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Not the easiest place to find as it's a window in an alleyway, but the crowd outside helps to give it away. Friendly and quick service. Delicious, fresh donuts and donut holes.
These are some of my favorite donuts ever! When visiting Chicago I'm always sure to stop here. My favorites are the vanilla bean cronut and Oreo old fashioned. It's a perfect glazed donut that's soft and chewy inside without being overly fried or too soft. The Oreo is unlike any other donut I've had. The middle is so soft yet fluffy. It's a deep chocolate, more like a dark chocolate and as someone who loves dark chocolate... I can't get enough! I preorder the night before and it makes it so easy to swing by, grab your order and get back on the road. The staff is friendly and quick. The blueberry pancake is also great, maybe a little too much filling for my liking but it's hard to go wrong here.
Beacon is in a class all by itself. Each donut is artistically and thoughtfully made and there are community favorites but they do have specialty donuts that appear for the season or a short period of time.. They operate out of an alley but don't be afraid, this is Lincoln Park and it's clean and families are frequent customers. No drug deals going on here!! As everyone else has suggested, order these online and pick them up at your desired time. By doing this, you get exactly what you want as they do sell out and when they're out, that's it for the day. :) Enjoy these in the car, whilst you're parked or weaving in and out of I-94 traffic, or better yet !!- at home, with a home made latte.. My favorites were, in no particular order: 1 guava cheese danish 2 vanilla bean cronut 3 blueberry pancake 4 apple fritter 5 chocolate ganache 6 Boston cream I guess I put them in order.. FYI, personally, I would pass on the banana bread and chocolate donut. I hope to be back as soon as possible as Beacon differentiates itself from the Big Boys (DoRite, Stan's, and Firecakes), as well as the family owned/neighborhood donut shops.
This was a really hard place to find! It's hidden in an alley (which I have to say is not a super appetizing place to order doughnuts from a window smell-wise). I tried the Boston cream because it was such a unique spin on that: a filled ring cake doughnut?! I thought it was a brilliant idea and the texture was great. I loved the cake doughnut itself. The cream didn't really hit for me - it's a vegan spot, so for something like custard you can tell, but if I'd had a non-custard doughnut I'm sure I wouldn't have noticed. I just thought the design was so unique that I had to know! I wish I had a second stomach to order a ton of doughnuts here but alas I'll just have to come back another time. Super fun, creative doughnuts, friendly service, just in a slightly questionable location! Curious to try their cronut too.
I loved beacon donuts!!!! We went around 11 or 12 on a saturday and they still had a good amount of donuts left and were not out of anything we wanted to try. Beacon donuts is out of a window in an alley, so not somewhere you can sit down or go inside of. My absolute favorite was the vanilla bean cronut. It was so soft and pillowy and perfectly glazed. The blueberry pancake was also great and filled with blueberry jelly. There was a line when we got there but it moved super quick. Can't wait to go back!
Lives up to the hype! Ordered online and came to pick up. Super easy to go right up and grab your order. Got the blueberry pancake cake donut. It was incredible. It is stuffed with pockets of blueberry jam. Topped with powdered sugar. The vanilla bean cronut was also spectacular. Fluffy, with a delicious glaze. Will certainly be back to try more things in the menu.
Wow! I can't believe how good these donuts were. The vanilla bean cronut was my favorite, with the chocolate glazed coming in at a close second. The layers in the cronut were amazing, soft inside, slight crunch on the outside. I absolutely loved it. The chocolate glaze tasted like a ganache.. best chocolate glazed I've had in a while! It's hard to get the chocolate right but they did it. The blueberry pancake donut was good but I didn't love the cinnamon taste to it. All of the donuts were very fresh & soft. This place is in an alley but is super easy to find. We loved turning the corner & seeing all the bright colors! Service is good, you order online the night before for pick up so it was quick-make sure you have a plan for where to eat them as there's no tables or anything there. I think there's a park nearby, it snowed the day we got them so we went to a nearby coffee shop for drinks & to eat. We will be back in the summer when we're back in town!!
