Voodoo Doughnut is a 24-hour, cash-only doughnut shop based in Portland, Oregon that is known for its weird doughnuts, eclectic decor, and pink boxes covered in the Voodoo Doughnut logo and illustrations of voodoo priests.
Tres Shannon with his partner Cat Daddy, started Voodoo Doughnut in 2003, and since then it’s become an icon in the Portland food world. Now it’s taking hold in other markets across the country, becoming known locally, nationally, and even worldwide.
We had heard all about Voodoo Doughnuts through social media. So when planning our road trip to Portland, Brian booked us a suite at the Embassy Suites by Hilton Downtown Portland — a gorgeous, old, historic hotel with fantastic services that is just around the corner from the famous, iconic donut shop.
It’s crazy that a doughnut shop has such a cult following, but after checking out some of their unusual donuts online, we couldn’t wait to try them for ourselves. We saw the line and the sparkly gold glitter brick wall from almost two blocks away. It was blazing hot and there wasn’t any shade, so we were thankful the line moved fairly quickly.
It only took us about 20 minutes to get through the line at 4:00 pm on a Wednesday. The hardest part was waiting near a pink cage style door that my kids named the torture chamber because through it we could see and smell racks of freshly baked doughnuts.
Once inside, we were greeted with lots of pink and semi-inappropriate innuendos, a giant doughnut suspended from the ceiling, and rotating stacks of doughnuts. The Voodoo Doughnut interior is funky, eclectic, and a bit wacky.
While inside in line, we checked out the doughnuts on display, choosing the ones we wanted to try. When it was our turn, they filled our magical pink box with chosen sweet treats, took our cash, and sent us on our way. There are purple tables outside to eat your doughnuts at, but because it was so hot, we took our treats back to the hotel to enjoy in the air conditioned lobby.
We tried several different Voodoo Doughnuts:
- Bacon Maple Bar with large strips of bacon
- Captain My Captain Doughnut topped with vanilla frosting and Capt’n Crunch cereal
- The Loop Doughnut topped with a fruity frosting and Fruit Loops cereal
- Triple Chocolate Penetration Doughnut, a cake doughnut topped with chocolate frosting and Cocoa Puffs
- Marshall Mathers Doughnut, a cake doughnut topped with vanilla frosting and M&Ms
- Dirt Doughnut, topped with vanilla frosting and Oreos
- Memphis Mafia Doughnut, a fritter covered in a glaze with chocolate frosting, peanut butter, peanuts and chocolate chips on top
We all shared and tried some of each doughnut — and couldn’t finish them because of all the sugar. They are so sweet! Of all the doughnuts we tried, the Maple Bacon Bar was by far the best.
Voodoo Doughnut Round Two
My daughter Natalie is a sugar lover and a big fan of anything maple bacon flavored, so we ended up visiting Voodoo Doughnut one more time on Saturday morning before we left Portland and headed to The Gorge Amphitheater to see Dead & Company in concert. The line on Saturday morning was wrapped around pink fencing like a ride at Disneyland.
After waiting for a little over 40 minutes, we grabbed two more Maple Bacon Bar Doughnuts, A Dirt Doughnut, and a plain Chocolate Ring Doughnut.
If you’re a donut lover or you like to visit wacky food destinations, you should definitely make time to stop by and experience Voodoo Doughnut for yourself at one of their five US locations:
- Portland, Oregon (two locations)
- Eugene, Oregon
- Denver, Colorado
- Austin, Texas
Some of the doughnuts we bought in the afternoon were a bit dry and not super fresh, but all those bought in the morning were very soft and fresh. The doughnuts over all were really sweet and I’ve had better tasting doughnuts, but you can’t deny that the place has a unique, super cool vibe and is worth a visit at least once… or twice!
If you’re planning a visit to Voodoo Doughnut, just remember:
- Stores are open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week (closed on some holidays)
- The stores are very busy, so there is no guarantee the doughnut you want will be available
- There are more than 90 different doughnuts on the menu, including vegan doughnuts — some options are featured on their website
- Voodoo Doughnut is cash only — there were two ATMs outside the shop
- Plan to wait in line — at least 15-45 minutes
Enjoy!
