The 10 best donut shops in Charlotte

Charlotte has lost some favorite doughnut shops in the last two years, including Reigning Doughnuts in NoDa, Beyond Amazing Donuts in Montford and Pepperbox in South End. The shops that remain cover a lot of ground, from a 30-year-old Pineville counter that closes at noon to a fully gluten-free kitchen in NoDa and a café from a James Beard semifinalist chef.

This list covers 10 places across the city and nearby suburbs, from Plaza Midwood and South End to Ballantyne, east Charlotte, Pineville and Matthews. Prices range from about $1.50 a doughnut to splurge-level brioche. Most of these shops sell out, so the best advice for all of them is the same: go early.

How we chose

We started with doughnut shops that show up again and again in local coverage from Axios Charlotte, the Charlotte Observer, CharlotteFive, WSOC and Charlotte Magazine, then checked each one against its own website or recent reporting to confirm the business is still open in October 2026. We favored independent and Charlotte-born businesses, kept two chains, one NC-born and one that has become part of the local scene, and left out shops that have closed or moved.

Donut I Love U

NoDa · 908 E. 35th St.

Anyone who has given up doughnuts because of celiac disease or a wheat allergy should start here. The whole kitchen at Donut I Love U is gluten-free, so there is no separate fryer and no fine print. Mithoon and Lindsey Patel started with a food truck, then opened a storefront in the former NoDa Soda Shop space on East 35th Street. An order is three small doughnuts in one flavor, fried when you ask and then dressed with toppings such as chopped Snickers with Ghirardelli chocolate and salted caramel, or berry preserves under fresh whipped cream.

Nothing sits in a display case, so expect a short wait while your order cooks. The shop is closed Mondays. The truck still works markets, breweries and private events across the Carolinas, and the weekly schedule is posted on the shop’s website.

Krispy Kreme

South End · 2116 Hawkins St., Suite 102

The company was founded in Winston-Salem in 1937, but its corporate office is now in South End, and the shop attached to it on Hawkins Street is a chain store worth a special trip. When Krispy Kreme opened this location in August 2020, Axios Charlotte reported a viewing window onto the production line, a second window on the decorating station, a mural of 72 doughnuts each decorated with a Charlotte symbol, and the company’s first 24-hour doughnut vending machine. The shop has also served as a test kitchen. In early 2025, WBTV reported that flavors such as maple iced and chocolate caramel kreme were being tried here before a wider release.

Time a visit for the Hot Light, which the company lists as 7 to 9 a.m. and 5 to 7 p.m. daily, when the original glazed comes off the line warm. There is a drive-thru, and the shop stays open late.

Milkbread

Plaza Midwood · 1431 Central Ave.

Joe and Katy Kindred, the couple behind Kindred in Davidson, turned the old Plaza Midwood Dairy Queen into a counter-service café, and the doughnuts are the reason most people line up. At Milkbread they are made to order from the same tangzhong-style milk bread dough the restaurant is known for, which gives them a soft, puffy crumb closer to a Japanese bakery roll than a cake doughnut. The menu also runs to crispy fried chicken, biscuits and toast, so a doughnut can be dessert after a real breakfast.

This is the pick for a weekend brunch with friends who want more than a sugar hit. Ordering ahead online skips the counter line. Milkbread also has locations at 525 S. Tryon St. in Uptown and on Jetton Street in Davidson.

MJ Donuts

Pineville · 325 S. Polk St.

Some of the area’s best doughnuts come out of a plain storefront in the Pineville Towne Market shopping center. Songcha Lee has run MJ Donuts for close to 30 years, and a Charlotte Observer headline called its glazed the best around. Lee says the apple fritter is the top seller, with cinnamon rolls close behind, and the case also holds double chocolate cake, cinnamon crumb, blueberry cake, crullers and twists. Prices are old-school, starting around $1.50 a doughnut.

This is a morning-only operation. The doors open early and close at noon, the shop is closed Mondays, and the case often runs out of the popular flavors well before closing, so go early if you have your heart set on a fritter.

OMG Donuts & Coffee

East Charlotte · 6209 Old Post Rd., Suite 107

Across the street from East Mecklenburg High School, a married couple, Mia Chang and Alex Kim, opened OMG Donuts & Coffee in October 2021, and the shop has built a following in the Monroe Road area ever since. Expect a long case of yeast and cake doughnuts with kid-pleasing toppings such as Fruity Pebbles, bacon and M&Ms, plus filled doughnuts, apple fritters and doughnut holes. There is coffee, including iced drinks, to go with them.

