Winchell’s Donut House

Full donut case at 7:30pm on a Thursday? Umm… AWESOME!!! I bought 14 donut holes (sprinkles, glazed, cinammon sugar, chocolate, powdered sugar) & then a regular glazed donut and an apple filled donut for the bf (looks SO good).
Each donut: .99
14 donut holes: $ 2.29
They had a great variety of donuts & yeah the place had the energy of a library but in the end, it’s totally worth it. How are you (previous Unilocalers) gonna judge a place bc they might be a homeless person there (WOW, like really?!). I recommend coming here for the donut holes (killer price really) or your other sugar-​of-​choice.
And if there happens to be a homeless dude, offer to buy them a donut. ***SHEESH***
–1 star for having a kinda creepy, morgue-​like energy. Play music, sing me a song, anything! Cuz it’s way too quiet in here.

Had a really bad sweet tooth and so stopped in on a whim. And boy i kinda regret it. Yes my sweet tooth was satisfied with delicious flaky donut holes but c’mon! $ 2.00 for a 14 pcs? Thats a lil too pricey for my tastebuds to return.

So I was prompted to check out Winchell’s because of a recent video on buzzfeed where a professional baker was asked to judge donuts from cheap donut shops. And out of the selection, she liked Winchell’s the best. We decided that we had to check it out since we LOVE donuts.
We arrived at Winchell’s Donut around 11pm and was really surprised by the selection. Most of the trays were filled with quite a few options. When we walked in the guy in back gave us an judgey stare (minus 1 star haha jk) but the cashier was really friendly.
My friend and I got the original glazed donuts. The donut itself was fairly fluffy and not as flat as some other places. However, compared to the donut in the video, it was nowhere near as good as it looked. Not sure if this is because we went at an odd time and the donuts were not as fresh. OVERALL, I recommend it because of the wide variety of selection late in the night.
2 original glazed donuts cost us $ 1.98.
P. s. they’re open 24 hours!

I am (was) a regular customer, so regular that the workers gossip about me and ask if I’ve been coming in or not.
I work nights so on my lunch I like to get the Sandwich Melts but the overnight guy that works is rude, when I try to explain he is a king it wrong he argues and says that he doesn’t understand me (english) and that’s why he work night because no one comes and he only makes donuts.
So a couple weeks later I saw the manager working nights and I went in and got my sandwich, well I noticed as he made it he used the rag to clean off the knife he was using, let’s just say I got sick, repainted the toilet and now will never visit that store.

There were flies in the donut case

Great food and amazing customer service. The lady that was helping us gave us all of her attention as soon as we walked in the door. The sandwiches were delicious and the freshly squeezed juice as well.

Best donuts in this area! Great selection, amazing size, and very very fresh!
Use to be dd fan, These are better.

Nothing special but a great place for a Saturday donut and a cup of coffee.
This place draws a slightly seedy crowd for some reason. –1pt There’s limited seating. –1pt.

They have awesome customer service, donuts are pretty good and coffee is great. Yes, the inside is run down and no so glamorous but since when are doughnut shops glamorous? Who cares grab a doughnut sit down make a mess crack a few jokes with the employees and be on your way.
No complaints here love this place ;)

Every time I’ve come to Winchell’s donut house I’ve had a great experience. They always have quick service, and have always been able to accommodate large orders I requested of them. Their customer service hasn’t been overly friendly but hasn’t been bad at all. Plus they’re open 24 hours which is awesome

Since Winchell’s is a chain that has been around forever, one would think they have their stuff together. But they are really NOT impressive. I’ve been here a few times over the past 6 months. The selection isn’t very good and the doughnuts don’t taste fresh. The store is dirty, not disgusting, but not well kept by any means. And it should be clean because there rarely seems to be a crowd in here. The staff should have plenty of time to keep the place tidy since they are clearly not busy making doughnuts or helping customers. There are numerous other doughnut places in Poway that are far better than this Winchell’s. Their one saving grace is that they are open 24 hours, while most of the other doughnut shops close around 3PM. So next time you are desperate for a doughnut at midnight or need to bribe your 5 year old to behave while you drag him on errands late in the afternoon, Winchell’s is there for you. Otherwise, choose another doughnut place.

Being open 24 hours might mean some donuts aren’t fresh. but all in all it was a good stop. .89 for a regular donut and $ 1.49 for the giant ones. Can’t beat that.

Open 24 hours! You won’t get the freshest donuts all the time, but you can get donuts at any time!
Personal favorites are the fruit filled, glazed, or sugar. Most donuts are 89 cents each.
At the convenient corner of Poway Rd and Pomerado Rd.

This was a whim stop. I was heading home early in the morning when I thought I would surprise my wife and kids with some donuts.
I’ll say this location didn’t knock my socks off. Small, untidy and run down. it is in need of a pick me up. The donuts I chose were just fine. But they are expensive as compared to the local Von’s. I paid $ 5 for a half dozen assorted at Winchell’s and got a full dozen assorted at Von’s for $ 4.99.
Granted this is a specialty shop and I do expect to pay more as that is all they do. But if you can’t do it exceptionally well, you are going to lose customers to a location that does just as good a job at half the price.
Sláinte!

