Blue Star Donuts

So, I have been to two of the other Blue Star Donuts locations, and I have to say… sadly, this was my least favorite of the three. I purchased the dulce de leche and hazelnut, which I have purchased at another location. It just wasn’t the same. It was still good, but it wasn’t as «melt in your mouth» good. It was a bit on the harder, dry side… unfortunately, which is why I’m usually not a fan of donuts — until I had Blue Star Donuts. Except today. It left me a bit… I don’t know how to describe spending about $ 3 on a donut and being left a bit disappointed… sad? Anyway, I could probably assume I didn’t go to this location at a ‘peak’ donut purchasing time so late in the afternoon, but still…

We drove all the way from Vancouver, Washington on our last day here. I heard the arguments for Voodoo Donuts. I heard the arguments for Blue Star Donuts. So we decided on Blue Star! But as we walked up to the shop, there were signs that they’ve run out of donuts! Wth! How disappointing. I guess I should’ve expected that a popular spot like this would run out. But I just didn’t think of it. Maybe I should’ve called? Three stars because it’s not really their fault. Minus stars because they didn’t make more. Lol

I heard a lot about Blue Star prior to my trip so when I was in Portland I had to stop by. Best donut in Portland? Hmm, lets see about that. I went to the Alphabet District’s location on a weekday morning about 10AM and there was no line. YAYAYAYAYAYAYAY.
I ordered the bourbon and basil donut, orange olive oil cake donut, and a bacon maple donut for my friend. I had the bourbon and basil donut at the shop. I wasn’t completely wowed by it as most Unilocalers have been. However, I had the orange olive oil cake donut the next day and that was amazing. I inhaled it in a matter of seconds and wished I bought a dozen to take back with me to Hawaii. My friend ate her donut the next day and said it was delicious.
I definitely like this donut shop over Voodoo’s. Voodoo’s is a nice place to take a tourist so they can get the quirky vibe Portland is known for. But if you want a really good donut, stop by Blue Star instead. They also sell Stumptown’s!
I have looked up their other locations and noticed shops in Tokyo and LA. How about you bring those bad boys to Hawaii? I mean, I am about them kcal so come on over, Blue Star!

I’m not quite sure why this branch has one more $ and one less * than the other branches, but the donuts here still tasted pretty good, and I don’t even like donuts. We probably came on a good day bc other customers have said the donuts at the original branch taste better.
We had the blueberry bourbon & basil donut ( Unilocal recommended!), lemon poppyseed donut, and passionfruit glaze. We bought these to-​go and walked down the street to eat them with coffee at Barista. They were delicious! The blueberry bourbon is a must-​try– great blend of sweet and salty. The lemon poppyseed was the most «normal-​tasting» donut out of the three, but it didn’t disappoint. The passionfruit glaze was unique– pretty tarty and light. Hands down, Blue Star is better than Voodoo Donuts.

Okay so I have given this place 3 chances and it gets worse and worse each time. The donuts at this location do not taste nearly as good as their other locations.
The Downtown location (the original one) has the best donuts. The ones here are dry, cold and lack flavor. Some of the filled donuts I got barely had any cream in them. A lot of them tasted stale.
It was just so disappointing since I come to Blue Star everytime I go to PDX. Definitely sticking to the Downtown location from now on.

Definitely a place you should check out, and give it a try!
My boyfriend and I decided to take a trip to Oregon earlier today and wanted to stop by to pick up some donuts! We always go to voodoo, but we decided to try something different this time.
There was some love/​hate relationship with the donuts because I either hated a flavor, or loved it! My definite favs are: chocolate ganache, powdered ring (forgot name), and sugared. I feel like this location didn’t have that much of a variety when we visited, which I’m so bummed about because I wanted to try other flavors like dulce de leche, maple bacon, crème brûlée. Not sure if they switch up the flavors now and then, or if it depends on location so I would call ahead to make sure they have the flavors that you want to try out.
I wasn’t too hot about the passion fruit (which everyone raves about). It was just way too sweet and tangy for my liking, so I actually ended up not even finishing it. But I just tend to avoid fruit flavors when it comes to bread.
Each donut can cost anywhere between 2.50−3.50 (I think). You can also get a baker’s choice dozen for $ 35 or $ 36 where they get to choose which donuts you get to take home: with this, they normally try to get you one of each flavor. If you choose to pick your own donuts, then it just goes by the price of each donut you pick.
Overall, I didn’t find this place to be AMAZING (mostly because of the few variety of donuts, so it might just be this location), but I would definitely recommend coming here at least once to taste their goodies!

