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The best doughnuts.
I always hit up King Pin Donuts after finishing a plate of pasta at Gypsy's. After filling up on all that pasta I make sure to make room for an old fashioned chocolate doughnut, the best I've ever had.
DELICIOUS DONUTS.
Conveniently located.
BOMB donuts, especially when fresh.
Open late!
The people are really nice, there's always a crowd outside munching on donuts.
I was in town for 3 days and had King Pin every single day.
My favorites are the circle donut with chocolate on top, the chocolate bar and the donut holes. I still think about them now, freaking amazing.
If you are in the area, definitely try it!!
What the flip! I asked for a half dozen donut holes, not give me 5 but one is really big. Augh.
These weren't even fresh, but when they are fresh, boy are they good :).
I applied for work and asked the name of the person working there for my contact information on my asignment sheet and they woudlnt give me thier name.
Do you want to eat food made from a food place that wont give you thier name? Some might...lol
quite odd if you ask me, i dont really eat donuts much. But the smell of the donuts were good.
Nothing hits the spot like warm donut holes after a night out.
A bag of five day-old donuts and pastries is only $1.50!
So, I don't know how accurate a review I can give since the only donuts I've tried from here have been day-old, but if you advertise a donuts for only a little more than a quarter apiece, I'm sold!
Review for the day-olds: seems like your regular donut to me. If it weren't for the price, I'd be eh-ing.
Delicious donut holes. I love donut holes!! I also tried the Almond Croissant (eating it now) its very good as well. The almond flavor hangs in the background so its not over powering or standing out over the croissant floavor. Did I mention it was huge?! Well its huge.
Very nice staff. Great smile ;D. Everything looked good. I'm sure i'll find myself there again.
I love King Pin donuts! Best donuts in Berkeley. Open late for those over-the-legal-limit munchies and delicious all around.
In all things equal, the place really is JUST a donut shop. So there is very little to review. The donuts are excellent and plentiful. They are always making them fresh minute by minute.
Since it is located in the Asian Ghetto, there is plenty of seating available if you wish to enjoy your pastry amongst other college students. But i would just grab my glazed donut, 1/2 dozen donut holes, chocolate bar, or cinnamon roll (no, i didnt get them all at once) and walk home both enjoying my purchase and reasoning i was burning the calories in the 6 blocks to my apartment.
King Pin is a good solid memory from my times at UC Berkeley and i will miss it when it comes time for me to find new horizons.
I moved to .2 seconds away from this place, and let me just say that the ten pounds or so that I've gained from these donuts are SO WORTH IT!!
best. donuts. ever.
They are the fluffiest things ever, just sweet enough, and King Pin is open until really really late when that craving hits. Also, ask for a warm donut. Slightly crispy out of the fryer, and a tad oily, with fluffy carbohydrates beneath...clogged arteries, you are so worth these donuts!
+ Open early/late, cheap
- Not much of a selection
I used to get these donuts all the time in the morning right before my classes, but they just got old really fast for me.
Oddly enough, I like the donut holes a LOT more than the actual donuts. Something's probably wrong with me if they're made from the same thing...But anyways, this place was enough to make me crave Dunkin Donuts back at home.
Anytime you want a donut, you have the comfort of knowing King Pin will be there. If you arrive at the right time, you can get freshly made donuts too! Let's not forget their $1 donuts bags. Sure they're a day or two old, but you can't say no to cheap donuts on a college student's wallet.
Meh, to me, this place is just a standard donut shop scheduled to accommodate the college student daily schedule (yep, late night splurges...d'oh). Nothing to special about their donuts. They're yummy nevertheless.
Must always follow the golden rule for buying donuts: buy em fresh! You know when Krispy Kreme turns on its neon light sign indicating that the industrial donut making assembly line is in motion? King pin also has a similar thing. There's no light however. Just an asian guy manually making them behind the storefront window =)
So maybe I'm coming back from San Francisco or the Down Low and I had a bit to drink and it's, what, maybe 1 or 1:30 in the morning. What do I want?
I want a donut.
These guys, they have donuts. Match MADE IN DRUNKEN HEAVEN. It's kind of sneaky, actually, the way they blow clouds of donut vapor down Durant. Embrace it as a challenge, and lose every once in a while, I think is the right way to approach King Pin.
It doesn't hurt that they're fanTAStic. A King Pin glazed right out of the fryer will take on a Krispy Kreme and win any day of the week, and Dunkin can just forget about it. Advice: ask what's hot and get one of those, especially if it's glazed, because mmmm.
