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Alpha Donuts
- Nearest Transit:
-
46 St (7)
40 St (7)
52 St (7)
- Hours:
Mon-Sun 12 am - 12 am
- Attire:
- Casual
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- No
- Parking:
- Street
- Price Range:
-
$
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
- Takes Reservations:
- No
- Take-out:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- No
- Good For:
- Breakfast
- Alcohol:
- No
- Noise Level:
- Quiet
- Has TV:
- No
- Caters:
- No
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- No
46 reviews for Alpha Donuts
Review Highlights
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"But I do love old school donuts." In 9 reviews -
"I love their Boston cream." In 3 reviews -
"...a cup of coffee, egg and cheese, & home fries, ending with..." In 2 reviews
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46 reviews in English
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Review from Senpei H.
Sunnyside, NY
5/23/2012
This spot is Legend.
When I used to eat donuts, I came here all the time. Now I come here after a fantastic bender with good friends after a fun night and always tend to order their irish breakfast, burger or breakfast sandwiches. Coffee/ tea of course. The chef/ owner is super nice and apparently he has another establishment upstate, which I'll probably check out next time I get a chance I'm up there. The waitress/ cashier has been there for a while as well and still remembers me. Honestly, even though there's that after 4am crowd that comes through, I like going there during the day when it's nice and sunny out and all the pastries are super fresh right out of the oven and you get to enjoy that great Sunnyside vibe right before everyone heads to work. It's busy and bustling and yet they still make breakfast just the way you like it. -
Review from Linda P.
5/3/2012 1 Check-in Here
Looks like they could shoot an episode of Mad Men here...Don Draper smoking a cigarette, having a cup of coffee and a glazed donut at the formica countertop.
I walked in at 6:15 am on a Sunday morning. Heard some great Irish brogues, had a well meaning drunk at the counter offer his suggestions of what I should order; just the classic NY I love.
I ordered a glazed donut and cup of coffee . (I had read an article in NY Magazine that Alpha Donuts has the best glazed crueller in New York. Well, at 6:15 am on Sunday morning, they were out.)
The glazed was really, really good. Slightly crispy as you bite through the hardened glaze and pillowy soft donut underneath. Not sickenly sweet like Krispy Kreme and certainly not chemical tasting like Dunkin Donuts. I loved the abundance of sweet glaze that flaked off as I bit into it!
I will definitely be back to try the crueller. Alpha Donuts may actually be helping me lose some weight....it's a little out of the way so I can't get there very often and there is no way I would waste calories on a sub par donut after tasting one of their plain glazed. -
Review from Daniel J.
Manhattan, NY
5/2/2012
So sad....when i first found Alpha years ago, I slammed the counter when I bit into one of their boston creme donuts. Everybody looked at me like I was crazy as I exclaimed "I found you! I had been searching for the meal sized, 1 lb, fluffy cake style donuts of my youth! And I had found it in this old dive where time seemed to have stopped....Alas , it wasnt to last.
Recent reviewers must be insane. They dont make the donuts here anymore and serve old horrific, astoria made, pieces of dust. When i stopped in today I actually spit the piece i bit into back into my hand-- it was so bad.
The staff was sympathetic and gave me another one. It was no use. The eggs and coffee were fine. They should just take donuts out of their name. The search continues...
What a shame! -
Review from Christopher C.
Sunnyside, NY
4/3/2012 12 Check-ins Here
Yummmm. I happened to see a review for here and decided to try it. Boy was I glad i did. This place is truly old school, and the doughnuts are fantastic.
I went for my favorite Boston Creme. The creme was more firm than you normally get which was richer I thought, and also that the bottom was more fried than I'm privy to, which make for a much richer doughnut.
Also they are only a dollar? AwesomeListed in: My Top Spots in Queens...so…
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Review from Rachel G.
4/10/2012
Excellent stop on a Sunnyside food tour. The plain glazed donuts are awesome. I'd like to sit at the counter for breakfast one day.
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Review from Aileen M.
Woodside, NY
2/25/2012
This place has the best cheeseburgers ever! The prices, service and food are great and Robert Deniro has been here! Need I say more?
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Review from David C.
