Bob's Donuts
| Private | |
| ISIN | 🆔 |
| Industry | Food and Drink |
| Founded 📆 | 1960 |
| Founder 👔 | |
| Headquarters 🏙️ | 1720 Polk Street, San Francisco , United States |
Area served 🗺️ | |
| Members | |
Number of employees | |
| 🌐 Website | bobsdonutssf |
| 📇 Address | |
| 📞 telephone | |
Bob's Donuts and Pastries is a chain of three donut shops based in the San Francisco area. Founded in 1953, the business is known for its always-open Polk Street location.
The shop has two locations in San Francisco and one in Mill Valley.
About
The location on Polk Street is open 24 hours. The store offers a "Bob's Donut Challenge", where customers who can eat a giant doughnut in under three minutes can win a T-shirt.[1]
History
Bob's Donuts opened in 1953 or 1960[lower-alpha 1] on 1621 Polk Street in San Francisco.[2][3][4] The original owner is believed to be Robert N. Nolt, who owned several businesses on the street.[3] The shop was purchased by Elinor and Ronald Ahn in 1977.[3]
In 2019, Bob's Donuts opened a second location on 601 Baker Street in San Francisco.[5]
In 2022, Bob's Donuts opened a third location on 252 Almonte Boulevard in Mill Valley.[2] A fourth location was reported in San Jose, but as of 2025, it has not opened.
In 2021, the owners purchased a property across the street from their original location, at 1720 Polk Street, and in 2023 announced plans to expand to that location;[6] however, it was illegal to merge the two storefronts on that property until Supervisor Aaron Peskin sponsored and passed specific exempting legislation.[7][8] The new location opened in 2025. The owner's frustrations with the city health department were held as an example of a hostile environment between the city bureaucracy and small businesses.[9]
In 2024, the owners announced plans to close their original location in San Francisco after failing to reach an agreement with the landlord to renew the lease.[7] The original location held its last day of sales on November 23, 2025.[10]
Bob's Donuts was placed on the San Francisco Legacy Business Registry in 2024.[11]
Critical Response
In 1991, San Francisco Chronicle food critic Patricia Untermann gave the store a three-star capsule review, praising the "fresh, cleanly fried doughnuts with texture and loft."[10][12]
Writing for SFGATE in 2022, food reporter Madeline Wells wrote that Bob's Donuts was "the jewel of San Francisco, whether you’re a lifelong local or a tourist," and described the apple fritter as "a pleasing textural contrast of crispy glaze, light and fluffy interior, and gooey chunks of cinnamon-y apple."[1]
In other media
In 2023, Bob's Donuts was the focus of a short film, Circle of Donuts, which screened at the Mill Valley Film Festival in 2023.[13]
Bob's Donuts is featured in a 2025 children's book called Bob's Donuts for Breakfast.[14]
Notes
- ↑ The opening year is contested. The San Francisco Examiner states that the store opened at its 1621 Polk Street address in 1960. KTVU states that the store opened in the 1950's. The company itself claims 1960. According to the Bechky 2024 "S.F.’s most treasured doughnut shop is leaving its 70-year-old location", the historical phone books list the business as open in 1953.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Wells, Madeline (2022-07-14). "This SF doughnut hotspot is the late-night jewel of the city". SFGATE. Archived from the original on 2025-09-09. Retrieved 2025-12-01. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ 2.0 2.1 White, Marcus (2022-10-24). "S.F. must share this late night staple as beloved bakery expands". San Francisco Examiner. Retrieved 2025-12-01.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Kadvany, Elena (2025-11-03). "The original home of a 72-year-old S.F. doughnut institution closes this month". San Francisco Chronicle.
- ↑ "Bob's Donuts original SF location closes after nearly 70 years". KTVU FOX 2. 2025-11-02. Retrieved 2025-12-01.
- ↑ Duffett, Becky (2019-11-13). "Bob's Donuts Brings the Warm Apple Fritters to NoPa This Week". Eater SF. Retrieved 2025-12-01.
- ↑ Pershan, Caleb. "S.F. doughnut favorite Bob's is expanding again". San Francisco Chronicle. Archived from the original on 2024-07-29. Retrieved 2025-12-01.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Bechky, Aviva. "S.F.'s most treasured doughnut shop is leaving its 70-year-old location". San Francisco Chronicle. Archived from the original on 2025-03-31. Retrieved 2025-12-01.
- ↑ Lashinsky, Alex (2024-07-08). "Electing Aaron Peskin as SF mayor could be a recipe for dysfunction". sfstandard.com. Retrieved 2025-12-01.
- ↑ Barned-Smith, St. John (2025-03-07). "How one sink turned Bob's Donuts' new S.F. store opening into a permit nightmare". San Francisco Chronicle. Archived from the original on 2025-03-31. Retrieved 2025-12-01.
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 Whiting, Sam (2025-11-24). "Closure of S.F.'s original Bob's Donuts leaves a hole for longtime customers". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 2025-12-01.
- ↑ Tolentino, Aaron (2025-11-03). "Famed San Francisco donut shop closing location after 70 years". KRON4 News. Retrieved 2025-12-02.
- ↑ Unterman, Patricia (July 24, 1992). "Bay Area Dining". San Francisco Chronicle. pp. D13.
The best shop in town for fresh, cleanly fried doughnuts with texture and loft, accompanied with fresh brewed French roast coffee.
- ↑ Karoff, Timothy. "Late-night San Francisco doughnut shop immortalized on film". SFGATE. Archived from the original on 2025-02-19. Retrieved 2025-12-01. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ "Iconic SF donut shop inspires children's book and donut contest". ABC7 San Francisco. 2025-07-14. Retrieved 2025-12-02.
External Links
- Circle of Donuts trailer on YouTube
- San Francisco Legacy Business Registry staff report, from the San Francisco Office of Small Business
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