Bright Spot Donuts — Restaurant in Raleigh

This place only opened a few months ago, but I think it will become a neighborhood favorite.

Despite it’s small size it doesn’t feel cramped. There’s a bench lining one wall to wait on, and a large clean bathroom with a baby changing table. The general atmosphere was very welcoming as the staff seemed friendly, casual and helpful to everyone I saw being helped, lots of parents and young kids and plenty of seating outside, probably 5 or 6 tables total. They have a small but solid menu, and they serve Black & White coffee.

It was about $8 for 2 doughnuts and a small drip coffee which for the quality and area seems reasonable. I tried the chocolate glazed with sprinkles and the the sourwood honey.

The doughnuts were both light and airy. Both glazes weren’t sugary sweet or too thick, which worked really well with how fluffy the dough was. I could really taste a honey sweetness, and similarly the chocolate glaze was more /chocolate/ than just sugary. Not sure if the honey they use for the sourwood honey is citrusy or if I imaged it, but to me there was a very nice, subtle citrusy note for this doughnut. Just something to be aware of is that the chocolate glaze will rub/melt off onto the paper more compared to glazes that harden. (Drip coffee was also great)

I will say I was surprised there wasn’t a smaller coffee size. A lot of places are adopting the 8oz because so many people like that option, especially to go along with a small treat...

Okay, I thought the negative reviews were harsh but now I understand them and can provide context. Overall donut quality is not as good as some places. You can find better options for half the price, e.g. Heritage donuts. I’m always prepared to pay more for quality (e.g. Tepuy) but the quality is not there at Bright Spot.

Original glazed was very cold, almost refrigerated tasting, which made it taste greasy and almost sickening sweet. I do like a good yeast donut but these just flop over. Boston cream used some weird chocolate. Don’t get me wrong, I like dark chocolate but something’s off in the flavor and all of the cream filling was gobbed in the middle. The peaches and cream has a very orange flavor taste but no peaches. The flavors just didn’t come together, same on filling, gobbed in the middle. Wife’s chai tastes like pure oat milk. No cream, or Splenda available for coffee. Hope you like whole milk, sugar or simple syrup that’s all the options you’ve got.

Service. May be wrong but it seems like they took two employees from Union Special that had problems and brought them here. Case in point, after we ordered and paid, they ran out of the donut for the guy in front of us, so they took our donut instead. The counter person said but they were in front of you. There’s no need to tip here, no inside tables to speak of and little...

After going in with high expectations, I think Bright Spot's donuts are pretty good, but I left a little disappointed. We ordered the Original Glaze, Sourwood Honey, and the Sugar+Spice(Coriander). All were pretty solid, and had good flavor, although the coriander in the Sugar+Spice was too subtle to taste, making it taste like just a sugar donut. Their iced coffee, which was from Black+White, was perfect though. Overall, I understand the goal of their donuts and I think they achieved that goal, but they are way too airy and light for my tastes to be at their current price point. I do want to come back to try a filled donut and their savory options. However, I definitely recommend everyone go and try them out at least once because the service was great and their style of donut might be the perfect style for your tastes!

(Menu pictured was from a...