I was able to have the first apple fritter I have had since becoming vegan 15 years ago. So good! I appreciate the ability to pre order as I was in from out of town and would have been disappointed if they were sold out.
Beacon has some of the best donuts I think I have ever had. Their flavors are fun and inventive, but they also have the classics. The blueberry donut was incredible, a clear favorite. the Boston crème was a really fun take on it, and the birthday cake was perfection. It is such a cute little window in an alleyway with great service and really kind workers.
these doughnuts are still amazing and a consistent stop every time we are in chicago. i am not a fan of jelly/jam in doughnuts but the way that beacon doughnuts does it has changed my opinion. the blueberry pancake doughnut is your traditional doughnut shape with a hole but they somehow filled it with jam still. magic i think. the doughnuts are decadent, delicious, to die for. the chocolate glazed brioche is a new favorite of mine. it's an airy yeast doughnut which i prefer over cake doughnuts. the chocolate frosting is rich and the sweetness of the glaze balances out the chocolate.
Flavor!!!! These doughnuts are top tier variety. Tucked away in a alley you see a mural and a random window, (go towards the window), you find a entire bakery just working away. The service friendly and straightforward. Their menu changes so if you come late in the day or have a favorite. Be open to trying something new. Hard to go wrong here. P.S not a doughnut person, but these got me
Amazing donuts! Tried 3 different types all delicious. Blueberry pancake was my favorite. This is a walk up counter and I have heard sometimes the line is long but it wasn't when we went. Service was great, very helpful and coffee was good too. A great spot!
I should try them one more time to be sure, but these may be my favorite donuts in the city! We stopped in their alley location and got 4 donuts to go with our coffees from La Colombe. Every one we tried was delicious. I have tried their donuts at other coffeeshops before. Love that they're all vegan as well! You can pre-order, but we chose to wait in line - there were several people waiting, but the line moved pretty quickly since they're just serving up donuts.
A true hidden gem - literally in an alley. But truly some of the best doughnuts I've had!! We tried the blueberry pancake, Oreo old fashioned, vanilla bean cronut, and caramel mocha. They were all a hit and so fresh!! I will definitely be coming back time and time again to try all of the flavors and new ones too! read more
2 years ago
Yeast, cake, cronuts, all the options. I feel like I can never find a good yeast donut in this cake obsessed donut culture! But I found a few. I got the glazed, it was perfectly soft, squishy, and so sugary. I fell in love with my first bite. It had some salty tangs in there as well. My son got the birthday cake donut, it was pretty, completely covered in tasty sprinkles. My husband got a coffee cake donut. He said it had a good salt ratio and it was decadent, and with coffee it was a perfect pairing. The coffee was good, we got our donuts in seconds after ordering, and we went on a Saturday morning at 9:30, there were 2 people ahead of us, and when we left there was a line. There is also an incredible mural on the side of the building, adding to the beauty. read more
2 months ago
Found this place out on TikTok so we came here on the weekend. You have to come in the morning to get it fresh and not a long line. You can place an order online and come pick it up to minus the hassle. We got a half dozen. The donut is vegan and very delicious. Street parking. Would recommend and come back again! read more
My friends and I stopped here after brunch ~ 1:30 PM on a Sunday and they luckily still had all the donut choices still! I didn't realize how popular this place was since we just walked by the sign and decided to check it out! I got the 2nd to last blueberry pancake cake donut (10/10) and it was delicious and had a large amount of blueberry filling in it which I really enjoyed! My friends got the chocolate frosted glazed (8/10 I'm more of a cake donut girl) and the apple fritter (9/10 good with apple pieces throughout!) I do wish there were spots to sit or at least a table set up to stand at while we ate for the quick minute since they were pretty messy! read more
2 years ago
Amazing donuts! We stopped by here once before, but it was later in the afternoon and most of the options had unfortunately sold out. This time we decided to place an online order to make sure we could get some flavors that we wanted to try! It's a cute little place tucked away in an alley with a little sign on the sidewalk to point you in n the right direction. There was a decent line, but the online order window was empty so I was able to walk up and grab my donuts right away. The donuts were all very unique and delicious! I cannot wait to come back and get a half dozen or dozen to try even more flavors! read more