Brooklyn, NY
I absolutely adore Alpha Donuts. So much so that I ate there twice in less than twelve hours. The first time for a late night, craving-satisfying-deep fried-sugar crusted cruller and a cup of yes...Sanka (who knew they still made the stuff?) and the second for breakfast the following morning. (Technically, it was early Sunday afternoon, so most folks would call it brunch. But you know my feelings about brunch, and, more importantly, no self-respecting, salt of the earth type patron of Alpha Donuts would ever go to "brunch.")
And if you're wondering how a tiny greasy spoon under the 7 train on Queens Boulevard rates 5 stars from a picky bastard like myself, lemme tell you: the place has more soul and character than every single chain restaurant in the city put together. Sure, the food isn't stellar (but damn if it isn't ever cheap) and the donuts aren't the equal of fussy, fancy shops popping up all over Brooklyn and Manhattan, but the place is the old-school, real-deal sorta joint you'd find in a Cassavettes movie 40 years ago. The counter staff (the whole place is a counter, actually--more like two and a half inverted U shaped counters) is friendly, efficient and no nonsense, and the entire experience is as attitude free as any you'll come by in the entire NY area.
God Bless You Alpha Donuts. Live long and prosper. -
Review from Seiko F.
Woodside, NY
10/10/2011 2 Check-ins Here
I've been live near by this area in 15 years.
very close to this old school, small donuts shop and I love this place since I moved.
They make all the donuts is just very simple, big, fluffy and very tasty!
There has a seats to enjoy more then donuts but I never try other then donuts in this place...well, I never thought to sit there to have a coffee because the donuts is that much good for me.
My suggestion of the best time to get your favorite donuts at this place as I know is...
1, in the morning, 6:00am - 10:00am
2, early evening, 4:00pm - 6:00pm
*I guess there has more chance to get fresh made donuts in different time slot but I know the those times was the best for me.Listed in: Donuts shop
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Review from Anne H.
9/11/2011 14 Check-ins Here
Delicious, charmingly old school, and sweet (pun intended) donut shop.
Glazed donut is amazing: chewy, slighty crispy, melts in your mouth.
My Boston cream donut hardly had any cream though. I hope I just got unlucky with that one.
$1 donuts. -
Review from Ki G.
4/1/2011
After an epic concert (Queens of the Stone Age @ Terminal 5) where I was still reeling from the contact high, what else was there to do than grab some food on the way back home. It was around 12 am, and my brother's suggested Alpha Donuts as the pit stop of choice.
Good choice.
If you want a blast from the past, you come here. The decor is old, old, old - like walking onto a movie set where you half expect a slew of men in warm caps, blue peat coats and thick Queens-accents to pour in and demand their orders while bantering in appropriate slang.
When we got there, it was quiet, with the local and the tired eating their burgers, sandwiches and the older generation (yes, there were a couple of 70+ there at past midnight) drinking their coffee and reading a paper. They were familiar with the sole cook behind the low, s-shaped counter, and harassed him in good a natured manner.
That bit of hokey-nostalgia aside, we came for the donuts. I got a dozen - cake, jelly-filled, cream-filled and crullers. I love their black/white crullers - there is this citrus essence that comes through the yellow that really works. I love their jelly filled and their cake donuts. If there was ever a donut made for dunkin' in coffee - it is their plain cake donut.
A dozen for $8...and some mozzarella sticks, chicken fingers and a lot of napkins later, my brothers and me exited this little time capsule. I'm happy I don't need a time machine to come back.Listed in: The Queens Beat - featuring…
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Review from Pinky And The B.
Manhattan, NY
4/5/2011 5 photos
I forgot which of my Yelp friends suggested this donut shop. I have been 3 times. It is out of the way for me. But I do love old school donuts. They must be really good because every time I went they were out of almost everything! I have only tried a few things since they were usually sold out. There used to be a lot more old school donut places years ago. It is good to know there is one left. And it is not a scene like Peter Pan. I don't understand the popularity of Peter Pan. I think it is because those giving high ratings have not had old school donuts before I don't know what else it might be. Donut shops used to be all over the city. Since I have only had a few things since they were always sold out it is hard to review.
