Top 13 Best Donut Shops in Reno, NV

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Top 13 Best Donut Shops in Reno, NV

Everybody knows about Vegas and Atlanta City, but Reno is a pretty big casino spot as well. It’s been called the biggest little city in the world because it’s just over 100 square miles and is home to half a million people! So where should you go for the best donuts in Reno? I’ll share a list of my favorite spots below, plus some trivia about this pretty little casino city.

Best Donuts in Reno

1. The Jelly Donut

The Jelly Donut

First, how did Reno gets its name? The city was named for General Jesse Lee Reno. He was a military man who served in the Utah War, the Mexican-American War, and the Civil War (on the side of the Union). Apart from Reno Nevada, six other landmarks share his name. They include a park and a fort, plus four townships in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Oklahoma, and Kansas.

But let’s talk doughnuts. Or donuts – both spellings are correct. How do you like yours? In a ring? A square? With toppings? Or fillings? At The Jelly Donut in Reno, you can enjoy a wide variety, whether you want it injected with fruity treats or dotted with colorful confections. You’ll be spoilt for choice by all the goodies in their display case – try an assorted dozen!

 

2. Doughboys Donuts

Doughboys Donuts

In prehistoric times, Reno was populated by Native American peoples called the Martis, and there’s plenty of archaeological data to confirm this. Today, people refer to the general area as Truckee Meadows. The region includes Reno city itself as well as Sparks, the city next door to Reno Metro. And technically, Reno Metro covers Reno, Fernley, Tahoe, and the suburbs.

  • Name: Doughboys Donuts
  • Address: 57 Damonte Ranch Pkwy # 101 Reno, NV
  • Website: https://www.doughboysreno.com
  • Phone: 775.853.6844
  • Hours: 5 am to 8 pm daily

Doughboys Donuts is a family-owned donut store with outlets in Reno and Sparks. They’ve been in business for three decades and counting. Their specialties include the Wolf Pack Paw which celebrates the University of Nevada football team. Try their devil’s food cake doughnuts, or explore their amorphously delicious (and tastefully misshapen) old-fashioned doughnuts.

 

3. Rounds Bakery

Rounds Bakery

Truckee Meadows aka Reno Metro is named after the Truckee River. It encompasses the valley that flanks this waterway. The river runs between Pyramid Lake and Lake Tahoe. The soil and weather were good so the initial residents practiced subsistence. The valley also formed a natural travel route. This gave the locals vast opportunities for trade and cultural mingling.

  • Name: Rounds Bakery
  • Address: 595 Valley Rd Reno NV 89502
  • Website: https://roundsbakery.com
  • Phone: (775) 329-0800
  • Hours: Mon to Fri – 7 am to 5 pm; Sat & Sun – Closed

If you ask about the best donuts in Reno, someone is likely to mention Holey Schmidt. But they closed down a while ago and their page redirects to a BMX trick bike page. So check out Rounds Bakery instead. One of their top orders is their take on that delicious croissant-donut love child, except theirs is #notacronut because yes, they did get a cease-and-desist. Oops!

 

4. Sprinkle Donuts

Sprinkle Donuts

While Reno was never a mining spot, it greatly benefited from the hunt for precious metals. In 1850, a small gold mine was discovered in Virginia City, and a decade later in 1859, a larger silver outpost developed in Comstock. A Reno resident – Charles Fuller – built a log bridge across the Truckee River. He charged a toll between the California Trail and Virginia City.

Sprinkle Donuts opened in 2019, and their delicacies are as delicious and colorful as they sound! They take a quirky approach to the deep-fried goodies space, with flavors like their red velvet cake doughnut and their pumpkin frosting for Halloween. You could try maple bacon long johns if you’re into something savory. Long johns are rectangular donut bars.

 

5. Donut Bistro

Donut Bistro

In 1861, another resident named Myron C. Lake bought the bridge and built a township around it. They had a mill for grist, an eatery, a stable, and a hotel. He named his spot Lake’s Crossing and when the railroad came sniffing around in 1863, he handed over the deed on the condition they’d retain Lake’s Crossing as a hub. It’s why he’s called the Founder of Reno.

City founders aside, one place you may want to check out is Donut Bistro. It’s a Vietnamese restaurant so you won’t see doughnuts on their online menu. But they serve different kinds for breakfast including blueberry cake donut holes, twists, and apple fritters. Service can be slow, you’ll sometimes find a long line, and parking is an issue, so come mentally prepared!

 

6. Coffee ‘N Comics

Coffee ‘N Comics

We’ve mentioned that Lake’s Crossing eventually became Reno City, officially named in 1868. And we’ve talked about the role of gold and silver mining. Curiously, while we all know about the California Gold Rush, most of today’s gold comes from Nevada, Australia, and South Africa. Nevada holds the Number #3 position, producing about 7% of the world’s gold.

  • Name: Coffee ‘N Comics
  • Address: 940 W Moana Ln, Reno, NV 89509
  • Website: https://www.coffeencomics.com/
  • Phone: (775) 453-1354
  • Hours: Mon to Thur: 7.30 am to 8 pm
  • Weekend Hours: Fri & Sat: 7:30 am to 9 pm; Sun: 7:30 am to 7 pm

The impact is even larger locally because about 80% of American gold comes from Nevada mines. Speaking of gold, don’t be surprised to see C-3PO or any other gilded stars at Coffee ‘n Comics. This local community hub has everything from costumed action heroes signing autographs to open mic comedy nights. Also, they serve gluten-free protein doughnuts!

