Union Square Donuts — Restaurant in Somerville

TL;DR: good donuts but over-hyped, overpriced, hit or miss flavors.

I'll start by saying I am not a huge fan of brioche-style donuts which I believe is almost all or at least most of their donuts. I prefer a super light and airy donut or a well-made cake donut. Brioche donuts tend to be a little too heavy/bready for my taste. If you love brioche donuts you may go absolutely bananas over Union Sq Donuts.

Dough preferences aside, I still don't think USD has earned the hype they received. While they definitely earn points for interesting and unique flavors (especially seasonal offerings), the actual execution of their flavors can be hit or miss. Some of my thoughts from recent memory:

-Sugared cranberry: nice idea but ginger overpowers all the other flavors, the actual cranberry flavor was lacking. I didn't really get the rosemary flavor but I suppose it's easy to overdo rosemary -Pecan pie: ok this one is amazing I'll admit, nice balance of crunchy/salty/sweet. -maple bacon: great maple glaze, bacon pieces way too big/chewy and unpleasant to eat as a topping. Would be better if they were diced in small pieces so you got that salty bit in every mouthful -sea salt whiskey caramel: would be an amazing donut minus the whiskey, it's too strong and overpowers all the other flavors IMO -Boston cream: pastry cream is bland, ganache is too too thick and bitter and overpowers the cream. -Brown butter hazelnut and apple crisp: both excellent and good balance of flavors and textures -caramel pumpkin cheesecake: not bad, just nothing to write home about. I wanted a thicker cheesecake-like filling and this was more like pumpkin pastry cream. Nice caramel/crumble topping though -Vietnamese coffee: this one too was decent but I wanted a stronger coffee flavor personally

I don't think they are worth waiting in line for more than a couple of minutes and I definitely don't think they are worth the $4-5 price tag per donut. I think they are worth trying out for seasonal flavors because the one area they do stand out in is unique flavor combinations even if they don't always...

I searched the city of Boston high and low, for about 30 minutes, attempting to find this place which claims to have amazing "donuts." Not only were they greasy, stale, and extremely over-priced, they were not even worth the bother of having to carry them through the city as I tried to have a great rest of my day, after this awful experience. In fact, I was close to leaving the box opened on a bush, so the city pigeons can eat them. Unfortunately I do not practice animal cruelty because I would not even feed these to the pigeons on the streets. As I planned my trip to Boston ahead, this was one of the stops I was most looking forward to, and for more than $3 a donut, I expected more than a hunk of styrofoam dipped in oil with week old icing... And no, this was not just one donut that tasted like this, as I ordered a variety of flavors and they were all equally horrifying. If it were any other time of day, I would give them the benefit of the doubt that the donuts had been sitting for a while, however I arrived at 10 in the morning making the condition of the donuts inexcusable. With Boston having so much to offer, I'm distraught that I wasted money and precious time purchasing these donuts, I wish someone had warned me, so this is my warning to all of you: do yourself a favor and do not go to Union Square Donuts if it is the last donut-shop on earth or if it is your only source of food to survive. Will be contacting the company to express my angiush over this experience. Thank you...

I am extremely disappointed with my experience Union Square Assembly shop today. I felt completely mistreated, ignored, and even discriminated against by staff.

When I approached the counter to order doughnuts, the staff member ignored my presence, said nothing to me, and allowed customers behind me to be served first without any explanation. The doughnuts are behind glass, so I could not serve myself it is the staff’s role to assist me. Yet instead of acknowledging or helping me, I was treated as if I wasn’t even there.

When I spoke up about being skipped, instead of apologizing or explaining, the staff became upset with me for asserting my right as a paying customer to be served fairly. On top of this, staff tried to shame me for not opening the door for another customer who was exiting the establishment. It is not my role or responsibility as a customer to do staff duties such as opening doors—it is staff’s responsibility to provide customer service.

What is most concerning is that when I calmly expressed these issues, two staff members (Michael and his co-worker) threatened to call the police on me. This was not only unnecessary but also felt like an intimidation tactic meant to silence me, which left me deeply uncomfortable.

No customer should ever be ignored, skipped, shamed, or threatened simply for expecting basic respect and fair service. I hope management takes this matter seriously and trains staff to treat all customers equally, with dignity and...