Queen Donuts & Ice Cream

Tasty donuts, friendly donut-​makers, and it’s open 24-​hours a day! It’s old-​school, no frills, but we’re talking donuts here — you don’t need any frills.
The yellow-​colored booths are my favorites — they look like they’re straight out of an old Winchell’s Donut Shop.
Give them a call before you go to see if they’re making any of the donut varieties fresh.

Came by for a quick ham crossaint. Cash only coo whatever I have some cash still. I’ll hit the ATM if necessary, no wait I have a very squished 5 dollar bill. Oh sorry this money is crumpled up and has a tear. Okay and? It’s cash. Real cash, you can check the damn validation lines its that serious. Dude says how can I take? I say like you take any cash. Cash is cash. Anyway I go next door to Mary’s liquor and water buy something come back and eat my mediocre microwaved croissant and coffee before dipping quickly to leave this less than stellar review. Sorry we don’t like black people’s crumpled up money it might be fake. Alright well this review is not. Got me saltier than your food right now :)

This donut shop is located in an ugly, but relatively safe part of San Jose, and offers decent tasting donuts at an expensive price.
I ordered an original glazed donut (.90) and a cinnamon and sugar donut (.90). While both donuts were average in size, they were also the most dense donuts I’ve ever had, which is not a good thing. The type of donuts I ordered are supposed to be light and fluffy, but instead, they were somewhat heavy. That being said, the flavor was there, so the donuts weren’t terrible. Moreover, I have never paid .90 cents for a donut at any donut shop before, so I was surprised to see two basic donuts cost $ 1.80 in total.
Also, the employee who was working the day I went in was very nice and even let me use his sink to wash my hands after I was done eating my donuts, as they don’t have a restroom available for customers.
Due to the location of this donut shop and price per donut, I won’t be back to Queen Donuts.

I work in downtown San Jose and travel south in the morning to get there. I also work in an office that loves donuts. Queen Donuts is the place to go if your situation is similar to mine.
The store is in a little non-​descript strip on the corner of Race Street and Park Avenue. The donuts are fresh when I stop by in the morning, and are the standard donut shop varieties. Nothing fancy or cronutty here — just straight up donuts which everyone can appreciate.
The best part are the people that help you who I believe are the owners. Always happy and always friendly, even when I ask for 3 dozen donuts in separate boxes. There seems to be a steady stream of regulars coming in and out who playfully banter with the staff. I can see why they would like to start the day there, with a smile and a donut.

Seeing this donut place being open at the time for my craving for donuts, a friend and I decided to give this place a shot to satisfy our cravings.
We ordered two dozen donut holes for $ 3 total. The price was pretty good to our wallets so we were happy. As soon as we stepped out the door and a donut hole in our mouthes, we both looked at each other with blank faces and said «…they’re so DRY!»
We’re both forgiving, so maybe the donuts have been sitting out for too long and have dried up throughout the day, considering that we got there around 11pm.
Maybe in the future we will give this donut shop a chance.

I usually come here for my donut fix after grocery shopping– if I remember correctly, it’s $ 4.75 for a half dozen (not including krullers). I absolutely love old-​fashioned donuts and this place seems to specialize in them, as they’re absolutely delicious. I haven’t tried their krullers or ice cream, but their sprinkle donuts could stand to be a bit softer, although they aren’t bad. The lady that I usually see working is very friendly. I recommend this place if you like old-​fashioneds as much as I do. Be warned that it is cash only.

I don’t have issues with the cash only issue, as lots of working-​class immigrant owned businesses still commonly do this in the bay area. The conundrum is that with a mom-​and-​pop company and a $ 1 purchase, many credit card companies will charge around $ 2 to $ 3 to process the transaction (thanks to Obama) So —
either the customer loses money by using the $ 5 ATM to buy a $ 1 donut, or —
the store owner loses money by paying the credit card company $ 2 to $ 3 dollars to process your $ 1 purchase.
So what happens if a high percentage of store sales are under $ 5? The store is actually financially better off denying the customer purchases.
I also don’t have a problem with how every now and then some of the ice cream on the top surface of the tub gets discolored because no one’s bought that flavor for awhile. I simply just scrape it off with my spoon into a napkin and eat the rest. Since the prices are so low, its still a good deal even after you throw away the top layer.
The most popular donuts (glazed, powdered, maple etc.) are almost always fresh. The ones they don’t sell as often may have sat there for awhile, and can be a little stale, like the ones with hot dogs in them for example. I’ll just take the stale one back and switch it out.
But what I do not understand, is with the cooks being either of Indian or Middle-​Eastern descent, why they aren’t serving Indian donuts and pastries already??? Vada is the name of an Indian donut made from lentils. Gulab Jabun are the Indian donut holes made with milk. Donuts get munched on during the holiday of Diwali. With thousands of Indian students now moving into the downtown area, and with Dunkin Donuts and Krispy Kreme now designing Mango, Saffron, and Spicy Hot Indian donuts and expanding into India, the crew at Queen Donuts should be all-​over this by now. .. Wake up! There’s $$$ to be made!

