Sidecar Doughnuts & Coffee — Restaurant in Santa Monica

The donuts are delicious, but they lack the “fun” factor I typically associate with donuts. The dough is delicious with great cake texture. The toppings have great flavor and aren’t overly sweet. However, the superior quality isn’t justified by the price discrepancy between a more traditional “local donut shop” donut, which gives just about the same amount of enjoyment (assuming you have decent local donut shops). It’s worth giving this place a try, but not the highlight of any trip to Santa Monica. Update: I gave the place a second try and was equally underwhelmed. The value proposition just doesn’t work for me. Regardless of price, I feel more satisfaction and enjoyment eating a donut from a local donut shop and would easily choose a local donut shop located next door to this place, even if prices were equivalent. The fact that a local donut shop donut is less than half the price, makes this place irrelevant. If I’m going to eat unhealthy, I’m not going to overpay and under-enjoy. By comparison Old Ferry Donut is priced similar to Sidecar, but Old Ferry Donut is absolutely worth the premium. My least favorite donut at Old Ferry was far more enjoyable than my favorite donut from Sidecar. Now for the review of the donuts on my second trip. The strawberry buttermilk was probably my favorite cake donut. The strawberry flavor really shines through in the cake and glaze. It had a nice consistency for a cake donut. Sidecar excels at cake donuts but not raised donuts, which is probably why I’m not a huge fan, since I prefer raised donuts far more than cake. Saigon cinnamon crumble was my next favorite cake donut. The cinnamon was strong but not overwhelming and the crumble provide a decent crunch component to the texture. The glazed old fashion was basic and didn’t seem much different in texture than their other cakes. It definitely didn’t have the crumbly, dense texture that I expect from an old fashion. The peach cobbler malasada was the greatest disappointment. I’m used to Hawaiian Malasadas (Sugar Beach Bake Shop in Maui is my favorite), this donut reminded me nothing of Malasadas I’ve had before. I expect a light airiness, slight chew, crisp exterior from a malasada, this has none of it. The peach compote was overly tart and minimally sweet. Perhaps this is more similar to a non-Hawaiian malasada, if so, I have no reference for that. The passion fruit pavlova was a toss up. The whipped cream with passion fruit sauce on the top was great. It was light, creamy, and with the perfect amount of sweetness. The pavlova seemed like a meaningless addition beyond trying to make the donut sound fancy. The filling was minimal, to the point that I can’t comment since there wasn’t enough inside to form an opinion. The dough, while described as raised, was not airy and light, but rather dense almost like a cake. I’m starting to get the feeling they use almost the same batter for every donut. I dropped my star rating by one star mainly due to the fact that other premium donut shops offer much greater enjoyment per dollar spent… old ferry donuts, dks donuts, rolling pin donuts, voodoo donuts,...

It’s very rare that I visit Sidecar Doughnuts b/c it is not located anywhere near where I live. So, with that said , when I do have an opportunity to visit Santa Monica, I make it a point to visit Sidecar Donuts bc of their tasty donuts and coffee. However, it is very unfortunate that the few times I have returned , I’ve experienced very poor, disappointing, and disrespectful customer service. The cashier / server woman is very unapproachable, judgmental , unpleasant , and not at all helpful. The music was on way to loud that she couldn’t hear me and I couldn’t hear her. She did not make any effort to explain the choices of donuts that there were available when I asked about a few of them. She was rushing me and my son out so quickly that we just ordered what we thought was just acceptable. She didn’t even offer us a beverage to go with our expensive purchase. I had to remind her that I hadn’t ordered a beverage and that I’d be interested in one. She did not offer anything in terms of a beverage so I just ordered what just came to mind and my son did not want anything as our experience was really unpleasant and we were completely turned -off. She is a terrible employee. Please make some appropriate changes so that you don’t continue to have the negative , one-star reviews and please consider training servers reps on etiquette...

Okay, I know, I know. Los Angeles, the carb-free, gluten-free, keto-friendly, intermittent-fasting capital, has a problem with donuts. LA has so many donut places. Every native Angeleno has their favorite shop (R.I.P. Stan’s Donut in Westwood). Whether you are a fan of the East Coast Dunkin or the L.A. OG Randi’s, our love of the fried, sweet carb-laden goodness is clear by the proliferation of donut shops. You can deny all you want Los Angeles, but donut shop density does not lie- we’ve got a serious problem.

So, what to do? I can’t advise you on the standard, glazed or cinnamon goodness, but I do think if you want a cutting-edge donut there is no better place than Sidecar Donuts. Whether you want the delicate, seasonal, lemon, poppyseed or the smack you in the face choc-a-lot, there is a donut for everyone. If you can’t decide, just go with the best, the butter and salt (and, you are welcome) balanced to perfection donut. There is a flavor with everyone without having to pander to sprinkles and frosting and sugary cereal (no judgment if that’s your jam). I agree with Food&Wine and Sidecar- they are the freshest and best-tasting donuts in Los Angeles not that anyone eats...