Knead Donuts & Tea — Restaurant in Long Beach

Price: there are no prices available online, you walk in and there are no prices for doughnuts anywhere. I could have asked how much for a dozen, but I figured it would be around $30. Why this assumption— Voodoo doughnuts at Universal is $30 for 13. Crumbl charges $40 for 12 cookies. Katella’s gourmet bakery charges less than $5 for a slice of layer cake, a cupcake, or any cookie or piece of pastry. At Knead I purchased two sugar glaze with buttercream topping, two boston, two guava kronoughts, a maple pecan, an old fashioned red velvet, an apple fritter, a banana cream pie filled, a Nutella filled, and a strawberry jam filled. $70!!!!! That is almost $6 per doughnut!!!!!!!!! Only the Donut Man at Grand Central Market charges more for one type of doughnut ($6.75) because they use whole seasonal fresh strawberries packed into a sugar glaze doughnut “taco shell”. When I looked at him dumbstruck and said that is expensive, he did give me a $5 discount, but at that price it still doesn’t justify at least a 130% increase compared to prices of competitors and substitutes.

Flavor: ok, so it was stupid expensive, but did it knock your socks off; did flavor just punch you in the mouth? No :( the best doughnuts were the guava, banana, and maple/ caramel pecan. The filling for the banana, nutella, and strawberry was minimal 1/3 filling to 2/3 dough at least. The filling was just in a dollop in the middle basically.

Texture and mouth feel: The dough left a film on the inside of our mouths from the fat they use and it has a particular greasy taste and feel that is not pleasant.

My daughter loves doughnuts and if the dough tastes good she will eat the whole thing. She chose the sugar glazed with frosting and she didn’t eat the dough because she didn’t like the taste and texture, so $11 for a little frosting 🙄.

I have had better doughnuts from many places for cheaper. I would not recommend this place for a casual doughnut run! It was a major disappointment because even their best tasting doughnuts were not worth the price based on flavor and texture. If they drop their prices and make their prices transparent I would be willing to give them a second try...

Mood- Early Morning Munchies

Upon entering was greeted with stellar customer service. Was given the run down about what is popular and whats not. Asked if we had any questions re: the menu. Honestly it was bring on the goodies for me. They even offer breakfast sandwiches too, all made fresh.

Opted for a an Apple Fritter, Guava and Cheese, and was given a blueberry. ( which is a cult favorite of this doughnut bar ) Can I say this was fabulous. The blueberries recipes are made with real blueberries and you can def tell when your closing your eyes and savoring it. The was honestly sensory overload and it was hard to choose what one I needed to have in my life at that moment. But dang it was good. in addition opted for their Brown Sugar MT. It is non dairy so I was in my content happy place.

Interior is not meant for dine in. You order, receive, and take your goods with you. Everything was very clean. Staff was wearing masks to ensure Good Ol Covid Safety. My to-go box was packed very nicely. I like things to look the same way when they put the box together. Weirdo I know.

Would def recommend - pricing was very reasonable. Staff is very friendly and hospitable. I will def be back to try other items on the menu as it is not...

The donuts are pretty delicious and the coffee packs a pleasant caffeinated punch, but the service has been really hit or miss. The couple times I've gone in have mostly been pleasant but the dude literally folded my tiger tails in half to get them to fit in a small box which I thought was kind of bizarre, like why would you destroy someone's food to fit it in a small container without telling them (or giving options first if an appropriate sized container wasn't available)? Wouldn't be a huge deal but I was taking donuts to someone else. He offered to replace them when I told him I wish he hadn't mutilated the donuts, but I didn't want to be wasteful....it was a super awkward, makes-me-regret-my-$15-spent...