Austin B.
Yelp
tl;dr a vegan bakeshop offering admittedly average and overpriced donuts
Dottie's Donuts prides itself on its 100% vegan menu. But with some stellar donut offering throughout Philly, Dottie's has some stiff competition for the title of best. Ordering was a breeze -- just wait in the short queue outside the window. Aiming to pinpoint your order in advance? Beyond Dottie's standard menu, specials items for the day are typically highlighted on Instagram.
My partner and I swung by Dottie's on a weekend morning and opted for an apple fritter, the donut of the day (a Nutella glazed, filled with banana cream), and a Thai iced tea. There wasn't any seating at Dottie's, so we made the short journey to Washington Square to enjoy the weather and our food.
The fritter was enormous, nearly the size of two standard donuts. It was on the dry side -- in fact, it reminded me more of a funnel cake than a donut. The saving grace was the apple-y glaze, which elevated the fritter above an otherwise one-dimensional dessert. The banana-Nutella donut was pleasant enough, but nothing to write home about. I did appreciate that it wasn't overwhelmingly sweet; rather, Dottie's let the banana and Nutella each speak for themselves. As a Thai tea aficionado, I was beyond pleased to find a spot in Society Hill offering it on the reg. However, while the flavors were all there, the drink lost some of its heartiness without any condensed milk.
Overall, despite some rave reviews, I found Dottie's to be surprisingly average -- the donuts reminded me of the $1 Dunkin variety. And at over $10 for our order, I couldn't help but feel a bit ripped off.