Holtman’s Donut Shop

One of the best places to get a sugar rush in Cincinnati!
Holtman’s sets the bar pretty high when you walk through the door. The air literally smells like sugar. I love the fact that they serve their classic donut recipes, which I’m sure have been passed down for years, and the funky/​trendy flavors, like maple bacon. I personally recommend the apple fritter. Its everything you want in a donut — a little sweet, hearty on the outside/​soft on the inside and the fresh out of the fryer.
Suggested time to good: EARLY. There is always a line to pick up donuts in the morning. If you’re cool with an afternoon donut, I would go with that option, too.

I think I’ve found my new love – maple bacon apple fritters – SO good! Life changing even! The only issue I had was that my fritter was a little dry, but in their defense I was there at 6pm. I imagine getting to Holtman’s first thing in the morning would not lead to disappointment! The service that my husband and I had was wonderful as well. Also, the girl who was working behind the counter was extremely helpful and polite. I can’t wait to go back!

These donuts are delicious! Service was great too! They still had a large selection in the middle of the day which was nice. Inside is small and there are not a lot of places to sit. I did get a maple bacon blueberry but was turned off by the amount of fatty bacon pieces. I would definitely go back but wouldn’t get that one again.

Excellent donuts! They open at 7 am so I could get some delucious dozens for celebrating my bday at work. They were a huge hit among my colleagues .
A must try!
My fav is with the cream cheese topping.

Dear Holtman’s,
I’m sorry I wash harsh to you.
Thank you for taking me in on Saturday. It was post-​National Donut Day, and I was belatedly celebrating. Good vibes were radiating from your doors, and I gave you a third chance. Summer was in the air and donuts were smelling sweet. The chocolate cake donut was just like eating a brownie: not usually what I look for in a donut, but yes! a thousand times yes. However, the real reason for this review is for something I never knew existed but am so happy to have discovered: the cheese crown.
O, Wond’rous Cheese Crown. I can’t even take credit for this. My companion on this trip, an adventurous soul who happened to spot this gem in the pastry case, selected it on a whim. We nibbled on it on the way to breakfast, but the real a-​ha moment came later in the day when we broke open this pastry to discover that the interior was a true wonder of geologic proportions: imagine, if you will, a muffin combined with a cheese danish: streusel on the bottom, cheese filling delicately combined with pastry crumb, overflowing into a muffin top. Oh-​Em-​Gee.
CHEESE CROWN.
I love you.
Holtman’s, you slow burn, you win.
Take me back.
— KP

Love Holtman’s OTR! Bobby talked me into trying The Blueberry cake donut with maple icing and hickory smoked bacon and it was LIFE CHANGING! Thanks dude!

Classic. What a fine donut establishment complete with a cool nostalgic vibe. But I have to give honest reviews, right? My donut LOOKED so good with drippy glaze frosted with fruity pebbles cereal. But the thing is, it had NO FLAVOR. Literally, it tasted like a plain bread-​y donut. Did some flavor monster come in and vaccum out all the sweet and fruity and frosty taste? In contrast, the chocolate cake donut was DELICIOUS! Very dense and perfectly glazed. It’s very filling and one is all you need. So I’ll give 3 star rating. Looking back at my donut experience here it’s really peculiar given all the rave reviews… I don’t know what to tell you… I just don’t get it.

I will forever give them 5 stars! The best way to describe them is donut heaven! It is so cool that you can step right in and watch them hand create the donuts and smell them cooking. Each donut is is extremely cheap, even the more unique gourmet options. I absolutely love the fruity pebble donut and the maple bacon. I suggest ether getting there early or around lunch time to avoid the long lines out the door.

We came at the perfect time: right after the after brunch rush! I want to always give this place 5 stars because the donuts are the best ever and they always have something new. It is just not a very user friendly selection. There are never any signs and because it it usually always so busy to employees make me feel rushed especially when I am trying to figure out what donuts are there. The maple bacon is a favorite but like I said, they always have something new and so I always get at least two for myself!

Love Holtman’s! I try not to eat doughnuts a lot but when I do this is a great place to get a light and fresh doughnut. Endless varieties including a maple bacon one that is worth a try.

I love Holtman’s Donuts, but I don’t like being harassed when I ask what flavors they have before I drive down there to buy some. Yesterday I called, asked if they had any key lime donuts left (my coworker brought some in, so I wanted to get some after work if there were any left). The response was a sarcastic «Nope, we sure don’t!». Okay fine, that was expected, the popular flavors don’t last long. Then I asked «what other flavors do you have today?» and the response was «ummmm a whole lot, do you have 20 minutes?». I said «yep, I’m game!». Then the guy who was on the other side said «OHHH jeez, okay…» and continues to ramble off the flavors so quickly that I didn’t catch many of them. Then he pauses and says «Helllooooooo?!» Then hung up when I said «sorry, I didn’t know you were finished.»
I didn’t bother to make the drive there to buy any because I was so disappointed. It may be a while before I step back into Holtman’s in OTR if this is how they treat their customers.

Yeah, my weakness, the bacon maple donut. Thank God this location isn’t easier for me to get to. Must. Try. Any of their pastries are delicious, really. Very rich. Today I discovered something new bacon goes great with, the Holtmann Fruity Pebble donut. I purchased a bacon blueberry maple donut too, they mixed in the bag and holy flavor burst! Cute space, friendly staff.