This is a good old school donut place but get there early before they sell out!Listed in: Multi ethnicity at it's best!…, NYC desserts
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Review from David P.
4/24/2011
I spent a rainy Saturday apartment hunting in Sunnyside, and was in dire need of coffee and donuts. Look, there's Alpha -- Shapow!!
I love the greasy-spoon vibe. Most importantly, perhaps, I love that it's not Dunkin Donuts. However, the shelves were almost completely bare at 11:00 a.m. I tried a glazed donut and an old fashioned cruller.
The glazed was just about perfect, soft and sweet and totally covered with flaky glaze. The cruller was like chewing on the cardboard in a roll of paper towels, if that cardboard also weighed as much as a baseball bat.
Good coffee, though. -
Review from Sara O.
7/30/2011
Yummy! The glazed donut is one of the best.
As a fatty, I know good donuts and this place is the bomb.
Never had the food, but looks and cheap. -
Review from Andrea L.
Woodside, NY
3/20/2012
Nice place for breakfast
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Review from Stephanie L.
Sunnyside, NY
8/25/2011
I had assumed this was THE place to get donuts in Sunnyside, so I was excited to finally try it a few months ago. It was late on a weeknight I believe and the place was empty. I heard creepy AM radio piping in from somewhere making me feel like I was in a slasher flick. I asked the guy with the hat behind the counter what the difference was between bovarian cream and boston cream and he didn't know, nor did he care. The only thing he seemed to care about was hurrying us along and getting us the hell out. This behavior was suspect considering there was nobody else in the joint. I'm surprised they're still open.
Anyway, we grabbed a chocolate frosted and a some-sort-of-cream. They were both stale and there was no cream in the latter. They definitely did not make these donuts. They tasted like crap.
I will never go back to this creepy establishment. -
Review from Jared C.
1/18/2011 3 photos
More than simply a place for tasty large donuts, Alpha seems like a miniature hub for Sunnyside, a place where locals have come for decades to have a simple breakfast and read their paper amongst people they know. It is this quality that gives Alpha its true nature.
You will hear many real New York accents as the place is full of them. The snaking counter fits about 15 people and the menu is displayed on backlit yellow signs above the kitchen that appear to be 1,000 years old. All this old-school diner feel packs in the charm.
$1 will buy you any donut, and $1.25 will get you a bottomless cup of decent coffee. The ladies make sure to take care of you and will fill your cup before it gets half empty usually.
The donuts seem like takeout items and most people who sit down are having a big plate of eggs and home fries. At 11am they are even a bit stale and the selection dwindled, but grab a cup of coffee and do as the locals do. -
Review from Christopher W.
Wallingford, CT
5/22/2011
Ahh the ever legendary Alpha Donuts.
It was early evening about 2 weeks ago when i had my first encounter with ye. I had just moved in to Sunnyside and my pal was showing me around the neighborhood.
It was a beautiful evening when we walked by and on first glance it was a sketchy, run down, donut shop whose sole customer was a fat, bald, off-duty mailman. If it was my choice I would have never stepped foot in the place. But my Pal insisted on its credibility.
We skipped good ole Alpha Donuts that night, but the following Saturday we put it to the test.
Sausage, Scrambled Eggs with Cheese, Home Fries and a mini OJ.
I'm not a breakfast person -- but this was pretty damn good. Pretty damn good indeed. -
Review from Christian R.
Woodside, Queens, NY
It's 1975 all over again.
Ditch your iphone and grab a newspaper, immerse yourself in the history of this awesome diner and go to town on a club tuna sandwich, fries and a coffee you won't regret.
Alpha Donuts is layered with a local charm and charisma that make it timeless. This is your answer to a lazy Saturday or Sunday afternoon. A hot spot to absorb the thick accents and pride that come from making eggs overeasy with rye or a pastrami platter.
Guaranteed to boost your mood.Listed in: Be Alive In Sunnyside
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Review from Dan H.
Pearl River, NY
12/28/2011 1 Check-in Here
Nothing special about these donuts.
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Review from Tiffany H.
Kent, OH
Friendly staff, yummy food, could things get any better? :)
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Review from Julie K.
