Pharaoh’s Donuts — Restaurant in St. Louis

Rating: 5/5 Stars

Absolute honor to be the first customer in this location!

Pharaoh's Donuts makes the best donuts in St. Louis. I have always wondered why they did not expand outside of Downtown St. Louis--perhaps to maintain that authentic quality. Nevertheless, when they announced that they were opening a second location in Central West End, I was very excited for this business. Given the absolute high quality and phenomenal taste of the donuts, there is no doubt in my mind that Pharaoh's Donuts in Central West End will be extremely successful.

For this reason, I decided to wake up early to be the first customer at this location at the Grand Opening on 10/31/2020, and I achieved that prestigious honor. Let it be known that the first donut ever purchased from this location was a Blueberry Cake Donut, one of Pharaoh' best overall product offerings. Because of the first-day promotion, I always got a Glazed Donut. Interestingly, this was my first time ever trying this--probably because I always order either the amazing Cinnamon Roll or Blueberry Cake, Red Velvet, and Crumb Cake Donuts. The Glazed Donut from Pharaoh's is absolutely outstanding. It is light, fluffy, and the perfect sweetness. Because it was still warm at 7:00 AM when Pharaoh's Donuts opened, that made it even better.

The Central West End location is very nice, and parking is easy. The one benefit of the Downtown location will be that you have the opportunity to get a donut that was literally just fried in the oil and glazed. There is nothing that beats this amazing fresh, sweet taste!

Give this place a try. You will definitely fall in love and have a new...

I ordered through grubhub for pick up because I had a narrow window at work to grab breakfast for some coworkers and myself. The cashier was very nice, but the order was not ready when I arrived. In fact, she seemed confused when I even mentioned I had a pick up order. When she realized I ordered through Grubhu she said she was glad I was there and proceeded to tell me that she didn't have HALF of the items in my order. She asked what I wanted to substitute, but none of what was in the case was labeled and I had no idea which items in the case were the same price as what I ordered, so I asked her to simply pick the items for me. Almost all of the items she put in the box were cheaper than the specialty doughnuts I actually ordered. The doughnuts were a good size for the price, and they didn't taste bad (more frosting than I would care for, personally) but overall the way this shop is run doesn't meet the expectation of a proper bakery or doughnut shop. I don't know any professional business that is this disorganized and unprepared for customers. The customer in front of me had to wait for the cashier to put money in her register and it was already 35 mins past opening time. Just kind of a mess of a shop. I was already hesitant about ordering from here because I had a bad experience with their downtown store years ago, but I think this is just normal for them. It's a shame, because they're one of the only "normal doughnut" places in the area. I can't say I'll go back, unless I really need a doughnut fix and also have the time to go...

The only CWE donut store but the interior does not live up to a great namesake, being rather plain and uneventful interior. I had such high expectations by the name. Donuts taste ok but the cakes are really quite heavy with oil, not a light donut. The glaze is also too heavy. Some people like that I suppose. The chocolate long John was light and good chocolate glazing. At 9 am, they looked old and stale but we took a chance anyway but almost left when we saw them and the blah of the store and the wait staff. The donuts are probably better earlier. Unfortunately... The staff stands in front of a cart full of other donut choices but doesn’t tell you about them. When she moved to ring us out there they were! Different donuts not just standbys for when she runs out of what’s in the showcase! We would have liked to have chosen some of them instead of just what was in the front case. Tell us! Bad salesmanship! Tony’s donuts off 270 and McDonnell are much much better if you want great tasting donuts all day long. I won’t be back to pharaoh’s because they don’t put any love into serving the customer or their experience, and I don’t need donuts just because. It needs to be amped up in many ways to live up to the thought put...