Lee Donuts

The donuts are simple, and delicious. We had a glazed and strawberry frosted and both yeast/raised donuts. The glazed donut was soft and sweet from the glaze, didn’t crumble all over my lap or stick to my fingers when I bit into it. Huge plus! The frosting on the strawberry frosted was quite sweet, I brought out my inner child tastebuds to finish it. Will definitely go back for more.

This past March marked the very first time actually stepping into the shop. They are really good here and better than most donut shops in the county. Had the donuts off & on several years ago when my mom was working at the VA in North Chicago and used to bring left overs from other co-workers bringing in donuts in the morning. Can't review anything else here except the donuts which are delicious, sorry about that but I'll definitely be in here soon again being I work overnight and can easily stop in before going home in the morning. I've always strived to support local especially in today's economy and I wish for continued success & prosperity for the owner(s).

Loved Lee donuts before new ownership. It was delicious and reliable. I went in recently and was surprised to see how much of the donuts they were out of at 10AM! It’s very odd… they need to make more of the classics. Also they were out of coffee sleeves - handing us a burning hot cup. This was after they microwaved the coffee…. Ugh!

Lee donuts is top tier. Kind staff and owner, delicious donuts and involved in community support. Easy to work with and always pleased at how amazing the donuts are. 10/10 recommend!

First time trying Lee donuts and it was amazing the staff was super friendly. Their prices are much better than then a lot of other donut shops in the area. love the setup. My favorite is blueberry donut best I ever had.

So, a group of myself and 4 others came to this shop and did not have a good experience. First, when we first walked into the shop, it was very warm (like ~80°F). The menu was hard to read as well since the slide show was moving too fast on the screens to read it all. We all collectively ordered 2 donuts, a steak sandwich, a tuna sandwich, and 2 coffees. For the donuts, one was incredibly stale. For the tuna sandwich, it had gone bad and made one of the people in the group sick. The steak sandwich was okay, but it is not sitting great in my stomach... Lastly, for the coffees, one was not even given to us. The one coffee we did get was very mid and served in a... Starbucks cup? Suffice it to say, we will not be coming back, hopefully, ever.

Overall, super disappointed! Our first time there! We took them to go. Looked so promising online. All of them were dry especially the coconut ones. So sad! Defensive wont be back. Spent 10$ on 6 donuts at the jewel they are actually way more moist!

New owners but same outstanding food. Very pleasant and positive vibes. We had a big order and it was ready on time, super fresh and tasted great!!

What a wonderful place to have a donut or sandwich. Donuts were very good. Very comfy and inviting for families. Also, service was top notch, very professional.

This mecca of donuts is simply the best. I've been going here for 30 years and the menu and taste/size of the donuts has stayed the same since Mr. Lee founded the place and handed down his recipes. The buttermilk, Boston cream, fritters, old fashion... all superb. Just get a dunk'n donut and then buy one of these. Look down at your receipt and take a bite. The math works out!!! Lee's 4 life.

I came here for the first time and I'd say I had a pretty average experience. Walking in, I was greeted by friendly employees. They were helpful and had a decent selection of donuts: the basic glazed, sprinkled, sugar, etc. They had a few seasonal donuts as well. The donuts themselves were pretty good, they were soft and not stale. I'd say that they are good basic donuts, but not ones that will wow you. My favorite from my order was the basic glazed donut, since it was fluffy, doughy, and not TOO sweet. The packaging of the donuts is very cute but the place itself could use some work. Although there were tables and chairs, I couldn't see myself eating there. It was a bit run down, so maybe with some modifications it could be a cute spot to hang out.

Great donuts- 20 bucks for 12 of them so a little pricy. My favorite is the blueberry donut- SO good!! The place itself looks a little ran down and could use some TLC. Workers are friendly.

This small shop is very cozy, the interior is nice with plenty of seating. (also some outdoor seating) very good service and GREAT DOUGHNUTS! They have a large verity of classic doughnuts handmade in the store daily. Coffee was super good. I highly recommend giving them a try.

I've been to many donut places in my life including this one many years ago. As soon as I walked in, the entire place smelled like dirty fast food oil. I ordered a few donuts and left. In that short amount of time, my clothes picked up the smell. A donut shop should smell nice and inviting - like you want to eat what they make there. I had two bites of the old fashioned I ordered, and it left a dirty frying oil after taste. Maybe my kids will like theirs better. Sadly, I won't be going back. I was hoping it was as good as it was years ago.

