fad of overpriced mediocre cupcakes is the fad of overpriced mediocre donuts. Zombie is not either — I paid $ 1.20 for a single maple bacon donut with a mountain of bacon on top of my donut. I don’t know if I can get that much bacon alone for that price at the next door IHOP.