3 years ago
I am really upset that I spent over $50 and really went out of my way to try and get these donuts for my husband for Valentine's Day. We both absolutely love stans and donut vault. We had previously had some really really good donuts from Beacon that I had been dying for. They don't deliver and the hours are very select so it's always a pain trying to get there to get the donuts . I ended up doing a Uber pick up which cost me $23 for a $33 box of donuts. My husband and I were so excited for the white chocolate, raspberry doughnut that they had on special for Valentine's Day . I had to have it, especially since it was in a heart shape so I ordered four of those. We both agreed that the donut was dry, except for the cream that was on the inside, which actually had chocolate chips in it, which I'm not a fan of crunchy things inside. Since the donut was so dry, we decided we would try all of the others and I am absolutely shocked that literally every single donut was extremely dry . I'm not sure if this was due to them maybe pre-batching a ton of donuts for Valentines and maybe we got stale donuts or what . The Oreo and red Velvet were shockingly dry and both tasted like nothing other than deep fried grease. The red velevet has a frosting on top but it was very hard. Again, seemed stale. But I can say that I don't think I'll ever go out of my way to get these donuts again . We were both really bummed, and wished that we would have just got Stan's Donuts, which is literally across the street from where we live. read more
I'm surprised and embarrassed I haven't left a review for my favorite donuts of all time yet! Beacon Doughnuts... definitely the best donuts in Chicago (including non-vegan donuts). I'm not even vegan myself, but I can't help myself from ordering these almost every weekend. My favorites are the Birthday Cake, Lavender Vanilla and Cookie Dough. Unfortunately the last two are just rotating flavors, but I'd love to see them have a permanent spot on the menu! The Birthday Cake is not like a regular vanilla sprinkled donut that you'd see at most other places, it actually has birthday cake flavor to it.. it is beyond incredible! Other donuts I love from here are the Chocolate Fudge and Blueberry Pancake. But if we're being honest.. I've never had a bad donut at Beacon. EVER! Even the people working the counter are always so friendly and helpful.. overall I don't think there's anything that Beacon Donughnuts does wrong ;) read more
6 months ago
These doughnuts were soooo good. We ordered ahead so they were ready right away! Would definitely come back here to try more flavors. read more
Cool little spot tucked in an alley with only a walk up window to place and pick up your order. The girl that helped me out was very welcoming and friendly. I ordered their Boston Cream donut and their Blueberry Pancake. All the blueberry pictures looked really good so I knew I had to try it out. The donut itself was very heavy. I just felt like it had way too much filling and was hoping for more dough. I've seen some pictures with barely any filling and some with a decent amount, but overall it was still a very good tasting donut. The Boston crème I didn't not eat until later in the day but it was just as good. Not sure if I would order the blueberry pancake again, but for sure will be ordering another Boston cream and certainly other offerings. read more
1 year ago
Wow, wow, wow, these delicious vegan donuts are no joke! Absolutely amazing! The perfect balance of sweet, dense cake with high quality ingredients. You can taste the love that goes into making these yummy rounds of sweet doughy goodness fresh every morning. I have passed by Beacon several times and finally stopped by to give it a try. Tucked away in an alley off Armitage street in Lincoln Park, it is a cute little window where you go up and order. I love that you can pre-order what you want up to three days in advance, pay online and can select your pick up time. This process made it super easy and this way you can ensure you get the flavors who want. Highly recommend ordering this way. Every donut was AMAZING! The standouts for us were the Boston Cream Pie and Vanilla Bean Cronut but honestly they were all wonderful! We got half a dozen, which actually came out cheaper than ordering 5 or 6 donuts individually. It was the perfect amount and both my friend and I felt perfectly satisfied after sharing each. :) Prices are reasonable for the quality! I consider myself a donut freak and these are some of the best I have ever had. Love, love, love!!! read more