FRESH DOUGHNUTS RIGHT OUT OF THE FRYER
Five stars if you stop by here late at night when the doughnuts come right out of the fryer. You can just point to the doughnut you want on the cooling racks.
Chocolate Glazed Doughnut
Tonight, I was waiting in line and the cook handed me a fresh chocolate glazed doughnut (guess he recognized me as a regular) and it was pure heaven!
I read an article recently that they are using trans fat-free oil. I feel a little less guilty.
Huge selection of donut, but my choice at every place like this is the boston cream filled...
I scanned the counter for a bit, and pointed at the donut that looked closest to what I was after, and the server confirmed that it was in fact cream filled, despite the fact that the cream was on the outside, on top of the chocolate.
It was a delicious donut, but minus one star for saying it was cream filled when it was really cream topped. ...Seriously.
The absolutely only time you should come here is late at night (around 10 or 11) when the glazed donuts are just coming out of the fryer. If and only if they are piping hot you must immediately buy as many as you can safely consume without becoming completely ill (approximately two).
Grab the donut in your wax paper and take that first gastronomic bite. Pure bliss. Tender, almost flaky crust with a center that basically turns to cream, all melded together with the sweet from the glaze.
This donut is only eclipsed by a small donut shop outside of Johnson, Vermont, but that remains my secret.
Ahhhhhhh, I hate unhealthy delights. Why are evil things so delisssssshous!?
Decent service, but let's face it: don't matter if you're in it for a quickie (TWSS!).
It's cool to watch the cook make the donuts. You can see the week old grease in the fryer. You can see the dough soaking in hydrogenated oils that damages your arteries. Yet, when it's done, and the aroma is in the air, you've got to have one.
Ordered:
1. Hole Nuts
+ Bite sized, but still good
2. Apple + Raspberry fritters
+ The frying didn't hide the super (fake) sweet fruits
Final Call:
Sometimes you just gotta savor the craving...
So my friends and I made a trek to Berkeley because we had nothing better to do. What better way to prevent a boring night by going on a mini food binge. This place was our second stop after Top Dog. Why I am reviewing this first is beyond me, but hey I'm gonna write about both.
Man, these Cal students and Berkeley residents have it made with these fair amount of late night dining spots. I like how this place is located in a mini food plaza with tables outside. If its cold or rainy outside, you better find shelter to enjoy these bad boys.
Anyway, easily one of the better donuts I've had in a long time. Actually, its best to come here late at night since that's when they're fresh. I had some donut holes and a regular sugar donut since I'm plain like that. I also sampled my homeboy's chocolate donut and that was amazing itself. Sex in the mouth? Sure, if that's what you want to call it. Seriously these donuts melt in your mouth. I mean it could easily taste like any other donut to you, but its hard to find a late night donut stop that serves 'em fresh.
My only gripe with this place is each regular donut is almost a buck . May not sound too bad, but I've had some good donuts at a cheaper price. Otherwise, amazing donuts. Well done King Pin. Well done.
Amazing donuts. Had them because they were available at the Beau Sky hotel across the way. OH EM GEE. So fluffy so good. I can't believe how easy it is to get good donuts in Cali. I had the glazed, and the chocolate glazed. I never like chocolate glazed, but these were goooood.
I also loved watching the Chinese Donut Master do his thing while I was eating at Gypsy's - he made like three batches of french cruellers and a couple batches of glazed yeast donuts in like 20 minutes. So amazing. Fresh donuts at 7 PM!
you have to buy the donuts when they're fresh!!! This place litterally lets you pull these babies out of the fryer practically. This is the kind of donut you eat for dessert. Swing by this place at around 6pm or 10pm any night and you can watch the guy make fresh donuts.
But be careful... i think they put crack in them, because I keep going back for more! =)
eat whatever just came out of the oven.
the donut literally melts in your mouth.
heaven.
nothing compares to you, king pin.
part of the holy trinity in berkeley, alongside cheeseboard, zachary's, now ici, etc.
the late night batch is available fresh around 10:45 PM
a bit fun to watch
apple fritters -- made completely of glazed sugar and lard but it just melts in your mouth (the grease inside can be overwhelming and makes it hard to eat the whole thing -- but hey it's college)
still good after all these years
Bless your heart King Pin Donuts, always there when I need a sugar lift.
Your warm, soft, calorie packing, fresh, and yummy gooey goodness. Who could resist? Until we meet again!