Well, Lee's famous donuts in Libertyville turned out to be average at best. I arrived a little bit before noon and there were plenty of donuts left. I managed to settle on four donuts to go. I ate the glazed donut before I left and it was run of the mill. The buttermilk was the best out of the bunch. I had no qualms with the service and these donuts would do in a pinch if there were no other options.

Great donuts today for National Donut Day 2022! The service was quick, friendly and masked up for the big Friday sales. They even had pre-boxed selections for quick pickup. The Cro-nut, the Apple Fritter, the Buttermilk and the Red Velvet were so fresh! All of the selections were on point and flavorful. We donated a dozen to the local firehouse to keep the first responders in good graces. Stop in and grab a few and drop off some to your local PD/ FD! A nice gesture goes a long way. Keep this local staple alive. Ps. Get two Bacon Long John donuts to keep the peace. Just sayin'!

We hadn't gone to Lee's in a few years, but decided to go for a treat. We purchased Boston Creme donuts, and were very disappointed. While the dough tasted good enough, there was only a quarter-sized amount of creme filling inside. My husband's was the same, as were the ones we took home. The owner was sitting at a nearby table yelling directions to the worker behind the counter. We did not want to linger at our seats, and left very soon after getting our order.

Hands down the best donuts. Apparently there are new owners but I was assured the chef and the recipes are the same. The place itself could use an update for sure and if you don't get there early, they run out of donuts. The chocolate coconut is my favorite and by 9 a.m. today, I was lucky to get the only one left!

This place is bomb. The red velvet donuts are so good but you have to go early cause depending on the day they sometimes run out

Quality of donuts was good.... But had a faint taste of Kaboom or fabulousa cleaner. This was my first time trying Lee's donuts which I was excited for. Upon walking in to the shop I was hit with an overwhelming smell of Fabulousa cleaner. Now I can appreciate a clean restaurant and have used Fabulousa myself, which I heavily dilute because it is so strong. I brought home the donuts to enjoy with my family and even stopped for coffee along the way, so the donuts sat in my car for about 20 mins (time to dissipate smells from the shop). As soon as I took my first bite I got a subtle taste/smell of the cleaner. The donuts all had a great texture but it was hard to get over the smell of the cleaner. So just a kind suggestion to the owners to perhaps use less harsh cleaners as it is affecting the taste of the donuts.

Terrible service, place is dirty, needs serious restoration. The customer service employee must have been 16. I asked him what kind of donuts does he have in the particular case and he responded with "what do you mean?" He filled all dozen donuts on one bag that almost fell over.

Great doughnuts, but not the best ever. Make sure to get there before 1030/1045 to get a better variety. Very friendly service, would recommend for sure.

Service was amazing. And the donuts were absolutely delicious. This is my new donut place. Moreover, I would advise you getting their early because these donuts go fast.

This place sucks there a mess everywhere the store is never clean the donuts are undercooked and Heidi is a terrible owner that scams her employees and doesn't pay them the same hourly wage week to week it always changes she does this because she not making any money and is trying to scam her high school employee don't support her she is a terrible person.

Just had one of their donuts for the first time today at the office. Craftsmanship that I cannot put into a simple review online. A tasty treat that will leave you dreaming.

