Yes, these mini doughnuts require an excursion to Pier 39, but it’s well worth the trip for a bag (okay, fine: a bucket) of these sweet, airy mini doughnuts. Sure, they taste more like a churro than a traditional doughnut, but that won’t stop you from popping them in your mouth at an astonishing and incredibly satisfying rate.

This Nob Hill spot is always open, which means you can satisfy your doughnut craving at 2 p.m. or 2 a.m. Just know there’s a good chance there will be a line no matter what. Bob’s is the place you go for a high-quality classic doughnut (and an apple fritter if you can get one before they sell out). It’s also the place you go if you want to eat a glazed doughnut the size of your head. There’s a second location on Baker Street, although that one closes by 9 p.m.

SQPR is known for its Italian fare including fresh pasta and elegant secondi, but head to the Fillmore District restaurant from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on the weekend and you can pick up a bag of hot-out-of-the-fryer doughnuts and a solid cup of coffee. The Accarrino’s Coffee & Donuts menu stars four types of doughnuts — though it might be more accurate to call the square treats beignets — including sweet options covered in powdered sugar and cinnamon or more savory-leaning varieties such as the seasonal strawberry rhubarb and wild mushroom. It’s a walk-up situation, but there are patio tables available should you prefer to snack on-site.

Everything at this tiny Outer Richmond bakery is made, as the name suggests, with love and butter by Esa Yonn-Brown and husband Josh Perez. The couple met while in San Francisco City College's hotel and restaurant program, and then settled in the neighborhood, where they opened their shop in early 2016. Though they're best known for sweet and savory pies, Butter Love's array of yeasty doughnuts might just as well be the stars, including seasonal pumpkin spice and apple cider.

Hahdough chef and owner Ha Do was born in Vietnam and raised in Germany, perhaps one of the reasons Deutschland ex-pats rank her Berliner donuts as some of the most legit around. With rotating fillings like vanilla cream, Nutella, and house-made jams, the Berliners also appeal to folks who don’t give a fig about Germany and just love great doughnuts.

This straightforward Sunset shop doesn’t skimp on portion size. Behind its glass pastry case lie foot-long apple fritters and cinnamon-crusted “tiger tails.” Uncle Benny’s still boasts some of the most fairly priced pastries in the city, with its average doughnut costing about a dollar or so.

This hole-in-the-wall doughnut shop does all the classics well, from puffy sugar doughnuts to chocolate-covered old fashioneds to bar doughnuts draped in maple glaze. But what this shop also does well is a number of Chinese baked goods, including pineapple buns and coconut buns. No doubt if you bring a variety of doughnuts and pastries into work from Grand, you’ll be the new office hero.

During the week, the husband and wife team behind Twisted Donuts & Coffee roll out freshly baked trays of glazed old-fashioneds, bear claws, and apple fritters. But on the weekends, this doughnut shop shows off its “twisted” side, revealing an ulterior menu filled with experimental flavors like Nutty Monkey, Baconpeno, and Milky Way Under A-Salt. The shop has also added in a variety of mochi donuts, if you’re in the mood. Pair these pastries with iced coffee, which is served with coffee ice cubes.

The Jelly Donut, that deep-fried institution on 24th and South Van Ness, reopened after a long two-year closure in July 2021, due to both a retrofit and the pandemic. The family-run shop dates back to 1987, and now the siblings and aunties are back behind the counter, serving classic cruellers and old fashioneds 24/7.

It’s hard not to be happy when eating a doughnut, especially if it’s a raised glazed from Happy Donuts. Open 24 hours a day, Happy Donuts is a traditional shop that serves the melt-in-your mouth classics you remember from childhood.