Doughnut Plant — Restaurant in New York

Disappointed and Uncomfortable

I’ve had several pleasant experiences at Donut Planet in the past. The staff has always been friendly, and I’ve never had an issue—until today.

I stopped in this morning to pick up a vegan doughnut and asked if I could purchase a cup of ice. I had brought my own coffee and just wanted to make it iced. I was clear from the start that I wasn’t asking for a freebie—I was offering to pay.

The man behind the counter, who seemed to be Eastern European (possibly Russian, Polish, or from that region), made what should have been a simple yes-or-no request into an unnecessarily drawn-out and uncomfortable exchange. He first said they didn’t have enough ice, then pivoted to, “Well, I can make an exception,” as if he was doing me some huge favor. It felt incredibly condescending.

At that point, I just said, “You know what? I’ll go to Dunkin’,” and left.

I want to be honest here—unfortunately, I’ve experienced a pattern of dismissiveness and subtle racism from individuals of Eastern European descent in the past. This interaction felt eerily familiar and left me feeling more othered than served. Whether intentional or not, the tone and energy of the exchange made me feel like a burden, not a valued customer.

This experience completely shifted my view of Donut Planet. Great doughnuts can’t make up for service that makes you feel small. I won’t...

This place has gone downhill. Yesterday, I went in and discovered that the usual server, I believe he was the manager, was suddenly gone. He was incredibly kind and welcoming, always greeting me warmly and remembering my order. In his place was a totally useless new server who acted like they just didn't want to be there, staring at their phone and not engaging.

They were also not paying attention to the surrounds. Two of the tables were taken up by people who had not ordered anything; in fact they were just sleeping at the tables. And then a guy came in, again did not order anything, sat down, and started smoking! The server was just still looking at their phone. I tried to get their attention but there was no waking them. I just stormed out. Will not be back!

There is a deeper problem, I think. The staff turnover is incredibly high. They had other fantastic people who suddenly would disappear. I've actually overheard managers come in and dress down the staff in front of customers. With such humiliating and unprofessional behaviour, it makes sense that this...

Vegan donuts here are decent. Get there earlier in the day though, their flavors do sell out - and as other reviews mention, they are not necessarily replaced throughout the day. Service is acceptable, but not amazing. Minus one star for lack of “freshness” in the donuts I ordered (vegan chocolate ones) - my donut was super flaky and crumby, instead of soft and flexible as I’d ordinarily expect. Flavor is delicious (in the technical sense) — it’s clear that the recipe behind these donuts are superb. Is it possible that they need to be consumed earlier in the day? (I came by at 2pm or so.) Who knows…

Anyways, for my Vegan peeps: stop by here if you’re in the area. But not worth commuting from other parts of the city just for the vegan donuts.

Also, shop interior is SUPER cute! Definitely a good place to stop by with kids. Also their hand sanitizer smells...