I hate to sound cliche, but walking into Lee's Famous Donuts is like taking a step back in time... But not too far back in time. It's a traditional, homemade donut shop with those hallmark, 1970's -style colors, old school pastry display cases and very traditional menu boards. It'll make you never want to go back to those mass-marketed, machine-made donut drive-thrus. The donut shop has been here for 30 years and it's an establishment in the village of Libertyville. And for good reason -- the donuts are delicious. The mayor of Libertyville has even come by and done a video for the city on how they make their handmade apple fritters... and his arms got tired after chopping and the apples. Real apples, real cinnamon, real maple syrup , you get the idea. Recipes for all of their products have not changed in 30 years. And for good reason -- the donuts...are delicious. We'll get back to the donuts in a minute... On a strip mall had a very busy intersection of Milwaukee Avenue and Peterson Road in Libertyville, I can imagine how busy Lee Donuts gets. I was fortunate to be here with only one other customer. The Donut, coffee and ice cream shop was so peaceful, quiet and clean, with only the hum of the ice cream cooler and beverage cooler in the air, no bad music, no screaming baristas, no self-important business people sharing your cell phone calls with the world and no random headhunters conducting off-site job interviews in the corner like so commonly heard and seen in the Big Chain coffee shops. I can imagine, though, regular customers are in and out early in the morning throughout the week and especially Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Heidi, the owner, told me that other small businesses places carry her donuts, and she serves Homer's Ice Cream from Wilmette. The menu is simple, single Donuts, half dozen, dozen, donut holes, fritters, ham and cheese croissants. That's it. They also sell ice cream and milkshakes. And coffee. And of course the cooler of juice, milk, water, pop, and Gatorade. They keep it simple, and delicious. For starters on my visit, I had a maple frosting long-john that put other long johns to shame. The donut bread was doughy and hefty, moist and so natural tasting. You can tell these were handmade. Heidi the owner said she uses real maple syrup in her recipe for the frosting. The difference between these and a mass-market donut or a grocery store donut was so palatable. I moved on to a chocolate-covered buttermilk donut as big as my fist and as heavy as a full size pumpkin. This was a lead weight monster... but when I bit into it my teeth went through the airy yet heavy go easily because it was so fresh. This particular donut was not exactly to my liking, but the owner said this is one of those donuts that many people like to Dunkin to coffee, so I'll try the second half of it at home with coffee tomorrow morning. For the balance of the week, if I don't wolf them down sooner, I've got a pumpkin donut and an apple cider with cinnamon and an apple cider with cinnamon sugar dusted donut. I tasted the apple cider with cinnamon sugar donut already and it is, like the Long John, delicious, natural and homemade. Heidi tells me that not only does she make seasonal Donuts, but for Friday Saturday and Sunday she also offers Peach fritters with real chunks of peach, She carries Bavarian cream-filled donuts, and has a particular customer who comes in once a week for nine vanilla long johns filled with a raspberry or strawberry fruit jelly. She makes a Bavarian cream-filled Long John with a caramelized piece of bacon on top...Oh my goodness... Must... Return... For... This. Something important to note is that the prices here are quite reasonable. Beyond reasonable. You got a fantastically homemade donut for $1.29, which is about the same price as you'd pay for a machine-punched, hardly-fresh donut at Dunkin Donuts. Fresh, wholesome, flavorful, natural Donuts for about 1/3 the price of a donut at Stan's. I'll be back soon!

Just picked up donuts that were undercooked. The service has gone downhill. So sad. Nothing like biting into a donut that has a raw center.

Donuts are good but too much sugar in them. The food keeps the score high but based on service, it would be 0 stars. Maybe is the reason why you never see anyone in the restaurant. I'm not sure why you have seating where they really want you in and out. Plus they do something illegal by not allowing you to charge on your credit card under $5.

The best donuts. So much better than Dunkin or any other place. They taste so much fresher and more flavorful. A must try.

First time here, got there around 11 a.m. on a Saturday - selection was already slimming down. The apple fritter is very good here with good apple taste, not frying it too long (crisp without the burn) and balance of glaze. Chocolate frosted sour cream, French crueller, cherry cake, and chocolate frosted cake rounded out our order.

Stopped at Lee donuts today, in Libertyville, (08/18/23) to get a dozen donuts for the weekend. I arrived at about 12:30 to find the door locked and no one there. The hours in the widow clearly stated 5:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. Imagine that. Another independent, small business that wants to be supported but doesn't want to cater to customers or live up to what they promise. Unbelievable. There are plenty of other chain donut shops to go to. I'm this case, that's exactly what I'm going to do. That's ultimately not the point though. If you're going to operate a small business, do what you say you're going to do. Is it really that difficult? There is a Dunkin' Donuts a block or two west, on Peterson Rd. They're open and willing to take my money. Guaranteed. As I'm leaving, a gentleman pulled up, grabbed the door and found out Lee Donuts is closed as well. Oh well. You can only try to support a local business, if they're open. He may come back. I won't.

Amazing donuts, great variety, great owner! The seasonals keep things interesting all year. The fritters are amazing, especially the peach fritters on the weekends.

I should have known! Get up early if you want some of these gems. I arrived on a weekend around 9am and while there were still plenty of donuts, the more popular ones were long gone. The lone employee there was working his butt off to tend to the many customers but still managed to be extremely friendly and happy to be there. It's nice to see that someone truly appreciates and enjoys his job. As for the donuts, I can honestly say that I haven't met a donut that I didn't love and these didn't disappoint. The bacon maple long john was killer and the salty sweet mixture can't be beat!