Flushing, NY
4/22/2011
When I'm stuck taking a local 7 train and it's a "Fatty" day, I get off to go to come here for a morning treat - breakfast sandwich: over easy egg with sausage and cheese. Super yummy!
I bought an apple cinnamon donut & cruller one morning. Total waste! They were stale and hard, probably leftovers from the night before. I hope I get a good one next time 'til then I will stick with the breakfast sandwich. -
Review from A.M. L.
Woodside, NY
11/8/2011
Love this old school donut shop! I walked in here just to get a donut and ended up ordering lunch. It's got a such a 1940s-50s old school vibe with the snaking formica counters. I got a dry BLT and a vanilla glazed donut to go for $6 something (less than a food cart), $7+ with tip. The dry BLT was about what you would expect, but the donut was wonderfully thick and chewy and the vanilla glaze not too hard but not too sticky. This is now my go to place in the neighborhood for donuts.
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Review from Martin Z.
New York, NY
9/28/2011 1 Check-in Here
This place is def a mom & pops spot. There aren't to many of them left.
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Review from Irene F.
11/5/2009
Oh man. Oh man oh man oh man....Sunnyside Partners in Crime totes approve of Alpha Donuts, particularly around the wee-er hours of the morning. Forget eating healthy, this is not the place. Rack yourself up some onion rings, mozz sticks, fried chicken, whatev...your stomach will be grateful, even if your waistline is not.
The decor is ridiculous, but I won't go anywhere else. At least not at 3 or 4 am. -
Review from Michael H.
Washington, DC
1/12/2009
Stepping into Alpha Donuts is like stepping into a time warp: I feel like I'm in Back to the Future and I'm going to see Marty McFly sitting at the donut counter.
This is a wonderful little donut shop with counter seating for a half dozen and table seating for a dozen more. There's a pleasant but firm woman there to serve you in a wonderfully dated outfit. We had our donuts to go, but we would have felt welcome sitting down and relaxing for a while.
I ordered two donuts because they looked so good. But really, they were rich enough that one would be enough.
In short, everything was better than those chain donut shops: the size, the taste, the ambiance. I can't speak to the coffee, but I'll leave that to another reviewer. -
Review from Jessica P.
Durham, NC
1/15/2008
When you need a greasy hung-over breakfast, Alpha Donuts is THE place to go. Alpha Donuts is one of the coolest diner places I've been in the whole city. The only seating is about 15 or so counter seats, which can be a tight squeeze if you have longs legs like me. But that's just the price you have to pay for a little slice of Americana along Queens Boulevard! I usually just get the standard cheese omelet. The food is nothing out of the ordinary, your standard diner fare.
Now for the donuts: eh, they are okay. I have tried two, chocolate glaze (which was very dry, no good) and a regular with chocolate icing and sprinkles(very good). So I wouldn't trek out to Alpha Donuts, but if you live in Sunnyside/Woodside, you gotta check this place out.Listed in: Best of Sunnyside
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Review from Suejin S.
LONG ISLAND CITY, NY
10/10/2011
Great old timey place. The real deal. The most character I've found in a diner anywhere. The staff are genuinely happy to see you and go out of their way to help you. This is the only diner I could see myself becoming a regular in.
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Review from Maria M.
Woodside, NY
11/8/2008
This is a great little place. Reminds me of the small diners in the South with its regular breakfast and late night crowds. I love character, so this place is a favorite.
One donut here will render all your subsequent trips to Dunkin Donuts the work of the devil. -
Review from David H.
New York, NY
9/9/2007
ALPHA DONUTS!
or d-units as my roomates and i call them. open 24hrs a day. best place in the city to stumble into drunk and get a small irish breakfast at 330am.
fresh donuts come out every day around 3pm, this is the best time to snag a fresh, juicy, hot, and basically always perfect donut.
breakfast specials until 11 am.
for $4.25 you get: eggs, sausage or bacon, homefries, toast, coffee, OJ, and a donut. very hard to justify eating all of it but great nevertheless.
and the pancakes rule. the help is just bitter enough to make it fun.Listed in: My Neighborhood
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Review from Emily G.