1 year ago
Hidden gem in the alley. Great vegan donuts, a little pricey but very tasty. A nice afternoon treat read more
8 months ago
The donuts were excellent and the person who took my order was very kind. They were kind of expensive, can't lie. Also, they close at 12pm on weekdays and like 2pm/2:30pm on weekends so keep that in mind when you plan your trip! read more
3 years ago
Stopped here on a Sunday early afternoon based off a recommendation for some good coffee and doughnuts and I'm extremely happy we did. Beacon doughnuts is located in an alley between halsted and armitage BUT, you aren't walking deep into the alley. It's within 100-200 ft from the main roads. This is a grab and go spot - you order via their window and grab your stuff and go haha. There isn't any seating available. It's a very colorful and beautiful spot especially given the fact that it's in an alley. The staff was friendly and helpful. This was my first time there and I asked the staff member to pick a doughnut of her choice for my fiancé and I to share. The doughnuts are vegan and I was skeptical bc I love me some eggs! We tried the Oreo old fashioned and wow it was light, fluffy, moist and delicious. We also got a cold brew which was very necessary to stay caffeinated. read more
1 year ago
I was wary when I heard that these were vegan doughnuts, but I still ordered my favorite Boston Cream. Pleasantly surprised to find it creamy and delicious with a hint of banana. The other flavors we tried were Oreo, Birthday Cake, Blueberry Pancake, and Salted Caramel. Very sweet and fresh. Quite filling too. The line was long, but moved quickly. Fun atmosphere. Would return. read more
It's hard to believe this is vegan like how do are these donuts so fluffy and delicious and better than all other non-vegan chain donut places in Chicago~ The alley entrance is actually quite cool and beautiful as well - we came early on a Sunday and had trouble only picking two flavors. We went with the blueberry pancake and vanilla bean cronut. The blueberry pancake was my favorite - dense but still fluffy and the jam inside wasn't too sweet either. The vanilla bean cronut was a nice complement as it was lighter and fluffier yet not too flakey. Basically the perfect synchrony of donut and croissant! I also got a tasty hot coffee to wash these down. Cannot wait to come back and try all of the other flavors! read more
3 years ago
My friend surprised me with a box of 6 donuts for my birthday! Flavors (left to right, top to bottom) 1. boston cream - our favorite 2. sprinkles/birthday - least favorite 3. powdered sugar with blueberry jam - too much jam 4. oreo old fashion 5. cinnamon apple - way too sweet 6. chocolate glazed brioche You can barely tell that they are vegan. They're just a little denser than regular donuts read more
This donut shop is tucked away in an alley. But don't let that fool you , it's a beautiful place. By the time we arrived, there were only glazed left and that's because everything is baked fresh. The woman helping us was pleasant and we will have to return earlier next time. I enjoyed read more
9 months ago
2 years ago
Perfect vegan donuts. This one was a cake style donut and it was cooked to perfection. The gal who helped me was a dang delight. read more
10 months ago
Service was 10 out of 10 the donuts were 10 out of 10. The donuts were really big which I really like. I will definitely be coming back. The glazed donut was definitely a staple, but every single donut was so good. I definitely recommend! read more
Really good donuts! The alleyway is super cool. I got one of the chocolate glazed brioche and one blueberry pancake. They were both so good, I couldn't decide which I liked better!! The blueberry pancake had a nice ring of blueberry filling that was perfectly balanced, and I loved the icing on the chocolate. Will definitely be back to try more! read more
Freaking love Beacon. They are consistently an amazing and love the seasonals and specialty flavors. They now come to the wicker park farmers market which made my year haha recently tried the pistachio raspberry and it's another home run! Can't go wrong with beacon! read more
Wow. Tucked away ready for when you have your morning coffee in hand, Beacon awaits in the Armitage alleyway. Blown away by the blackberry beignet. The jam is not to sweet snd sits well in the fluffy beignet. It still managed to be pillowy and they didn't cheap out of the powdered sugar either! We also got the vanilla bean cronut. Again, they didn't skimp out on the glaze. The layers were so crisp on the outside, and delicate on the inside. My partner and I mentioned we were splitting them when carefully selecting our choices and the server ended up even cutting them in half for us. Easily holds up the to the hype. read more
