Downstate Donuts — Restaurant in Lake View Township

It’s National Doughnut Day 2025, and I felt a deep responsibility to celebrate this especially important holiday. Downstate was the closest option with solid reviews, and I liked that they use potato and organic ingredients. I try to eat healthy, but only if healthy also happens to be the most delicious option.

I showed up around 11 a.m. and quickly realized I was late to the doughnut party. They had already sold out of several flavors and, sadly, their National Doughnut Day promo which featured their signature doughnut. Boo. Always make extras on the most important food holiday of the year.

I went with the Miso Honey Butter. The texture was fluffy and the glaze was sweet and delicious. I couldn’t really taste the miso, but I’m guessing that was intentional. Too much miso in a doughnut could get weird fast.

The Blueberry Cake caught my eye because it was so pretty, which became my deciding factor. The blueberry flavor really came through and the nutty glaze added a nice layer of depth.

They’ve got some very creative flavors, but I definitely recommend going early if you want the full selection. This was the most expensive doughnut I’ve eaten in Chicago, so if quality ingredients matter to you, this is a great choice. That said, this city is full of good doughnuts and there are others that might be cheaper and more...

I love their donuts and I eat only the chocolate one. With the packaging problem I read from other people’s review, I would like to share my experience too, about the packaging. My case is the chocolate flavor I love was not well received by the packaging they have,which’s disappointing…

With the sauce on top of the donuts, it’s the highlight of your unique flavor. But your paper thin bag you have could easily just damage your delivery of the flavors in all directions and you could already have many comments about it by now.

I used to order 3-4 pieces once at a time as I don’t normally eat too much sweet a day, so I kept them in the fridge. And it’s not a good experience taking it out to eat and to see all the flavorful sauce on the top had stuck to the packaging… 😭

I have to say that the packaging has ruined my interest to buy more than 1 piece at a time as it would not last in the packaging that way.

I will continue eating 1 at a time as soon as I buy it before the packaging eating all the sauce from that I sit it there for too long.

The atmosphere and taste is great! Service just ok and I always leave tip. I really enjoy the chocolate one. If you can do box packaging, I would love to buy more than one piece...

I was walking to work this morning and there was a girl selling these donuts on a bicycle at the Green City West Loop farmers market. I stopped and bought two bags of the Donut Tots (vanilla sour cream and a miso butter flavor). They looked pretty good and I wanted to support a local small business. When I opened both bags and tried them at work, disappointment is an understatement. They were dreadful. Maybe they were bagged when they were still warm but they were so soggy, wet, and almost melted together in one big blob. I put them out to share with coworkers but I don’t think anyone touched them the whole day, understandably. I ate as many as I could but ended up throwing most of it in the trash. I am so upset that I spent $27.56 for inedible donuts, so I am reaching out to maybe get a refund or even store credit- I’d be willing to try them again. Maybe fresh from the store location will be better and I can give a proper review. But at the very least, I wanted to let you know about...