Jolly Pirate Donuts

If you’re expecting some fancy-​pants new-​fangled gourmet doughnuts, this ain’t the place. This is classic doughnuts, period.
We go through periods of time where we come here. .. far more often than is advisable. If I checked in the actual amount that I come here, nobody* could touch my duchessdom.
*I mean, there’s dudes and dudettes who come in every day but I doubt many of them are Unilocaling, if you dig.
Standard selection of doughnuts. Good quality MOST of the time – obviously if you catch them when they’re almost out of doughnuts, you’re gonna have stale doughnuts. It’s a gamble sometimes, but more often than not, they’re reasonably fresh. I tend to go for the buttermilk cluster doughnut (or whatever the hell you call it – the one that looks like a scone instead of a ring), the jelly doughnut, or a glazed. I’m a pretty classic doughnut kinda gal. Husband is a chocolate-​covered custard and/​or peanut-​covered type. These are all pretty good there.
Doughnut ranking: Better than grocery store Krispy Kremes, not as good as fresh-​out-​the-​oven Krispy Kremes. Better than Tim Horton’s, imo. (I don’t get the deal with Tim Horton’s. Maybe they don’t have as many options up there.) I like them better than Buckeye Donuts. Probably not as good as Resch’s but they’re open way longer.
We did have a period of time where they would be out of doughnuts for HOURS at night (even though they are open ²⁴⁄₇). There was a new girl working then and I think she might have been messing up the production flow. Haven’t seen her or had a problem with it in months.
Tip: They take Amex!

Love the folks in Jolly Pirate! The doughnuts are very good too. The coffee is a bummer not great. If you like glazed doughnuts Reech’s is much better, I think the buttermilk, apple fritters, doughnut holes and other cake style treats are top notch. The drive through is pretty sweet, if the coffee were better Tim Horton’s would be hurting.

We were in Columbus for a seminar and not really thrilled with being there. On the first day over to the office we saw the Jolly Pirate Donut sign and knew we had to go.
We were not disappointed. I had what was the best donut I have ever had in my 40+ years in existence.
If you ever have the chance to visit Jolly Pirate, GO! SUGARY GOODNESS! I DEMAND IT!

My family and I really enjoy a trip to Jolly Pirate Donuts from time to time. The donuts are always fresh and the service is prompt, even when they’re really busy. If you’re in the area checkout this establishment as it is a local alternative to the near-​by chain breakfast joints. Eat well!

Well… the first time we went here they were wonderful. We only got enough for the day, so everything was pretty fresh. I’m used to getting donuts and then having them for a couple day afterwards. Mind you, I’m not exactly a donut person. I just crave them during this time of the year. Where should i start?
First, the lady’s working the counter were less then polite. The second time we were here this older lady, who apparently was working the drive through, kept speaking at us except never took our order. She never said hi, never said ‘hold on a min,’ she didnt even look up at us. She would ask what we wanted, I would respond, she would glare without looking up and then go about her business. 10 mins later another woman came out from the back to help us. There was now a line behind us and out the door. We ordered a dozen mixed donuts and were on our way. We got about one of everything to try them all out since we liked them the first time around. Besides our less then pleasing time inside the store we noticed almost right away that the donuts seemed older then last time; mind you the last time we were in here it was very late at night. Donut places usually make them fresh every day right? Not this place. Besides that our order was wrong. For example, I ordered 2 chocolate custard and 2 vanilla custard but in stead I got 2 lemon filled, 1 vanilla custard, and a whipped cream filled. I ordered 2 pumpkin, 2 apple spice and instead I got 1 pumpkin, 1 plain, 1 apple spice, and 1 apple thingy that was different from the other apple one. I ordered 2 boston cremes (or whatever they call them) and they were sour. The pumpkin donuts were so dense that I had to guzzle water to just get it down. The flavor of these werent pumpkin-​like at all, which seems to be yet another mistake since people really do love them.
Still, we were hopeful the following day for breakfast only to be let down since the donuts did not keep. What a waste! Meijer makes better donuts in the early morning hours. I’ll stick to those. Besides tasting better they are also more consistent and you are never given the wrong donuts.

Cheap and straight to the point.
Sassy service from old ladies who look like they’ve been slinging donut boxes longer than I’ve been alive.
Great place to pick up the sugary goods. Definitely better then the donuts from tim hortons next door.

Such a great place! Donuts are delicious and the bathrooms are clean… I could stay in the bathrooms for two hours! Thanks for the recommendation, Danny Walters!

I’m surprised Jolly Pirate has such a great rating. I love donuts and saw how highly this place was rated here, so I decided to give it a shot.
The best thing Jolly Pirate Donuts has going for it is it’s atmosphere. It totally feels like an old-​fashioned donut shop from the 50s. Not that I was alive then. When I went, a bunch of old men were sitting at the counter, reading the newspaper, sipping coffee, and chatting with the old lady waitresses. The waitresses themselves contributed to the atmosphere — their outfits were a nice 50’s pale pink color, and they looked like they could’ve been from then.
The donuts themselves are simply okay. I was not impressed with the Honey Dip donut. Though I went early in the morning, the donut was already getting moisture on it from sitting around. The other donuts were fine, but nothing extra special.
Not sure I’ll hit up Jolly Pirate again. It’s a bit out of the way for me, and unless I’m driving by, I’ll just stick with my Krispy Kremes.

I can’t say enough about my love for donuts! These donuts are so tasty… and affordable!!! I can get double the amount of donuts for the price of a dozen at other places. If you get them in the morning, they are that much better!!! I highly recommend them.

I stopped there this morning to get a couple of donuts. I got them and they were good but geez, $.89 each! I remember when you could get them for a quarter. LOL

Jolly Pirate might look like any Dunkin Donuts or krisly Kreme but it is a 50’s original that is open ²⁴⁄₇ and on tuesdays you get a dozen for $ 5.99! They have a huge selection at all times, the staff is awesome and they will always trow in a free donut or two! Dont fall for commercial Donut chains, Jolly Pirate is an awesome Columbus Original!

Great, delicious donuts. Beats out the Dunkin’ Donuts shop down the street by a mile. And Jolly Pirate is cheaper too!

I grew up on Jolly Pirate Donuts and there’s one donut in particular that I LOVE when it’s fresh. I can’t name it because if I do, you might get the last one and steal it from me and I can’t have that. Also a big fan of their blueberry and seasonal pumpkin cake donuts. DROOL!!!
The only thing I don’t like is you have to get there early for them to be fresh or sometimes they run out. Um, its a donut shop. All you make is donuts. Running out shouldn’t be an option for a ²⁴⁄₇ donut shop in my opinion. (This applies to all donut shops, not just JP)

arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.
fried doughy goodness.
and get enough, and they’ll come in a treasure chest.
arrrrrrrr to the cute little old ladies in their old fashioned waitress uniforms.
arrrrrrrrrr.