Dough Joy

Dough Joy is a small chain of doughnut shops in Seattle, in the U.S. state of Washington. The queer-owned business, which specializes in vegan doughnuts, was established by Christopher Ballard and Sean Willis. Dough Joy initially operated from a food truck in the Ballard neighborhood, and later expanded to brick and mortar shops on Capitol Hill and in the West Seattle neighborhood. In 2024, Dough Joy announced plans to open a third shop in Ballard. The business has garnered a positive reception.

Dough Joy
Exterior of the shop on Capitol Hill in 2023
Restaurant information
City	Seattle
County	King
State	Washington
Country	United States
Website	doughjoydonuts.com

Description

 

Doughnut inside a branded wrapper in 2023

Dough Joy is a small, queer-owned^[1] chain of doughnut shops in Seattle, specializing in vegan doughnuts. Varieties include: The Basic B (traditional glazed); the breakfast cereal-inspired Cereal Killer, which uses cereal milk and is topped with fruit-flavored cereal;^[2] The Faconator (maple frosting with coconut bacon); PB & HEYYY, which was inspired by a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and has peanut butter icing with strawberry jelly; and Petal to the Metal, a rose-flavored doughnut with pink marble icing.^[3] Other flavors have included birthday cake, caramel, carrot cake,^[4] chocolate with sprinkles, cookies and cream, cookie butter, everything bagel, french toast, mango con chile, s'mores, sour watermelon, strawberry milkshake, and vanilla Biscoff,^[5] as well as a Pride-theme variety with rainbow sprinkles.^[6][7][8]

History

 

Neon sign inside the Capitol Hill shop, 2023

Dough Joy was established by Christopher Ballard and Sean Willis in May 2021.^[3][9] The business initially operated from a food truck in Ballard,^[10][11][12] selling out from pre-orders on launch day.^[13][14]

Dough Joy later opened brick and mortar shop on Pike Street,^[15] on Capitol Hill.^[16] The Capitol Hill location operates in the space previously occupied by Old School Frozen Custard. Dough Joy also operates in West Seattle,^[17] which has a plant shop called Botanic! at the Disco.^[18]

In 2024, the business confirmed plans to open a third shop in Ballard.^[19]

Dough Joy Lil Dippers,^[20] or "doughnut balls", have been available at University of Washington games.^[21]

Reception

Zuri Anderson included the business in iHeart's list of "the best new places to eat in 2022".^[22] In 2023, Anna Not included Dough Joy in Tasting Table's list of 25 queer-owned vegan eaters "you need to try" in the U.S.,^[9] and Mark Van Streefkerk and Harry Cheadle included the business in Eater Seattle's list of doughnuts "you should know" in the Seattle metropolitan area.^[23] Allecia Vermillion included Dough Joy in Seattle Metropolitan magazine's 2024 overview of the city's best doughnuts.^[4]

See also

• LGBT culture in Seattle
• List of doughnut shops
• List of restaurant chains in the United States
• List of vegetarian restaurants

References

1. "What To Eat, Drink, & Do In Seattle During Pride Month - Seattle". The Infatuation. 2022-01-20. Retrieved 2024-04-20.
2. Craighead, Callie. "New plant-based doughnut truck Dough Joy set to open in Ballard". Seattle Post-Intelligencer. from the original on 2024-04-19. Retrieved 2024-04-20.
3. Martinez, Jocelyn. "A Queer-Owned Vegan Doughnut Truck Is Coming to Seattle". VegNews.com. from the original on 2023-12-06. Retrieved 2024-04-20.
4. "Behold, the Best Doughnuts in Seattle". Seattle Metropolitan. from the original on 2022-11-29. Retrieved 2024-04-20.
5. "Seattle's Best New Bakeries and Cafes | 2022". Seattle Metropolitan. from the original on 2023-06-30. Retrieved 2024-04-20.
6. "Dough Joy Review - Capitol Hill - Seattle". The Infatuation. 2022-06-23. from the original on 2023-09-25. Retrieved 2024-04-20.
7. "LGBTQ-Owned Businesses in Seattle | 2023". Seattle Metropolitan. from the original on 2024-01-15. Retrieved 2024-04-20.
8. "20 LGBTQ-Owned Vegan Businesses to Support". VegOut. from the original on 2023-09-27. Retrieved 2024-04-20.
9. Kot, Anna (2023-06-19). "25 Queer-Owned Vegan Spots In The US You Need To Try". Tasting Table. from the original on 2024-04-06. Retrieved 2024-04-20.
10. "Dough for the holidays: Dough Joy's guilt-free donuts make Seattle's vegan nice list". Seattle Gay News. Retrieved 2024-04-20.
11. "Vegan donut truck Dough Joy is coming to Ballard". My Ballard. from the original on 2023-08-13. Retrieved 2024-04-20.
12. Guarente, Gabe (2021-04-19). "Whimsical New Vegan Doughnut Truck Plans to Make Ballard Debut in May". Eater Seattle. from the original on 2023-10-01. Retrieved 2024-04-20.
13. Craighead, Callie. "Seattle's best doughnut shops for National Doughnut Day". Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Retrieved 2024-04-20.
14. Craighead, Callie. "New restaurant openings to try around Seattle this month". Seattle Post-Intelligencer. from the original on 2024-04-19. Retrieved 2024-04-20.
15. Rocha, Kevin. "Some Donuts Do-Nut Have What it Takes". The Spectator. from the original on 2024-03-01. Retrieved 2024-04-20.
16. Allain, Lauren (2021-12-11). "Dough Joy expands their popular vegan donuts to Capitol Hill shop". Seattle Refined. from the original on 2022-01-16. Retrieved 2024-04-20.
17. Seling, Megan; McCall, Vivian; Hutchinson, Chase; Vann, Audrey; Huygen, Meg van; Costello, Lindsay. "Stranger Suggests: All Pride, All Week Long". The Stranger. from the original on 2023-12-06. Retrieved 2024-04-20.
18. Luschei, Abby (2022-12-27). "Our Top 10 TikToks of 2022". Seattle Refined. from the original on 2022-12-30. Retrieved 2024-04-20.
19. Cheadle, Harry (2024-04-19). "We've Got Some Good News For Seattle Doughnut Fans". Eater Seattle. Retrieved 2024-04-20.
20. White, Cayla (October 21, 2021). "Dough Joy Donuts to Open Brick-and-Mortar in Seattle". VegOut. from the original on 2023-05-28. Retrieved 2024-04-20.
21. "Eats, drinks, tickets, transit: How to be frugal at a UW football game". The Seattle Times. 2023-09-22. from the original on 2023-10-19. Retrieved 2024-04-20.
22. "Seattle Donut Shop Among The Best New Places To Eat In 2022". iHeart. from the original on 2022-03-08. Retrieved 2024-04-20.
23. Streefkerk, Mark Van (2016-02-15). "Seattle Doughnuts You Should Know About". Eater Seattle. Retrieved 2024-04-20.

External links

 

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Dough Joy.

• Official website