Address: 10740 San Pablo Avenue, El Cerrito, CA 94530
Hours: none listed
Parking: shopping center lot
Visited: December 18, 2010, 8:30am
Early on a rainy Saturday morning, with Christmas only a week away, we didn’t have time to waste on a long brunch, but had just enough for Donut Time. With dollars in hand for this cash-only establishment, we entered DT’s dark wood paneled “dining room” with enthusiasm. The Yelp reviews were favorable, and we’ve become desperate to find a place that’s worth our patronage after the debacle that was “Chinese-fryer-flavored donuts” at Goody.
While DT did have a few clocks scattered about (including a sweet “Donut Time” train clock!) they all seemed irrelevant. How many clocks do you need to know it’s donut time? Despite the expansive service area, there was only a single friendly employee who seemed to do it all. After serving a regular he asked what we wanted. We ordered off the old-school slotted menu board: Emily went with a chocolate glazed raised and an old fashioned, washed down by a cup o’ Joe. Dave ordered a chocolate old fashioned, an enormous disc-sized apple fritter and a Minute Maid OJ. Our order was quickly filled and we were soon sitting in chairs from the same used-Chinese restaurant surplus store that so many SPA establishments seem to shop. DT also follows other SPA décor rules: security cameras, an ATM, 4 different ways to buy lottery tickets and an out-of-order bathroom. What? No international phone cards? Guess we’ll have to use our cell.
Above us on the wall was a cornucopia of décor that ranged from traditional Asian pictures and nick-knacks to photos of suggestively posed donuts (from 1983) that struck us as donut porn. The strangest “art” was directly above us – a framed stock photo of a girl staring vacantly out next to a stack of poorly cut-n-pasted donuts ominously floating next to her. The text said “It’s doughnut time”. Are the donuts telling us they’re taking over the world with death glazes? Is this small storefront the first part of their world donutation plot? (grooooooan!) You can visit and decide for yourself.
Why would you visit? Because these donuts rocked our East Coast world. The old fashioned/cake donuts were wicked tasty – fresh, moist and not overly dense; the raised donut was the epitome of fluffy and tasty – it’s clear they only make donuts in their oil, despite the fact that they also serve burgers, fries and sandwiches. The only failure was the apple fritter – strangely spiced? Over spiced? Something just wasn’t working for us.
Emily was so excited by this don-licious find, that she decided she could “eat like 7 more donuts!” Why wait? We had to find out about their jelly filled, which was on the board, but not in the case. When we asked for one at the counter, the man immediately whirled around, grabbed a donut and ran to a machine. He switched custard out, jelly in, and filled our D-nut on the spot! We were shocked – freshly filled jelly filled???? Could this visit get any better? It did: the J-filled wasn’t too sweet, perfectly moist, and filled a-plenty with red-flavored jelly (we love the red-flavored plant/tree!)
After taking a few final photos with her phone, Emily returned, saying “I have donut all over my phone.” Oh well. That’s a tiny casualty for such a great find. It’s time for you to throw away your watch, because the only time worth caring about now is donut time, and it’s ALWAYS donut time at Donut Time. Thanks for the tasty AM treats DT, we’ll be back VERY soon….maybe later today.
Final cost: $7.00
“I have donut all over my phone.” Add that to the list Dave ASAP!
you guys are hitting up my block here. I Love Donut Time. Johnny and his wife Mai are there from 6 am til they close every day for the past 20 years! Super sweet people. You should definately go back there for lunch, the grilled hot dog is awesome.