Best donuts hands down. ESP the blueberry Apple Fritters. Old fashioned, cinn crumble Love their selection!

Who doesn't love donuts? But seriously, who actually doesn't love a good donut. Well, at Lee's, you will not have good donuts. You'll have GREAT donuts. The donuts are made fresh every morning. Make sure you come early, they are a hot commodity, and do run out come afternoon. The owner is very friendly as well. This is a great place to grab a tasty treat!

We stopped by Lee's on our way home to Wisconsin because the reviews were great. I am very loyal to Cranky Al's in Wauwatosa and feel like those donuts are the best I've had in southeast Wisconsin, my favorite being the maple long John. Well I picked up an assorted dozen from Lee's and bit into their maple long John, and I was absolutely floored at how amazing it was. The wonderfully friendly owner described how she uses real Vermont maple syrup for the glaze, which makes total sense with how well it tastes. I also bit into the glazed raised and the buttermilk cruller and was again shocked at how flavorful, light, fluffy, yet filling each donut was. I look forward to getting home and finishing off the dozen. I might share a couple with the wife and kids. Great product and genuinely friendly service. I will be sure to stop by again when we visit Illinois.

The young people working here are amazing! I was fortunate enough to see this place on my way home. Although it is my first visit and not something I wish I would have been witness to... a very rude customer came in and was aggressive in his words, however the young man providing service continued to be respectful and kind. Also, huge bonus the doughnuts are DELICIOUS!!!!

This place falls flat. The selection is pretty standard for the most part. The only thing I saw that was interesting was the maple bacon doughnut, but they were out....on a Saturday morning. The chocolate glazed doughnut doesn't have much chocolate flavor. Disappointing overall.

I would recommend coming here early in the morning. These donuts would be so good nice and warm and more fresh. I came at 10am and the options were pretty limited and it was a little bit of a crunchy donut. But come earlier closer to opening and I would have no complaints! Overall a good donut.

Stopped here this morning after looking at some other Yelp reviews! SO glad we did! They had a very large variety with some unique flavors too. The manager was around too which was just a nice touch. The guy working the counter let me sample two donuts that I had asked about the difference between, which was very kind! After making my selection, he even threw the rest of the donut I had sampled on my tray too for free. LEE's has Hansa coffee which I was very excited to try... very good taste! Plenty of space inside as well as parking outside. Easy to find, nestled in the middle of an outdoor strip mall. Will definitely return for more donuts the next time I'm in the Chicago area!

I don't know what happened to this place. The jelly donuts are half the size with hardly any filling, and the buttermilk donuts are much thinner now. It seems like the owner is trying to save money while still charging the same prices. I know it's been a few years, but the consistency they had under the old owners is gone. For the price they charge, the customers should be receiving a better product.

Coworker bought in a box of donuts from Lee's today! :D French Crullers has always been a top favorite of mine so of course i had to reach for that one. The Cruller was nicely glazed and shaped. The first bite into it was nice and fluffy. But the taste was a little off than what i am used to. Of course i finished the donut! But it did not make me want to get seconds. I'd recommend DD's or Marianos french crullers. They both make delicious ones. Like other yelpers mentioned, ill have to try the apple fritters soon!

donuts are decent. service is not bad. hours are good. cash only if you spend less than five dollars. get there early because they put away donuts before closing time.

The best donuts around! Love the specials they do. Had a mega glazed donut this weekend! So good and enough for the family!!! Thanks Lee donuts!!! We've been going here for 20 years!

This is such a great family owned donut shop! I consider my family to be very well-versed in donut eating.... we love them... and this restaurant does not disappoint! I tend to lean toward old fashioned or cake donuts versus traditional yeast donuts. The blueberry and apple cider donuts are SO GOOD. And the buttermilk old fashioned are super tasty. Only warning is that you need to get here early on a Saturday/Sunday if you want your pick in flavors/types. I've gotten there at 9:30am before and they were out of donut holes. But definitely recommend! This is the best donut shop I've found in the area!

Some of the best cake donuts around. Way better than Stans Lees old fashions and apple fritters are always fresh and tasty

Nice folks, great donuts. Have been enjoying their donuts for the last three years. They supply our monthly after Sunday Mass fellowship with their product.