Any place that has been opened since 1960 must be doing something right. Owned & operated by the Holtman family who still practices the art of science, passing down each recipe from generation to generation and training each eye to know when donut dough is at its peak texture before thrown in the fryer.
The flavors are so colorful & fun! From funny shaped dunkers to fruity pebbles, you will not be feeling like colors or textures are lacking!
I went late in the day for donuts and was expecting them to be a little on the stale side but they were not which was a pleasant surprise. A not so pleasant surprise was that they had run out of water bottles and it was hotter than hell. If a business runs out of something so basic, dixie cups and a pitcher of tap would do a lot to help customers. I felt like I was sweating sugar cubes!
There are a few bar stool along the window so you can people watch as you eat your donuts.
The Holtman family partners up with do-​gooder foundations which helps to raise funds for places in the community. So you can eat your donut and feel good too!

Mmmm… Donuts.
Sweet. Dense. So good.
The Blueberry Maple completes me.

BLUEBERRY MAPLE WILL CHANGE YOUR LIFE!
Or at least your happiness level.
When I put that glorious donut in my mouth my pupils dilated. The outside was perfectly crisp while the inside was dense and moist. Mmmmmm. Gimme more of dat good good!

Dear Bill (
) ‚
I never thought I would cheat on you. But I was so easily corrupted and I fell head over heels for Holtman’s. Think lemon filled logs — so sweet and tart. And bacon topped maple… not bacon bits but REAL bacon. And toasted marshmallow topping… who wouldn’t love that? No one — that’s who. We all over indulged. And I dream about those lemon logs.
Bill…the only thing you have going for you is location. And that’s probably a good thing cause if I loved closer to Holtman’s I would be a fattie. No doubt about that. Who could resist?
LV

I have wanted to try Holtmans ever since I started eating donuts again. Which sounds silly, but everyone always talked about it! So today I finally had a chance to check it out. There were plenty of people inside, eating and in line. The line goes so fast that you don’t even have a chance to think.
The two that were working the front seemed to absolutely love their jobs. That made it easy to ask questions and preferences. They have fun poll like tip jars too. At least today they did! (Terminator vs Robocop)
A dollar a donut, I tried a few different. First just your typical yeast donut with sprinkles. It was perfection. Not that soft mushy mess you get from store bought. It has a crispness to it that made a good crunch yet still soft and airy texture. (Maybe I’m really bad at describing things) but it was so good I immediately wished I had gotten more than two. (I got one for my boyfriend)
I had an apple filled donut and it had actual diced apples in the middle! Not something that seems to happen with donuts very often. I also got some of my favorite cinnamon sugar twists and those were actually cinnamon and sugar rather than a dusting of the good stuff.
Overall, I loved it and I can’t wait to go back to otr and get some more!!!

I can be a real brat about yeast donuts. I tend to steer clear of them, because often a bakery’s yeast donuts are too dry for my liking. I want a sweet, fluffy donut, not a beastly dry hunk of bread!
Some tell me that my expectations are too high, but not Holtman’s. Holtman’s is for people who expect a great deal from their start-​of-​the-​day pastry. Holtman’s is for people who bite into their maple & bacon donut recognizing that there is something special in this 55 year-​old recipe. It’s light, airy, and frosted. I’d call this mini meal a winner in my book.
BUT WAIT! You should know that Holtman’s cake donuts and fritters exceed expectations as well! I can’t say I was too surprised knowing all of the delight that came from the yeast donut. The relishable blueberry cake knocked it out of the park, and the pumpkin fritter… if I could hug the baker who decided to swirl cinnamon inside the fritter, I would have.
To sum it up, a trifecta of true tastiness.

Very popular donut place with some history as its been in play since the 60s — though this over the Rhine locale is not the original. A line out the door even during a rainstorm in the early evening.
Rated best of Cincinnati for donuts in 2014.
Donuts were what I call inexpensive at $ 1 for standard donut $ 1.5 for a filled, and $ 2 for the more specialised donuts. The smell of donut permeates Vine street as you walk along the street. They stock individual servings of milk and have some fragrant coffee — ideal for accompanying the sweet donuts.
Who doesn’t like donuts? for breakfast, as a snack as a dessert —
I would not say the donuts were wow-​so awesome — they’re typically just normal either yeast or cake donuts with variance in toppings. But its a cute operation with friendly staff. You get to peak into their operations as their kitchen is a behind glass wall.
We had the dunker stick which was kind of like a caramel glaze on a cake donut stick — obviously for dunking into either coffee or enjoying with a glass of cold milk. We also had a glazed twist (my fav). The friendly staff gave a little donut hole to a toddler who was entranced with the selection of sweets (niceness points!)

Sweet mother of Donuts! You can’t helped but to have more than one donut at this place. They are the definition of what a really good donut is! Just by walking into the place the aroma fills the air, and you know its going to be good!
They are not overly sweet, just perfect. The reason I like this place so much is because the base (actual donut) is extremely good, you can eat it without any toppings and is this yeasty, fluffy goodness. And because the base is so good, everything you put inside or on top of it complements it delightfully.
My favorite by far is the glazed donut, you can never go wrong with a classic. But if you are feeling adventurous their Maple Bacon donut is a most try!