2 years ago
These donuts were incredible!!! The flavors are so unique and the cake donut was the perfect consistency and the toppings were amazing. The vanilla bean donut is soft and fluffy and so so good. We went right before it closed so they were out of a lot of the flavors but I definitely need to go back and try the Blueberry pancake and the birthday cake. The service is friendly at the window and the colorful wall is aesthetically pleasing. These might be my new favorite donuts in Chicago!! read more
2 years ago
Putting a walk-up window in an alley is something that looks cool in photos and sounds neat, but in reality you're just standing next to dumpsters and standing in garbage water while you wait for your donuts. That being said, The donuts from here are pretty tasty. We got a half dozen because it was the most cost effective. They had several unique flavors and then your basic standard style donuts. I really enjoyed the blueberry pancake. It had a nice ribbon of blueberry jam running through it. I also liked the coffee cake donut. Service was friendly but kind of slow considering all they're doing is grabbing donuts and putting them in boxes. I expected it to be a little faster. Price is what you'd expect for an upscale donut shop in Lincoln Park. read more
Cute donut window in the Armitage area. This shop is literally in an alley which involves walking past a few dumpsters. The residents use the alley to go in and out so I felt badly for both the residents of the street as well as the donut crowd that was waiting, as there isn't a lot of room for the line and the cars to go by. I came by on a weekend morning around 8am and there was already a line, although it moved quickly. They take preorders as well but it seems like those take a bit of wait as well. The staff is very friendly and keeps everyone moving. They have a rotating selection of donuts and you can see the trays of them sitting out behind the window. They looked like they were going quickly and some flavors were already out. Donuts were tasty especially when fresh. Some of the more unique flavors were really interesting and nothing was too sweet. Pricing is a bit steep but with the fun flavors it's worth a try. read more
Finding Beacon Doughnuts was fluke. I stopped at a coffee shop in Logan Square (The Brewed) and was intrigued by the Oreo Old Fashioned when I was getting some drinks. That led me to look up Beacon when I found that was where the doughnut was from. Beacon is hidden in an alley on Armitage about half a block west of Halsted. You obviously don't expect to see a donut shop hidden in the alley (there's actually no entrance--it's a walk-up window ordering setup that is literally in the alley) so if you walk by and see a bunch of folks lined up, you're in the right place. They have their regular doughnuts--of which the Oreo Old Fashioned appears to be one, thank goodness!--and mix it up with some seasonal flavors or specials. The day I stopped in they had a pumpkin-based donut since we're deep into fall and fewer than two weeks from Thanksgiving. They also had a lavender vanilla doughnut as their special this Saturday. I'm not much a fan of lavender but I tolerate it more in food than as a scent, so I bought one for my significant other and tasted a bite. It was really good! The lavender was quite evident, but not overpoweringly so. If I had bought it for myself to try I'd have been happy with it. I couldn't decide what ones to get so I bought a half dozen and in the mix was the blackberry Bismarck, and that too was delicious. It was huuuuuuuuuge, enough so that I was trying to figure out how to get it in my mouth without making too much a mess with the powdered sugar. It was filled with a ton of jam as well and had the potential to be very messy but I managed. Yum, definitely a favorite and made me realize I like Bismarcks! You can pre-order donuts, which can be a good idea since once they sell out, that's it for the day. You MUST preorder if you order over a certain quantity (I think it's five dozen, but you'll see on their site). And their donuts are vegan. I don't know what I would have expected of a vegan donut, but it wasn't this. They are so light, airy, and flavorful, and I don't know if that has anything to do with the vegan-ness or if it's just that the chef knows what they're doing. But if you haven't liked doughnuts in the past because they're dense or stodgy or whatnot, Beacon may change your view on them. As you might guess there's no parking for this place; you're lucky