Twin Cities, MN
8/28/2008
I'm convinced that someday, one of those crazy actresses who gained weight to gain an Oscar will say that they put on the pounds by getting deliveries from Alpha Donuts. Not a big fan of most of the varieties, but the Boston Creme donuts are absolutely ridiculous. Doughy and almost a bit undercooked in the bready part, with thick creme that splurts out the side and inevitably ends up on your shirt...
Best after a night out, especially if you'd had to commute home on a sad subway ride at 3am. Reward your broke ass. -
Review from Dennis Y.
4/18/2011
I've always wanted to give you a try, sitting at your diner counter would be so much fun. I finally did, but I didn't get any food and had to walk out. If you're a luncheonette/diner and your waitress doesn't understand what a grilled Swiss cheese on whole wheat and a side of coleslaw is, then I am getting out! Perhaps another time. Boo.
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Review from Betty L.
Sunnyside, NY
2/16/2011
This place has been in the neighborhood forever!!!! Totally old school and the greatest place to go for donuts and cinnamon rolls. I am a huge fan of their cinnamon rolls, what can I say they are sticky, soft and it melts in your mouth.
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Review from Amanda K.
Queens, NY
Updated - 4/2/2011
I'll stick with the 4 star rating just because of their amazing glazed donuts, but I have to say their food was pretty nasty. (4 stars for the diner decor, too).
1 Previous Review: Show all »
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2/26/2011
I haven't had a glazed donut this good since 1981. The Boston Creme was good too, but not… Read more »
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Review from Joe L.
Queens, NY
9/11/2008
Great 24 hour joint. Donuts can be a little heavy but it beats Dunks (across the street) by a long run. Order the chicken salad with bacon and you're set.
Sassy ass waitresses. Weekend morning regulars are a hoot! -
Review from s f.
Los Angeles, CA
2/16/2009
I love little Alpha Donuts. It's a great hole-in-the-wall diner with tons of character and charm.
It's a real locals hangout, but the waitresses will welcome newbies with equal warmth/sass/attitude. I usually get a cup of coffee, egg and cheese, & home fries, ending with a donut. Gotta say, I've never been let down by this neighborhood favorite. The food's pretty good, but I go for the one-of-a-kind atmosphere.
A great place for eavesdropping. -
Review from Jonah G.
Woodside, NY
1/10/2009
The diner food here is nothing special, it's greasy and adequate and open 24 hours but Stop Inn is better and closer to me for that sort of thing.
The donuts are the reason I'll go here. I've heard rumblings (here and elsewhere) that they used to be better, but they are pretty damn good now, old school cake donuts several big steps up from Dunkin Donuts.
Everything I've had has been pretty solid, but I recommend the french crullers, which are hiding under the counter for some reason and have a great fluffy texture, and the chocolate glazed, because everyone likes chocolate glazed.
I also love their analogue cash register, which can be seen in one of the two pics on this post. -
Review from Robert M.
Middle Village, NY
5/10/2011
Not a place to go for breakfast take-out. I ordered an egg and cheese on a roll with a small coffee and paid 6$. The eat-in specials are OK, but it's a raping out the door. (BTW, there was a shell shard in my sandwich)
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Review from Rae F.
2/23/2010
Eventhough I'm a little older, everytime I come here for a donut I remember myself as a little kid looking at all the tasty choices. Sure theres a Dunkin acrross the street, but it just doesn't have that old school feel and the wavy counters that Alpha D has. The breakfast here is pretty greasy and it kinda reminds me of the breakfast you get in Woolworths back in the day. damn i'm old.
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Review from Martin G.
Sunnyside, NY
7/15/2010
Time warp yourself back to 1973 and you have landed in Alpha Donut. This place is inexpensive, friendly and quick. You will find a really diverse crowd all sitting at the classic counter enjoying coffee and eggs. I haven't tried any of their entree meals, only the breakfast, coffee and donuts but I always see meals getting ready for pick-up/take-out so it's probably also pretty good.
If you're in the neighborhood on a lazy morning stop in and have a coffee and donut and read your morning paper. -
Review from Chad J.
Garden City, NY
8/22/2011
pretty good donuts, taste to much like d&d to get 5 star