One of the only places open near campus at 6 am. Perfect for an early-morning heart attack, or a late-night feeding frenzy. Get whatever's fresh and hot and feel the glorious oil drip down your throat. I love the smell of canola in the morning. Smells like...victory.
At one point in my career I had the apple fritter schedule down pat.
Everyone's excuse for loving these puppies is total inebriation, but me, oh no! I've been stone cold sober for every visit unable to refrain from mawing their warm sticky, sweet temptations. But hot and fresh is the only way I take it, baby.
Though a bit surly, these guys are fry-o-lator masters, turning their doughy gems with humble care to the perfect golden brown, dunking them into a vat of syrupy bliss. I watch the process mesmerized. Here's usually the point where I kick all hopes of avoiding refined sugar to the curb. Resistance is futile!
Did you know that Kingpin donuts are the same donuts that you get throughout the UC Berkeley campus restaurants? You can see them when you enter Kinpin Donuts are you look up to the left. There are boxes marked with the different locations the donuts will be headeds...Back to the donuts:
I love their donuts. My favorite is the large mountain donut with chocolate glazing and nuts on top. They have the same donut in plain, glazed, chocolate glaze, and chocolate glaze with chocolate chips. Mmmm...sounds good. It's quite filling, too. Combined with milk, it can be an entire meal (not for me, but for others - I'm used to eating Crossroad-sized portions as a freshman). Their donut holes are not too be missed. I can't say the same about their slices of cake, but they look very filling (maybe too much dough?) Bon Appetit!
apple fritters are one of the cheapest options (less than $2) and they are huge and awesome!
other than that, I dunno they're a donut store that's open late at night for druken college students coming back from frat row.
Honestly, there is nothing better in the world than waking up in plush Frette sheets, slipping into some Lululemon yoga pants and a hoodie, cruising for a hot chocolate and walking into Bergdorfs' take-an-addt'l-30%-off sale. Really, nothing.
Oh wait - there is! Walking up Durant from a long, arduous night at Kips and smelling the sweet, delectable smell of donuts hot-off-the-presses (literally) baking before your eyes!
Better than that... scarfing, like, four of them for a buck flat! YEAH!
Sadly, this is one of those places that smells waaaaaaay better than it actually is.
Maybe I'm a donut snob, maybe i'm picky, maybe I dont' like stale donuts because everytime we come here (after Steve's Korean BBQ) the donuts always tempt me, they smell so fresh, greasy and sweet (my favorite combo of goodness) and every time we load up on bags o' 'nuts I feel let down.
Totally let down, like, "dude, I can't even finish this, it's stale and gross"
I feel bad because I love donuts and I always give King Pin a chance to win me over but it just ain't happenin'.
Baby don't like no stale bad grease donut holes. Save 'em for the bums...
So I realize that if I wasn't drunk yelping, King Pin would not receive an a-ok. But since I've been in an especially good mood all day long (and because you're usually nicer when you drunk yelp) I'll give them three stars.
We went there at 1:30am on a Saturday night after drunk Christmas caroling at all our neighbors and in the library during finals week. At 1am we thought "what's still open?" and decided we needed to carol at top dog in front of their one mean looking employee with the hope of free hot dogs (which never manifested)
So our collective group went across the street and mustered up enough pocket change to purchase a bag of day old doughnuts. They're not very good most of the time, but on evenings like this they taste amazing. They have a pretty good selection and everything is solid (esp their doughnut holes)
They probably would have charged us extra if we had actually sang for them (keep in mind, our out of tune renditions of Rudolf, Frosty, Let it Snow and Deck the Halls all turned into 90s pop songs as we went between our destinations. Have a 5 minute walk between our last location and the library cafe? Then it's time to sing all we can remember of that one Spice Girls song (i wanna i wanna ziga ziga ah) or Bye Bye Bye. Yes there were like 15 of us. Yes, there were guys. Yes, I can sing all the words to both "One Week" by Barenaked Ladies and make sort of an attempt at "Semi Charmed Life"
Anyway, kingpin does an amazing job of soaking up the wine in our stomachs. A+
You haven't had a real donut until you've had a King Pin Donut.
Seriously, I'm tired of all the hype on Krispy Kreme and their wack donuts that taste super processed, are super small, and overly sweet.
If you want a real donut, you need to drop by King Pin. If you want them fresh, hit them up around midnight, when they're finishing up making fresh glazed and you can get them right off the rack.