Very good donuts. Not as big of a selection of Donuts as Voodoo Donuts has but these are all expertly crafted and very good. I had the Hard Cider Apple Fritter and surprise, surprise there was actual apple filling in it! Can’t go to a normal donut shop where the Fritter just had a apple waved over it, or maybe was in the kitchen while it was made, or the cook was thinking about an apple at the time…
Anyway, This location has about 6 seats in it so don’t expect to eat it here, get it to go and eat it on the run seems to be the normal thing.

First visit to nw 23 location.
I took a random dozen to go. $ 31.
I wasn’t asked about the mix, if there was anything to add or subtract. One seasonal donut was included (chocolate/​powdered sugar pinecone).
I wasn’t super impressed with this visit. Not sure I’d go here again or get a dozen again. I like the pick and choose part of it. For $ 30 I guess I expected a little choice.
Sweet small cozy atmosphere. Lots of window seats.

Blue Star Donuts in the immediate vicinity of Free People AND Salt & Straw?! Uh, yes! It really doesn’t get much better than this. You really can’t go wrong with any of the donuts here (pick your poison based on your own palate). I highly recommend you pick up a carton of Stumptown coffee to go with your donut (s).

Oh my goodness. Yes. More. Please. My husband and I were being tourists in Portland and just happened to be in the neighborhood.
I got the lemon key lime custard filled donut and my husband said no to donuts. He always ends up taking a bite or two of whatever I get. And in true fashion, after eating 2 bites of my donut decided he needed his own.
#doit

I came here on a recent trip to Portland and was honestly a little disappointed. I moved away a couple years ago so I’ve been hearing Blue Star get a lot of hype.
While the donut was delicious and I can see how their unique flavor combinations makes people say they’re the «Salt & Straw of donuts», the thing that really gave me pause was the flies in the place. There were multiple and they were just flying around/​landing on all the donuts. I understand flys happen-they’re a natural thing. However the one employee was making no attempts to shoo them away from the food or apologize for them. I was grossed out the entire time I was eating the donut. If I hadn’t been with other people I agreed to specially meet here, I definitely would have not bought something at walked out.
Seating is limited. We had to stand awkwardly at the counter until some others left.
Bottom line-​the donuts are good but not worth it if it grosses you out. Personally I’ll stick to other places on my next trip back home to Portland.

So, so, so tasty! The variety and unique flavors are so tempting that if someone were to tell me I had to choose a single donut in under 1 minute to enjoy, I would be unable to make a decision. Eggnog crème brûlée? Passion fruit glazed with cocoa nibs? Jelly-​filled with peanut butter powder? Take my advice, and splurge on a variety. You won’t be disappointed as you sample to your heart’s content, and the quality makes up for the price per item. The brioche dough recipe is outstanding and the old fashioned varieties are some of the best versions I’ve ever had.
Fun tip: bring a box of Blue Stars to a social gathering, cut each into several pieces, and have a donut tasting party.

Blue Star has some really interesting flavors, but unfortunately they don’t make the donuts at this particular location. So when they are sold out, they are sold out. And by the afternoon, they are pretty cold and dense and not as fresh as they could be.
The one standout for me was the passionfruit donut which did have great flavor. The others were less than memorable.
Good donuts for a treat, but also pricey. But I wouldn’t go out of my way again to make it out to come out to this location because of its stock and selection.

Amazing. This location is consistent with other locations. The service is quick, the menu is simple, and they consistently sell out of donuts.