if you find a spot on the street somewhere. But it's worth a stop so drive on over to see if you're able to find a spot. Though the line may be long, it moves fairly quickly (assuming you've made your decision--don't be like the couple in front of me, who were being so terse that I could feel the tension radiating off them and, as a result of their argument that made even me uncomfortable, took forever with their order). Take a look at the site for their regular offerings and check the menu when you arrive for any specials and you'll help keep the line moving. I have to make an edit, and it's fitting that this happened today, on Yelp's #ThankYouThursday2023. Today I stopped to get some donuts and got there within an hour of their closing. Luckily for me, they had the donuts I wanted, yay! As we (my four month old and I) headed back to the car, the box was lifted in a gust of wind out of my hands and every single donut landed in the alley. Cue sad face. The woman was able to get my order pulled up and put it in a box and sealed it in case there were any disasters again. This time we made it out of the alley successfully and they were just delicious as I remembered when we got home. Thanks, Beacon! read more
If I could give more than 5 stars to Beacon, I would! I found out about Beacon through a recommendation and am so glad I did. It's tucked away in a little alley and is a window that you order from. The wall is painted and colorful where the ordering window is. The employee was friendly at the window. I went on their website to make an order ahead of time because it says that they highly recommend that and that once they sell out then they close for the day. I was planning on ordering 7 doughnut but they were the same price as a dozen so I went for the dozen. There were some doughnuts not listed on the website that I wish I would have tried like the chocolate coconut caramel doughnut. I also didn't get one of the doughnuts I ordered, the salted caramel biscoff doughnut, and I would have loved to try that one since I ordered it. Instead, I was given 2 Boston Creams, which ended up being okay because they were one of our favorites. My favorite doughnuts out of all the ones we tried were: 1. Blueberry Pancake 2. Cinnamon Coffee Cake 3. Boston Cream 4. Birthday Cake The blueberry pancake was the most unique out of all the doughnuts and not a doughnut you can find anywhere else. This one was pure perfection! The blueberry jam, the fresh dough, and the powdered sugar were amazing. This one is a must! The cinnamon coffee cake was fresh, not dry, and had great coffee cake flavor. The icing drizzle was tasty. The Boston cream was filled with custard that was delicious. I loved the dark chocolate that they used for the frosting and the cocoa powder that was sprinkled on top. Birthday cake has a vanilla cake frosting with rainbow sprinkles on a cake doughnut. I liked all of the other doughnuts that we tried. I don't think I would need to get all of them again, but since it was my first visit I loved trying the different doughnuts. They were all fresh and tasted high quality. They weren't greasy like some doughnuts can be. I highly recommend doing an online order to make sure you don't miss out on the flavors you want to try. Next time I am visiting Chicago, I will make sure to come back to Beacon! read more
6 months ago
1 year ago
2 years ago
Vegan donuts that taste amazing! We enjoyed the vanilla bean cronut, apple fritter, raised glazed, and blueberry pancake. I'm not vegan, but my wife is so we each come with a different perspective. Real fruit and jam fillings, I enjoyed these donuts as well as any I have eaten that are non-vegan. I try to post vegan options that are good because it's such a victory when we find them. We found one today! My wife loved them over the others we have found in Chicago. The walk up alleyway ordering is fun and an experience in itself. I suggest ordering ahead as they sell out quickly. Great communication that our order was ready. And cute neighborhood with fun shops. A short walk from the Brown Line. We will be back. read more
I really don't think this place needs any more 5 star reviews but here we go! I've gone a few times and their donuts are perfect if you're craving something really sweet and decadent. Do not expect an average donut, especially not with the Morning Bun shown below. Unique flavors, super sweet staff, and the cutest set up ever! Totally recommend read more
More info about Beacon Doughnuts
810 W Armitage Ave
Chicago, IL 60614
Lincoln Park, Sheffield Neighbors, DePaul
Directions
(773) 698-2839
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http://www.beacondoughnuts.com
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