Donuts are dry. I ate a chocolate glazed one and didn’t feel good for days after. The place is pretty dirty and cash only.

Queen’s Donuts isn’t much to look at, squished between a busy laundromat and a liquor store. You might drive by this corner every day and not realize it’s there. Everything inside the store looks sunbleached and like it hasn’t been updated since the 1980s.
The donuts, however? Consistently good. I used to frequent this place when I lived a block away. Just visited again today for the first time in about a year, and the donuts were still delicious as ever. Fresh with a nice airiness, even in the denser varieties. I never leave without a chocolate-​glazed old fashioned.
Staff is sometimes hit or miss, but I usually have a pleasant experience. I haven’t tried anything other than the donuts, so I can’t speak to the ice cream, other pastries, or savory foods.
It’s cash only – get over it! Hide a couple bucks on your person or somewhere in your wallet so you don’t have to pay outrageous ATM fees if you end up somewhere that’s cash only. Or just don’t go to places that are cash only if it’s a problem for you.
bottom line: consistently good donuts despite the drab environment.

CASH ONLY??? REALLY???
Its hard to believe but yes there is still a business in the heart of the silicon valley that still doesn’t have a simple credit card terminal inside. they refuse to except card in order to force you to pay $ 5 in ATM fees to buy a .50 cent donut. which forces the consumer to spend an astonishing 500% increase for a simple donut. Outrageous!!!
but on the flip side the Donuts are actually SUPER GOOD, plus these tweakers are open ²⁴⁄₇!!! staff is rude tho

Worst experience. We took a pistachio and it tasted very bad. Upon reporting the owner just ignored our request and just bluntly proceeded. Very bad. I wouldn’t recommend this place to anyone. Very unhygienic

Cash Only.
The woman that helped us didn’t use any gloves and she had a rash on her hands. The yeast doughnut was stale and the ice cream wasn’t anything special. Prices are low, I guess you get what you pay for.

I am only giving this review for the donuts and ambience only.
I had to come here a few times to finally give this rating.
I know which donuts are the best, too, so if you take my word you’ll get some good ones.
There is a large staff actually since the second location was bought out (I’m guessing)
So if you are looking for friendly mom & pap you most likely won’t get that. However, the older man working the graveyard shift is pretty cool when you come around more. He usually has a night batch ready between 10 – 11 pm so go then if you’re a night owl or in the morning (usual 6 am) when they are fresh (because that’s when the donut should always be eaten!).
Here’s my rundown:
Ambience and service: 3.5 stars. It can improve. Donut shops are the happiest place on earth so they need to feel welcoming like Rollo’s donut shop.
Donuts: 4.5 stars. The ones I get are heaven in your mouth, but there are not a whole lot of other ones that are as good. When they are fresh they are magically soft and well-​balanced in crispiness and sweetness.
So when you go, you must get (of the following):
–glazed old-​fashioned. His batch and technique are perfect because this OG donut tastes amazing at any food temperature. (Of course it is best when you still feel it warm in the bag, though). I can’t describe much about an OG flavor other than that it is OG so you have to be an old-​fashioned donut fan to know. If you are, you must have one of these. Do not get any other old fashioned one besides the glazed one.
–plain maple cake donut. The maple frosting is so smooth and the cake Is so soft to make this one another delicious delight at any shelf life. If you like maple donuts or cake donuts you must get this one. No extra toppings either; it ruins the smoothness.
–sugar frosting raised donut. Almost like the homer donut except it’s white frosting and not pink. This donut needs to be eaten fresh because the raised donut dough from this place doesn’t taste well after it has been sitting for a few hours so if it is fresh then you must get it because it is as soft as a pillow, sweet with confectioner frosting making it very sweet, but delicious! This one is hard to get because the regulars (like me) know how good this one is!
I would pick one of these 3 listed above when I go, but here are other tasty ones they make that you should consider:
–Crumb cake
–maple bar
–plain strawberry-​frosted cake (if you like pink frosting)
–plain chocolate-​frosted chocolate cake (AKA all chocolate)
If you get it with toppings, you may be ruining it! Haha not really but it won’t be as soft as it could be. Can’t give any good words about their other donuts I’ve had, though. Chocolate old-​fashioned was dry.
I can’t eat Donuts and Ice cream in one sitting so I can’t tell how the ice cream is. Apparently notorious since other Unilocalers say so.