Boyfriend wanted a cinnamon roll, we came to get one here since he got a haircut next door. I forgot Winchell’s was still around and apparently they did too. We walked into an empty store and waited for a while for someone to come out.
Boyfriend’s cinnamon roll was super sticky and dry. I didn’t really want donuts but ordered 2 donut holes. They were soft, sweet, and delicious but still not worth the experience.
There’s a huge sign on the window advertising their Raspados (Mexican Snow Cones), yet out of the 3 people that came from the back, nobody really knew how to make one. It was pretty much a block of ice with green syrup on it. We paid, then threw it away before we even walked out. Now I recall why I forgot about this place.

Donuts are usually not my go to as a craving, but for some reason I just had to have a Winchell’s donut yesterday. I haven’t had a donut in several months so I was hoping the chocolicious donut I had would give me that «melt in your mouth and then some» type of feeling during the devouring session. Instead, I was left with guilt… and dissatisfaction coz it just wasn’t that good. I felt used and just dirty after licking every bit of chocolate off my fingers.
The donut tasted a bit old… but it’s what I get for buying it mid-​afternoon instead of 5 AM when they’re fresh out of the boiling oil they cook ‘em in. Oh well, donut craving satisfied and I could probably last the rest of the year without having one.

One of my many weaknesses: a Maple Long John! Apparently that is an old fashioned term that we use in the Midwest… others of you may know it simply as the Maple Bar. Regardless, it is my favourite kind of donut and for years (potentially more than six years…) I have been deprived of this childhood pleasure. They don’t have them in the UK and in the ‘ville (Evansville, Indiana) they have Caramel Bars/​Long Johns, but no Maple ones. Caramel ones are nice, but they aren’t Maple!
I saw the Winchell’s and decided, to treat myself. The one thing it has going for it is the donuts are still relatively cheap compared to every other product in the world. $ 0.89 will get you a donut… I remember when that would also get you a gallon of gas (you may have heard a very heavy sigh just then. The store itself is quite rundown, in fact I didn’t actually think it was open as there were no lights on. Inside they had full trays of donuts that looked really lovely, but no signs to let you know what was what. I know my donuts pretty well, but when it comes to the filled ones, it would be nice to know what my choices are.
When I asked the girl behind the counter for a Maple Long John without cream inside, she just kind of looked at me. Then I heard my sister in my head saying, «Maple Bar», so I tried it. It was like a secret code… that I didn’t know! My mom likes Cruellers, so I got her one of those, and then I grabbed a plain cake donut just in case either of the other choices weren’t that great. Cake donuts are hard to ruin and can easily be dunked in coffee to mask any of its flaws.
The Maple Bar… showed promise in the first bite as I could taste a bit of maple and the donut was not soggy as they sometimes are. Into the second and third bites, there was no more maple flavour, just sweet flavour. Oh disappointing. Mom tried the Crueller and this one looked much heavier on the inside, not as airy. I noticed that it looked like parts of the inside weren’t even done! Needless to say the cake donut as a back up was a good idea, although my mom was pretty much done with eating donuts. I took a bite of the cake donut, even though it is plain, it was very cinnamon-​y inside, but that was ok with me. It was fine on its own and dipped in coffee. Glad the donuts only cost $ 0.89 each, makes me feel not so bad about the two that only had a few bites taken out of them.

Located at a prime corner of a strip mall along a busy Poway thoroughfare.
The selections are minimal, small-​ish in size and looking at the prices, a little high. The interior is tight, dingy and a little run down.
I’d say the Food Court at Costco is cleaner and that’s basically an «outdoor» location, so what’s Winchell’s excuse? Give the manager a big bucket of Oxyclean/​Simple Green and hot water, scrub down this shop a bit more.
I’ve seen Dry Cleaner businesses with more personality than this joint.
Winchell’s better days have passed it by a while ago. It’s better to take your business to the Mom & Pop donut shops nearby than to feed the corporate «has been» we grew up with.

Egg, Ham and Cheese Croissant.
Winchell’s has a good selection of breakfast croissants. Unlike the mom and pop stores, you can get them custom made with Egg, ham or sausage. Basically, the guy grabs a large croissant and slices it in two. He then puts an Egg and Ham watery mix into a bowl and microwaves it. After a few minutes the microwave is opened and the egg looks like a big Yorkshire pudding!
As for the taste is was a little difficult to eat because of the cow pie shaped egg in the middle of the croissant. It worked. There wasn’t a lot of ham.
— As someone else mentioned, there are homeless at this place.

I just got a coupon in the mail for 6 free donuts with purchase of 6 donuts. So my Homer Simpson hubby, who drools every time donuts are mention begged me to go there today.
We arrived at this location. It was kind of unkempt. I guess we just arrived after the morning craziness. But the aroma of the fresh baked donuts washed away all the dirty tables.
The selection was very limited. I was expected a little more variety. They only had plain, glaze twist, jelly filled, maple frosting, chocolate frosting with sprinkles, and vanilla frosting with sprinkle donuts. I was surprised they did not have a tradition glaze round donuts. WFT!!! That should be standard at any donut shop. The most of the donuts were decent and fluffy. Some of the cake donuts tasted like they were a day old and were hard.
We ordered a cup of their fresh brew coffee to wash down the donuts. It was hot and decent. They had a nice creamer station. It had half & half and french vanilla creamer available. It was well stocked with sugar and sweet n low.
Overall this place was a decent donut shop. And for $ 6.18 for a dozen donut and a cup of coffee it is worth the drive.