Ly's Donuts
4336 Roosevelt Way N.E.
Seattle, WA 98105
- Price Range: $
- Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
- Parking: Private Lot
- Wheelchair Accessible: Yes
45 reviews
Neighborhood: Eastlake
"The best french pastries and baguette sandwiches! Try the pesto tuna sandwich and the fruit tarte as a meal. So scrumptious! I lived right…" read more »
11 Reviews for Ly's Donuts
When I lived in Fremont, my friends and I would get the munchies at 3am every night. Luckily, that was when the fresh donuts came out at the Westernco Donut on Roosevelt. I walked down here from the top of 45th in a blizzard once. Now it's called Ly's, but the donuts are the same as far as I can tell. I reccommend any of the apple-filled or jelly-donut varieties. The boston cream doesn't seem as alien as most. Baker's Dozen is a great deal, as you can get something to satisfy everyone's junkfoody tastes.
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OMG Ly's is on Yelp?!
What a great place, huh? Unless you were wandering down 45th you'd probably never knew it existed.
*My* donut used to be $0.80, but I guess prices have recently jumped up to $0.90. Oh well, still worth it. The change all goes into the tip jar anyhow.
Fantastic donuts... So much so that I would have to take a detour home so I wouldn't be tempted by Ly's evil concoctions.
Ly, or who I assumed to be Ly, was a sweetheart, and always threw in an extra donut if you got a bag full (maybe this is standard?). I think he would give you a donut hole with any regular purchase too. Oh, and there was UW student discounts if I recall correctly!
This is one of the joints I would have to revisit if I ever found myself wandering around the U District again.
Thanks Ly!
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A good selection of reasonably priced donutoids, now without trans fats. The drip coffee is inoffensive, but not quite so good that you'd feel guilty about dunking donuts into it. If fast-food-style coffee isn't your thing, there's also the standard menu of espresso-based drinks.
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For 65 cents, the glazed _____ at Ly's Donuts, provides a cheap and delicious ____.
a. Crueller; thrill
b. Drop Donut; meal, so that I may afford my gym dues (see review for club Zum).
c. French Donut; substitute for a foreign lover.
d. Cruella de ville; villain
e. All of the above
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So far good donut places in Seattle have been hard to find. There's the profoundly sub-par Aurora Donuts, the industry standard Winchells, and, of course, Krispy Kreme. Not to mention that place in Pikes Place that sells deep-fried sugar glazed crack. (Wonderful crack at that)
But a plain ol' donut store? Hard to find. A good one? Harder to find. A good 24 hour one? You might as well look for something mythical, like a unicorn or a popular transit plan.
U-District? Head over to Ly's donuts. Where the soap opera-addicted owner will sell you some of the best apple fritters I've ever had, chocolate donuts good enough to share with your friends, all in a pretty clean enviroment, (Ly's is not very friendly to the homeless, but from a business standpoint, it makes sense.
SInce I hate coffee, I can't really comment on that aspect of it. But the rest is pretty good.
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Hey, I just got back from here with a bag of donuts for the roommate and I. Cheap, tasty, and open 24 hours. Those are the pluses. I've had some better donuts in my life - actually much better donuts - but for the price, relative quality (hey, it's not a gourmet donut joint) and friendliness of the employees, this'll definitely do.
I like Ly's. Tasty donuts all hours of the day. They have a variety of flavors, and the services is decent. Skip the coffee though. I dont understand why, but most of the decent donut places horrid folgers style coffee.
As far as donut shops go, this place is the best in Seattle. Ly, the owner, is a very nice fellow. His donuts are fresh, big, tasty, and inexpensive.
I bring my boys here all the time; kids are more than welcome and at home in this cozy little donut shop.
As for the people that have commented that they don't want to hang around here because of the possible homeless people. Guess what, just because somebody looks like an old fisherman doesn't mean they are homeless, it means YOU LIVE IN SEATTLE! Ly absolutely does not allow the homeless to loiter in his store.
Stop and say "hi" at Ly's where you can distract the proprietor from his thai soap operas long enough for him to cheerfully give you a fresh donut and a coffee with actual cream (if you are so inclined) for less than a couple bucks.
Some more fancy coffee drinks and pastries are available, but this is a man's donut place. If you want a french press coffee and a croissant, gtfo and pay $8 for it someplace else.
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Okay - if you're needing your fancy $4 lattes with your soy non-fat whipped cream caramel whatever, then you'll find 85 Tully's and 1,056 Starbuck's within 3 blocks of this place.
But...if you want to just grab some donuts and muffins for cheap (raising hand), then this is the place for you. The apple fritters are better than Starbuck's, and cost half as much. Chocolate donuts...mmm yeah. And if donut's ain't your thing, there's a plethora of muffins available for just over a buck each.
I do agree, there are sometimes sketchy characters here. If you want to get to know them better, head over to the Blue Moon. Otherwise, get your donuts, get your change, and get on with life.
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The best thing they have going for them is they are open 24 hours. This makes the place a magnet for the homeless folks that wander the U. District. The doughnuts aren't bad but its not a place I would care to hang around for long.
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