*If someone recently goes to this shop, can you please tell me what brand of icecream they offer? please!*
I got a chocolate donut with sprinkles and the mint chocolate chip ice cream. Didn’t really like the donut but the ice cream made me soooooooo happy. It’s delicious!!! The cone was small and when I asked for the ice cream I kinda regretted it BUT I took it back cause the serving is huge! Worth the $$. But I wish I coulda gotten the bigger size because the ice cream was really great. We went late at night because I was craving for something sweet. I was beyond satisfied.

It was 230am when I came here with my buddy after our crappy experience at City Restaurant. OMG. we just weren’t feeling it. My inner piggy was crying for something sweet, so we came here to fulfill my indulgence.
No joke, I am always at a 24 hour donut shop at some obscure hour of the night fulfilling the inner fat ass in me. As skinny as I am… hahaha.
My friend and I drove around looking for this place and when we pulled into the lot, we thought we were in a shady neighborhood.
This place was hm.QUESTIONABLE.
CASH ONLY.
Took it to go.
The interior looked like an old Mickey D’s. Meh.
Raspberry Strudel was mediocre til I lightly toasted it at home.

Don’t judge me, but yes, I had a craving for a cream filled chocolate donut. So Unilocaled a donut shop and this one being so close to my house came up. Well… I thought a donut shop was supposed to carry donuts… No? Am I missing something? There were very little tucked away in the glass cases. Not to mention the «not so friendly» worker who couldn’t wait for us to leave. So we left, without a donut :(
I think it’s highly unlikely that I will be returning here

We’re on an inner fatty hunt. Donut search. I know really bad hunt. So the closest to us one really late night was this place.
I had the coconut donut and after one bite my inner fatty said no. She’s picky.
The donut was heavy and very oily but dry at the same time! Donuts here are 50 cents more than Rollos donuts. ($ 1.50)
Cash only. With ATM on site. Open ²⁴⁄₇. They carry Bud’s Ice Cream from SF! ++.
Not for me. But might go back for their shakes made with Bud’s ice cream:)

My family’s favorite donut shop in town. Not greasy, not dry, their fluffy and fresh.
Healthy scale: 0

Ohh how I hate giving out one star ratings. I never give them out, unless you fail me more than once.
Just like looking for water in a hot parched desert, my friend and I were craving something sweet after a spicy lunch. I turned the car around not once but twice to pull into what we were expecting as a savory oasis of sweetness that would take away the sting of the aftertaste of our lunch.
We are donut aficionados. We were expecting puffy clouds of fried rolled dough that took a nice swim in a pool of hardened dissolved sugar water. We wanted to shout out and make this a routine. We wanted to lick the glaze off our lips and savor each bite on the drive back to work.
We got… well…donuts left in the bag uneaten. Blame it on the old oil, blame it on the dough too dense, blame it on your next door neighbor’s dog who barked all night and put you in a bad mood this morning.
Eating Queen Donuts was about as useless as an empty glass of water in the desert.

IT IS OPEN 24 HOURS A DAY!
Have you ever just needed a donut at 2 AM? If you answered no… you should reevaluate your life. If you answered yes you know that you are usually SOL. Most donut shops close their doors around 3 PM or something awful like that. Queen’s scoffs at those namby-​pamby shops and stays open all day everyday! Hallelujah!
The donuts aren’t spectacular, the place is a hole in the wall, its in a bad part of San Jose, there is a $ 10 minimum on your card, the guy on the late shift is usually pretty crotchety, and a sign warns that you can only stay for 30 minutes within the store… but all of that aside… you can get a freaking donut at 2 AM!