Best Bay Area doughnut? The winner is ...
World’s Fare Donuts, a Hayward shop and cafe that’s been around for 50 years, has won the Best Bay Area Doughnut competition against Stan’s Donut Shop in Santa Clara, 54% to 46%.
Over a month ago, we asked readers to nominate their favorite Bay Area doughnut shops and launched our bracket-style competition, pitting your 32 favorites against each other. After tens of thousands of votes, you cut those down to the Sweet Sixteen, Amazing Eight, Final Four and then these Top Two doughnut spots.
Both are no-frills, familyowned doughnut shops that have been open for decades and have legions of followers — make that worshippers. One reader called the doughnut-making at Stan’s “an art form,” while another said the chocolate old-fashioned is “the best thing you’ll ever eat.”
But in the end, World’s Fare, which makes “the kind of doughnut that melts in your mouth and melts all your troubles away,” according to one voter, bested the nearly 60-year-old South Bay institution, 14,178 votes to 12,139 votes. Its glazed doughnut and blueberry doughnut are among readers’ favorites.
“This is the first time we’ve been a part of something like this, so we’re really excited,” co-owner Kelly Yam said over the phone. “Everything we do is handmade, high quality and made with love.”
Kelly and her husband, Andy, purchased World’s Fare Donuts from its first owner, Brian Bunch, in 1985. Before that, the shop was located inside Southland mall.
To keep fresh doughnuts frying and long lines moving, Kelly wakes up at 2 a.m. and gets to the Hayward shop at 3 a.m. to greet customers, some of whom come from as far away as San Francisco and Sacramento, at 4 a.m.
“The customers? They’re like my family,” she says. “I’ve learned a lot from them. They’ve been there with me from the start and some of them bring their fourth generation to visit me.”
Julie Clark, one of six owners of Stan’s Donut Shop in Santa Clara, thanked the shop’s “incredible customers and fans for their support and votes.”
“At the end of the day, my dad started this doughnut shop back in 1959 to create a gathering place for everyone in the community,” Clark said.
Tempted to conduct your own sweet research? Here’s the full list of 32 doughnut nominees from our readers.
Donut Savant, Oakland; Donut Wheel, Cupertino; Peters’ Bakery, San Jose; Original Ferrell’s Donuts, Santa Cruz; Johnny Doughnuts, San Rafael; Dick’s Donuts, Oakland; Manley’s Donut Shop, San Jose; Golden Cream Donuts, Novato; Bob’s Donuts and Pastries, San Francisco; Fresh Donuts, San Jose; Felton Donuts & Pastries, Felton; Ming’s Donuts, San Leandro; Daybreak Donuts & Ice Cream, San Jose; World’s Fare, Hayward; Maple Leaf Donuts, San Jose; Rollo’s Donuts, San Jose; Rolling Pin Donuts, San Bruno; Dainty Donuts, San Ramon; Vasy’s Donut Shop, Fremont; Rainbow Donuts, Berkeley; Apple Fritter, San Mateo; Johnny’s Donuts, Lafayette; Great Donuts, Alamo; Bun Appétit Donuts, Fremont; The Jelly Donut, Pleasanton; King’s Donuts, Concord; Vegan Bistro, San Jose; Donut Factory, Hayward; Hometown Donuts, Alameda; Stan’s Donut Shop, Santa Clara; Happy Donuts, San Jose; Dynamo Donut & Coffee, San Francisco.