One of my favorite things about King Pin is the "day old" bags. For a buck fifty you can get a bag with 3-6 donuts in it and make out like a bandit!
"King Pin Donuts gratifies your soul" is written inside this store, and nothing could be more true. DELICIOUS. I personally am massively lucky in that my best friend lives across the street from King Pin, so it's east to just run over and grab a bag (or two) at any time. Even up until 3am! This is perfect for me, because I only ever really eat donuts as a midnight (or later) snack. King Pin constantly has people sniffing around...even into the wee hours. It's that good.
Old reliable for a student's 1am donut hole fix.
Recently visited again, while tipsy, and ate a celebratory glazed old fashioned donut after a satisfying Big Game win.
Truly, you are a King Pin of Donuts.
You know, I really can't say anything bad about this place at all. Everything, including price, quality, and service is simply top notch for a donut store.
Price - 25 cents per donut hole, discounted of course when bought at a half dozen or dozen rate. 95 cents for any glazed or caked donut. 1.95 for a ridiculously delicious apple fritter. It's no wonder bums like to hang around asian ghetto; sympathy food from friendly patrons won't even cost them a buck.
Quality - if you've had a bad donut from here, then YOU'RE DOING IT WRONG. Come at night, between 8 pm and 3 am, when the nice old asian guy starts rolling the dough and deep frying the donuts fresh in front of you. There's absolutely no way you can dislike a freshly fried donut; I don't care what kind of topping it has on it.
Service - any of the workers will tell you straight up what's fresh and what isn't. All the one's I've talked to are really nice, especially the old man who makes the donuts. It really has the feel of a small local donut shop, and it's gonna be here to stay.
I can't believe I never reviewed this place before...
If you know a better place... which I so can't imagine... you have to take me there.
BEST DONUTS IN THE BAY AREA...
Great value. Fresh lovingly-made donuts at a reasonable price.
Ask them what's warm... I had a chocolate covered glazed that other night that would make the entire Krispy Kreme chain weep!
So good, even their bargain bags of day-olds are a delight gently refreshened in the microwave at home.
APPLE FRITTER MOTHA!@#$ERS!
They don't have many of these whenever I try to get one, but if they do have them (and if I'm lucky enough that they're just out and ready), NOMNOMNOM time.
I'm not too keen on donuts in general for some reason. Not even Krispy Kreme. I'm kind of a sucker for old-fashioned ones though. No sprinkle stuff though - I always get something really obscure like apple-cinnmon crumble or coconut chocolate.
I'm the weird guy that gets things like fritters, danishes, cake slices, muffins, whatever. So I'm not a donut fiend, but my friend Brad L. is. I always spot that guy with chocolate donuts...
Don't take my Apple Fritters please :(.
The best drunken mistake you will make after a night out near Telegraph is eating one (or four) hot 'n' fresh glazed king pin donuts.
Conveniently, the donuts get made around 2... just after last call at the bars. I'm not much of a donut person myself - in fact, I would confidently say I am without a sweet tooth. However, these are probably the best donuts I have ever had. If I was craving a donut, and could have any donut teleported into my hand, it would be one of these. They are like light and fluffy little pillows of heaven covered in hot, sticky, sinful, sugary perfection. Watch them slowly roll through a WATERFALL of hot icing (icingfall?) while you wait... Need I say more?
mmmmmm. I remember coming here for late night/early morning dessert (often times after enjoying something else that's horribly bad for me @ a near by spot)... but reading recent views leads me to believe that this place closes earlier. sigh. one of the reasons I love Berkeley (late night eateries).
Well.... all I have to say: DONUT HOLES.
mmmmmm.
I think about these donuts all day long.
I want to buy all the donuts and have them all for myself all the time forever and ever and ever.
Personal favorites include: Cinnamond buttermilk and the chocolate old fashioned. Best donuts ever.
You may have to stand on a smoky ten person line of college kids at 11:00 at night to get the best donuts ever but it's all worth it!
I want them ALL.
Since 1939 they have been serving up goodness. I highly recommend them. The donut is crispy on the outside and nice and soft on the inside. One day I'll manage to get my hands on a fresh out of their frier donuts. Only 4 stars since the place is kind of dirty, but that's just Asian ghetto in general.
Berkeley, CA
Category: Donuts
Neighborhood: Temescal
Category: Donuts
Albany, CA
Category: Donuts
Neighborhood: UC Campus Area
Category: Bakeries
Berkeley, CA
Category: Donuts
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