 

7. Batch Cupcakery

Batch Cupcakery

What’s the story behind the biggest little city in the world? Well, there was a big event called Nevada’s Transcontinental Highways Exposition back in 1927. As part of the branding, this motto was painted on an arch across Virginia Street. After the expo, citizens decided to keep the arch and formally christen it the Reno Arch. But they needed a new slogan for the arch.

  • Name: Batch Cupcakery
  • Address: Batch Cupcakery 555 S Virginia St #104, Reno, NV 89501
  • Website: https://www.batchcupcakery.com
  • Phone: (775) 336-1622
  • Hours: Mon to Sat – 10 am to 6 pm; Sun – 10 am to 4 pm

The city’s leadership put out a call for an evergreen motto now that the expo was finished. When nobody suggested anything good, the city offered a $100 reward, and voilà, G. A. Burns submitted that now famous line. All that said, if you’re looking for something unexpected, try asking for doughnuts at a cupcake store. At Batch Cupcakery, their doughnuts come in paleo!

 

8. Krispy Kreme

Krispy Kreme

What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, right? Except for marriage – that’s acknowledged around the world. But here’s a fun fact – before Vegas was all the rage, Reno Nevada was the world’s gambling capital. And ironically, the industry was built around divorce, not shotgun weddings! It started with a gambling mogul named Bill Graham. No, not that Bill(y) Graham.

Reno’s Bill Graham lobbied for gambling to be legalized and he succeeded in 1931. Laws also passed that said if you lived in Reno for at least 6 weeks, you could get a legal dissolution for your marriage. The national limit for divorce was 6 months, so the city expanded as migrants moved in for quickie divorces. An industry grew around hotels (and jewelers) for divorcees.

 

9. Red Robin

Red Robin

The 6-week divorce law popped up in 1927, and many couples only stayed in town long enough to sign their papers. But 6 weeks is still a long time, and this contributed to Reno’s position as a tourist town – there was so much to do! The El Cortez Hotel targeted couples waiting to divorce while R. Herz & Bro specialized in ex-wedding and ex-engagement bling.

Crossover businesses are a thing. Ordinarily, jewelers sell wedding and engagement rings, but this early Reno enterprise would re-set your rings after divorce. Similarly, Red Robin is a gourmet burger joint with artisanal brews and tailored pizzas. But their menu also contains mash-ups like their cinnamon-sugar-croissant-donut rings with fudge and caramel dips.

 

10. The Grand Sierra Buffet

The Grand Sierra Buffet

By the 1970s (and probably as backlash from the Swinging 60s), national separation laws had caught up and Reno was no longer the American divorce capital. Then in the 1980s, more laws facilitated Native American casinos, and by the 2000s, reservations were drawing business away from Reno. But the city’s grand geography still impresses skiers and hikers.

Whether you’re in Reno to get a divorce or seek riches at the slot machine, you will love eating at the Grand Sierra Buffet. Stuff your face with all-you-can-eat platters, including a vast selection of doughnuts. The breakfast buffet runs until 2 or 3 pm on weekends, and if you want a proper multi-course meal, they have everything from a Pho Station to a Taco Bar!

 

11. Dunkin’

Dunkin’

Today, Reno is considered a top tech hub. The city benefits from surrounding tech centers in San Francisco and Greater Seattle. Tech firms headquartered in this region include Amazon, Apple, Google, Microsoft, Panasonic, and Tesla. In 2018, the city held a competition to pick a new flag to celebrate Reno’s 150th anniversary. The winner was 23-year-old Tucker Stosic.

The flag has a deep blue backdrop to represent the skies and waterways. A circular motif sits in the middle of the flag. Its lower arch is grey for the silver mines, with a light blue stripe for the river, a zig-zagging swathe for the mountains, and a yellow upper arch to represent the Nevada desert. The star at the top corner of the flag is the same star that’s on the Reno Arch.

 

12. Coffeebar

Coffeebar

Cafés are generally great places to find doughnuts, whether they bake them in-house or outsource them to specialty bakeries. And because the coffee is available all day, you can find fresh doughnuts outside of breakfast hours. Coffeebar is a top Reno spot opened in 2014 ‘to serve, roast, and grind specialty brews of artisanal coffee without any of that pretentious artifice’.

Coffeebar has three outlets in Reno and their opening hours aren’t synchronized, so double-check to be sure your target store is open. Their McCarran outlet is especially artsy, with its garage doors that roll up, its outdoor patio, and its interiors inspired by Burning Man and Steam Punk. Aside from coffee and doughnuts, you can enjoy homemade Neapolitan pizza.

 

13. Haven on Earth Bakery & Deli

Haven on Earth Bakery & Deli

If you love a good pun, you’ll feel right at home in this baking deli. And to make things even better, the eatery has tons of allergy-free options. They offer lots of gluten-free goodies, and they have donuts, cookies, and certifiably dairy-free desserts without losing any of their depth or decadence. Try their dairy-free donut, and they have a vegan doughnut too.

  • Name: Haven on Earth Bakery & Deli
  • Address: 10855 Double R Blvd, Suite A Reno, NV 89521
  • Website: https://www.havenonearthbakery.com/
  • Phone: (775) 284-4200
  • Hours: Mon to Fri – 8.30 am to 5 pm; Sat & Sun – 8.30 am to 5 pm

This bakery and deli offers a broad selection of hypo-allergenic salads, sandwiches, quiches, pot pies, and a rotating soup of the day. To keep the foods friendly towards specific dietary needs, their dishes are based on gluten-free flour milled from tapioca, rice, garbanzo, or sorghum. While coconuts aren’t technically nuts, the deli avoids coconut and almond flour.

What’s your go-to spot for donuts in Reno? Comment on where it is and why you love it!

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