Golden Donut, University City

I know what you’re thinking: Didn’t I just take a trip to this place a few weeks ago with JB? No, I did not. The place we visited a while back was Fresh Golden Donuts in Tierrasanta, whereas this past weekend’s donut shop discovery was at plain old Golden Donut in University City. Note the lack of “Fresh” in the name, as well as the inexplicable singular “Donut” rather than “Donuts.” However, one should not take the place’s name as an indication that they serve only one kind of donut (or even a single donut a day!), stale and cracked and wholly unfresh. Far from it.

Maybe they ran out of room on the sign,
leaving no space for the "S"?

Lil’ C called these donuts “Yummy, yummy, yummy!” She was given free donut holes by the very nice lady behind the counter, and devoured one right away, before even setting foot outside the door. Golden Donut had a solid selection, including crullers and a wide variety of toppings for the cake donuts. The glazed old-fashioned was a favorite of Mrs. Newton; Sir Isaac was particular to the cake donut with sprinkles, although he declared that Golden Donut makes a pretty decent cruller. The apple fritter was a bit dense, however, and we had a difficult time figuring out whether the jelly donut contained strawberry or raspberry. I’m pretty sure it was strawberry, but if you have to ask yourself the question, that’s not a great sign.

Golden Donut received above-average scores on taste and variety, but just average on innovation, from all of us. Their customer experience, however, was rated divine—if you have kids in tow, they will be thrilled with a visit to Golden Donut. Just don’t expect your kids to be calm and collected afterward—Lil’ C was rather, shall we say, energetic not long after becoming familiar with the offerings of Golden Donut. Over and over she said, "Lil' C, calm yourself down! Lil' C, calm yourself down!" while giggling and running amok.

Golden Donut received a score of 79.3 on the D-Meter. That puts them in sole possession of the #7 spot on our top ten list. Not too shabby—if they could just get a little more innovative and give their jelly donuts some more oomph (and let’s admit it, jelly donuts are all about oomph), this place could easily make it into the top three.

Top Ten Donut Meter Scores:

1. Peterson’s Donut Corner, Escondido — 94.0

2. Donut Haven, Hillcrest — 82.7

3. Super Donuts, Carlsbad — 82.0

4. Danny’s Donuts, Vista — 81.0

5. Christy’s Donuts, Kearny Mesa — 80.0

5. Honey Donuts, Santee — 80.0

7. Golden Donut, University City — 79.3

8. OB Donuts — 78.7

9. K-Donuts, Oceanside — 78.0

9. Heavenly Donuts, Allied Gardens —78.0

9. Plaza Donuts, National City — 78.0