Families and students make up much of the morning crowd. Flavors sell out, and Axios Charlotte has advised checking the shop’s Facebook page before you drive over. The shop is closed Mondays, and a single doughnut runs roughly $1.75 to $3.25 depending on toppings.

The Salty Donut

South End · 1515 S. Tryon St., Suite 105

Of the two chains on this list, this Miami import is the newcomer, and it earned the spot by becoming part of how Charlotte eats doughnuts. The Miami company opened its first North Carolina shop on South Tryon Street in January 2023, and The Salty Donut has since added shops at The Bowl at Ballantyne and The Commonwealth in Plaza Midwood. The doughnuts are big and rich, with rotating seasonal flavors next to standbys such as the traditional glaze and brown butter and salt.

Prices run higher than a neighborhood shop, so think of this as a weekend treat. Online ordering for pickup or local delivery saves time on busy mornings.

SUGAR Handmade Gourmet Donuts

Ballantyne · 11914 Elm Lane, Suite 120

Each doughnut at SUGAR Handmade Gourmet Donuts is rolled and cut by hand, then fried in small batches through the morning, and the glazes, fillings and toppings are made in-house rather than from mixes. That approach won Charlotte Magazine’s Best Doughnut award in 2016, and the shop on Elm Lane has been a south Charlotte go-to ever since. The menu runs from a plain vanilla glaze to rotating flavors such as banana pudding, with oversized cinnamon rolls and apple fritters on the side and Italian gelato for afternoon visits.

Vegan doughnuts are on the regular menu, and there are gluten-free options, though the kitchen is not a gluten-free facility. Online orders placed by the day before can be picked up starting at 7 a.m. The shop is closed Mondays.

Suárez Bakery

Montford · Park Road Shopping Center, 4245 Park Rd.

Since 1992, a scratch bakery in Park Road Shopping Center has handled birthdays, office parties and Saturday mornings for a big slice of south Charlotte. Doughnuts are only part of the case at Suárez Bakery, but they are the part people talk about. The shop is known for its doughnut cake, three 7-inch doughnuts stacked with vanilla cream that feeds six to eight, and for message doughnuts shaped like letters that spell out a name or a greeting.

Order message doughnuts and doughnut cakes ahead by phone or in person, because the bakery does not take those orders online. Everyday doughnuts are sold until they run out. The Optimist Hall location closed at the end of June 2026, so Park Road is now the only shop.

Your Mom’s Donuts

Matthews · 11025 Monroe Rd.

Square doughnuts were Courtney Ahern’s signature when she started the business in 2013, and they survived a scare. The shops closed in early 2023, then Dustin and Colleen Wanemacher bought the brand and reopened within months. Today Your Mom’s Donuts bakes those same square doughnuts in flavors like salted caramel, lemon honey and very berry, with local coffee to go with them. The Matthews shop sits on Monroe Road, and the company’s website also lists shops in Charlotte and Cornelius.

The salted caramel is the one to try first. Hours are morning-focused and some flavors sell out, so arrive early on weekends, and call ahead for catering or large custom orders.

Yummm Donuts

South Charlotte · 624 Tyvola Rd., Suite 104

Charlie Sun and his wife, Janice Zhou, moved from Houston and opened their first doughnut shop on East Franklin Boulevard in Gastonia, where it won a CharlotteFive Readers’ Choice vote for best doughnuts. The couple later opened a second Yummm Donuts on Tyvola Road in south Charlotte. The style is mom-and-pop and handmade, with yeast doughnuts as the specialty. The Charlotte Observer has singled out the glazed and the apple fritter, and the maple bacon is there for anyone who wants a salty-sweet option.

Plan an early stop. The Observer reported that the Gastonia staff sometimes bake 18 hours a day and still sell out, and the fritter is big enough to share between two people.

Also worth knowing

• OMG Donuts & Bakery on Weddington Road in Concord ranked No. 62 on Yelp’s 2023 list of the top 100 U.S. doughnut shops.
• Sweet Dough on North Dobys Bridge Road in Fort Mill is a locally owned doughnut café with cake and raised doughnuts and breakfast sandwiches.

Last checked October 13, 2026. Spot something out of date, or a place we missed? Send us a correction.