The best. The maple donut is on another level amazing. My kids like the sprinkle, apple cider and fritter donuts.

Whenever I see famous donuts I think OOH this is going to be bomb-diggity. I did a U-turn when I saw this place and surprisingly it was empty at 10:30. I don't know if I came at an off hour or it's just slow traffic in this area but I stayed regardless. Let me start off my saying my favorite donut places have really good glazed and the best donut places have cronuts (crossaint donuts). Unfortunately, they didn't have cronuts (they don't make it period) but they did have glazed. I ordered half a dozen variety so I could get a good sample of what they made. I ended up getting glazed, chocolate with sprinkles, boston creme, red velvet, cinnamon sugar and peach fritter. Peach fritter, a seasonal item and an item that the worker really really advocated. She said that they don't fill the fritter like most places but peaches are cut up and actually embedded into the donut. Well hey, that sounds like a lot of TLC (tender loving care) so I got one of those too. They sell half a dozen for 7.29 (?) but "specialty" donuts cost more (peach fritter and boston creme). A little bummed but I already committed. Overall: The donuts were a little underwhelming. The peach fritter was a bit too sweet but it did have pieces of real peach. The other donuts tasted too sweet and a little dry. Not a bad donut shop and the customer service is great but I don't think I would say that these donuts are quite famous.

I would have given this place a 5/5 because the donuts that were fully cooked were great, but unfortunately several of the donuts were raw inside, as you can see in the pictures. It was quite disgusting to bite into one of these donuts and get a mouthful of raw dough. I have never experienced this before so I was both surprised and disappointed since I had heard this place was great. The yeast donuts that were fully cooked were wonderful though, as the dough was fluffy, soft, and moist. The icing and glazes were equally as tasty and their donuts could easily compete with some of the big names in Chicago like firecakes or doughnut vault. The bear claw with apple filling was probably my favorite of all their donuts as there were generous amounts of apple inside that tasted great all wrapped around with fluffy dough. The buttermilk bar was also very good, perfectly crunchy on the outside and moist inside. The apple fritter, peach fritter, and cake donuts are not as great. The fritters were so thin and hard, there was no soft dough in the middle. In addition, neither tasted like the flavors they were supposed to taste like. The apple fritter tasted rancid as if it had gone bad and the peach tasted like nothing. Overall, I would stick to the yeast donuts from here but make sure they are fully cooked before biting into one!

My experience was pretty much the reverse of Lauren K., (apple fritter vs other doughnuts) but I agree that there are a million doughnut shops and not all can be the best. But I believe that there is room in any town for at least one independent doughnut purveyor, so hats off to these guys for being a community favorite. I have tried many, many apple fritters and it pains me to review a bad one, but it must be done. I trekked up to Libertyville for this shop and came home disappointed. Number one, the fritter is way, way, way too sweet. The sugar overwhelms any other taste that may or may not be there. Thus, number two--I detected ZERO apples or even apple flavor and very little cinnamon flavor. And number three, texture--it was flat and mostly hard, with no soft interior to complement the crisp exterior. It was basically all crisp, sugar-saturated exterior. So that was unfortunate, but I have to complement their other offerings. Cake doughnut texture is hard to do well, but Lee nails it. In particular, their maple and toasted coconut impressed me across the board. The boston creme was pretty good too. It's a cool place; they cultivate a clean 50s/early-60s vibe which works for them. Nice people, too.

Super good!! The donuts are amazing and the lady working was the absolute SWEETEST thing!!

The lady upfront was super nice. Immediately asked how my day was going and chatted about the Bears winning yesterday. Then I get home to surprise my kids with donuts and OMG are they good! They tasted amazing, super soft, so many flavors. I've driven past this place so many times over the years and I finally stopped in for the first time today and let's just say I will be back! Donuts are amazing here!

I will always support local donut shops. There's just no comparison with DD...I don't know how people eat those and think they're good. Probably no one who has ever been to Lee Donuts. Quality, no unnecessary frills, you will not be sorry.

Love these donuts! It's a bit of a drive, but worth it for the cinnamon rolls and apple fritters and crullers...yum

We get donuts here every Sunday and they always light, yummy and fresh. Service is always nice.

Five stars from a fierce lover of donuts! Wouldn't pass up the opportunity to try this small almost hidden donut shop.