General Porpoise:

With locations in Pioneer Square, Laurel Hurst, Capital Hill, and even the Amazon spheres, General Porpoise has left its mark on the Seattle bakery scene. The Capital Hill location has a sleek modern interior with neatly organized doughnuts to match. Each doughnut is handcrafted with a signature dot of overflowing filling. Their selection is decently broad and includes flavors like passionfruit curd, chocolate marshmallow, and other seasonal flavors. Given that each donut costs five dollars, my expectations were high, and they were instantly met. The lemon curd’s tart flavor paired with the sweet sugary dough exquisitely while the passionfruit curd doubled down on sweet citrus flawlessly. 

Half and Half Donut Company:

Located on the corner of Pike and Belmont, Half and Half Doughnut Company boasts a lush and comforting interior with a diverse doughnut selection ranging in price from four to five dollars. Its diverse selection includes innovative flavors like pineapple fritter and old-fashioned raspberry. Among the selection sampled—Boston creme, pineapple fritter, raspberry old fashioned, and banana foster—I highly recommend them all. The pastries that incorporate  filling had a perfect dough-to-filling ratio while those without sported a crisp exterior which paired nicely with the soft and fluffy interior. My favorite was the pineapple fritter, with its sweet flavor complemented by a tangy twist from the pineapple-just enough to enhance the flavor without overwhelming it. 

Raised Doughnuts:

Raised Doughnuts’ greatest asset is how close it is to Garfield. An easy three-minute drive down Jackson brings you right to it. As soon as you walk through the door you are greeted by lots of seating and a cool view into the kitchen. Out of all the doughnut places so far, Raised would have had the greatest and cheapest selection had I not gotten there so late. By the time I got there, only the pizza doughnut and sugar mochi were left. If I had gotten there earlier, there would be doughnuts ranging from the classics to interesting flavors like the seasonal rhubarb bar, strawberry shortcake holes, a lemon ginger doughnut, and many more. The doughnuts typically are sold for three to five dollars. The pizza doughnut was disappointing, to say the least. While it tasted good, it was only different from a bagel because of how it was cooked.

Franz:

Franz is a cheap doughnut. Its strength lies in its numbers, yet  I found myself tired of eating them after the second doughnut. Franz sells six doughnuts for seven dollars at your nearest grocery outlet and for an even lower price at their local building next to Washington Middle School. The store has all of the classics including maple bars, old-fashioned, and raspberry filling. Where Franz lacks is interesting and captivating flavors. However, Franz has something the rest don’t, a really small price tag. Not only are their packaged doughnuts cheap, but in store, they sell cheap single doughnuts and have a Free Doughnut Friday. To properly experience these doughnuts I left the grocery store with twelve doughnuts and no regrets. After my third doughnut, I was not only left with lots of regrets, but also nine more doughnuts.