KingPin Donuts — Restaurant in Berkeley

I never write reviews, but I had to for this. My boyfriend travels to San Fran for work about twice a month and his son used to live in Berkeley, so the Old Fashioned glazed donuts at KingPin were always brought back as a treat. Of course, they were very tasty, but I’m not a huge donut fan. So, when I traveled out there with him last week for work, we made a late night stop and I opted for the apple fritter. I got three to share. He got a bunch of old fashioned glazed for his team. By morning, the fritters were gone.

Absolutely the best apple fritter... no, the best baked treat, I’ve ever experienced! Slightly crispy and glazed on the outside and like a warm apple croissant inside. They melted in our mouths. Even a day or two old they were still moist and fantastic with coffee. Highly recommend eating them slightly warm though! We went back the night before we flew out and bought another box to bring home.

Seriously, do you guys ship within the US? I would order a box of them in a heartbeat. The rest of the country needs to know. You have at least five huge fans in Minneapolis now! Thanks for making an otherwise uneventful covid work trip...

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 - buttermilk chocolate (my personal favorite) old fashioned cinnamon, and cake chocolate. I’d give them a higher rating if I could. Very affordable too, our order was 8$

It’s probably not a big deal for regulars, but since it was my first time here I was pretty confused about what was what. Id have loved if the donut displays were labeled/categorized so I didn’t have to bug the staff and ask what each one was. That being said they were helpful and answered my questions which helped me decide what to get. It’s a busy spot so labeling the display could help take some mental load off the staff. We will be...

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 scurry home to ssurprise my still sleeping partner with glorious morning carbs.

The glazed donut is one of the most basic donut recipes. I find it a good judge of skill. The real trick is timing the rise before fry. This batch seemed like they waited a bit long and had compressed into a sopping sugar experience. The Boston creme seemed like the chocolate frosting & custard filling were from a bag, but the donut was fried a bit longer for structural integrity so well thought out there.

A word forms in my...