Bougie donuts, to be sure. But I mean, one thing we can all agree on is that the bourgeois had some pretty good taste in luxurious decadence, right? Blue Star Donuts are spendy, super-​sweet, and wholly unnecessary. Of course, what donut IS necessary? Next time you’re having a #treatYoSelf day, Blue Star is a fantastic indulgence.
According to the website, Blue Star Donuts are «made from a classic brioche recipe that originated in the south of France,» and take a super long time to make. That probably explains the high price tag. My favorite is the blueberry bourbon basil, but honestly most everything I’ve had is excellent. Wash it down with some Stumptown coffee, and you’re good to go!
A bit too rich and a bit too expensive to be a regular indulgence, but I don’t need to be eating donuts on the regular, anyway. I’m a big fan.

Pretty cool spot for artisan donuts.
The best part about this place is their display for the donuts. Each donut is displayed on a long porcelain plate. Very clean and very esthetically pleasing.
Ordered the maple bacon and regular glazed donut. The icing on both donuts tasted good. not too sweet or too wet. The dough however isnt as fluffy as other donuts.
This place is definitely worth a try once.
Overall: Will not return.

This place easily ranks in my top 3 on my donut rankings.
I loved the PB&J donut. It was chewy and not overly sweet. It paired well with my pour over coffee from heart roasters.
It’s a must try if you’re in Portland even if you’re not big on donuts.
It beats anything we have in Canada (Cartems in Vancouver comes close).

Blue Star has been on my donut radar for quite sometime. I finally was provided the opportunity to experience what I was told would be a unique and satisfying donut.
In doing my research I was prepared to experience the brioche style donut with my eyes on the Blueberry Bourbon Basil and Real Maple & Bacon flavors. We arrived early afternoon on a Sunday, around noon, and there was no wait. They appeared to have most flavors available which made me quite pleased.
The gal behind the counter was cordial and business like. We got our donuts to go. My first bite was of the blueberry and it was… anti-​climactic. The donut was more toothsome than I was prepared for but not necessarily unpleasant – I think this is the brioche style (do not come expecting a «classic» donut texture). Not much could be said about the glaze other than it was sweet with a bit of tartness to it – I could not tease out the influence of the basil.
As for the maple/​bacon, I would probably say a bit of the same; I do believe the bacon is real bacon but they were just on the edge and reminiscent of bacon bits (which I loathe and believe should never have been created to accentuate any food product).
Blue Star gets 3 stars because the donuts were not «bad» and I am thankful that I had the opportunity to try them once. Just like VooDoo, I think I only need to experience BlueStar one time. I continue to stand on my ground regarding my love for the classic donut shop in Sandy.
If you want unique and original, Blue Star is your spot. If you are craving a well done «classic» donut – this is not the place to find it.

People go to Portland and check out Voodoo — and I keep hearing its overhyped. So I came to check out Blue Star Donuts instead. I also hear this place gets crowded and sells out soon. At 10am on a Sunday, no line but some of the items sold out.
Raspberry Old Fashioned: Meh. Nothing special about this one. Overly sweet in my opinion.
Myer Lemon: Quite nice. Slightly sour and sweet.
Crème Brulee: The best of the brunch. The exterior was caramelized sugar which was crisp — just like Crème Brulee. The filling was rich and creamy and it had some liquor on top. Would get this again.
They are also opening one soon in Venice, CA so I will check them out. Overall, not bad but nothing really stood out.

So I was up in Portland two weeks ago for my sister wedding. My friend and I had some last min shopping we needed to do. We wanted to grab some quick breakfast and she mention this Blue Star Donuts and I was like cool lets give this place a shot since I never tried it.
We were able to find parking right in front of the place. Which was a plus. The line here wasn’t too bad. The place is clean and very white for a donut shop. There a good selection of donuts to choose from. My friend and I decided to pick 4 so we would get a good variety of donuts. We got the blueberry, lemon, crème brule, and a coffee one. Sorry I don’t exactly remember the names of all the donuts. But anyways, I don’t think the donuts are that great! It didn’t WOW me at all. The donuts are fresh however they are very dense. I like my cakes, cupcakes, donuts all very moist and fluffy and they weren’t that at all. My favorite has to be the blueberry one just because of the flavor. I do have to say that the donuts aren’t too sweet which is good!
I personally like the Pip’s donuts in Portland so I would go there instead.
I don’t think I would come back to this place personally just because it didn’t really give me the WOW factor. The service is good I must say the staff there are very friendly and they did let me do my Periscope there.