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    Donut Bistro

    4.1 (156 reviews)
    InexpensiveDonuts, Chinese, Noodles
    Open • 9:00 am - 9:00 pm

    Donut Bistro Photos

    Business Info

    DONUT BISTRO ATMOSPHERE

    What's the vibe?
    Casual
    Quiet
    Good for groups
    Dogs allowed

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    Chicken Pho (good broth, had flavor notes reminiscent of bacon)
    Laura C.

    I'm really torn between 3 and 4 stars, because the service is fantastic, the portions are generous, the price is good, and in the evenings I often see lots of people dining in, however, the flavors (and some entrees' textures) taste a bit different than the typical Chinese takeout food I'm used to. The lady at checkout did recommend that next time I try one of their stir fried entrees (such as Szechuan chicken; she also recommended the Street Noodles), so I'll at least have to return to give those a try. If you're getting something fried (like orange chicken) I think takeout is better because the texture improves (dining in the orange chicken was CRON-CHEE [crunchy] haha but the second time I got it to-go it had a much more familiar texture) though the ambiance is comfortable enough for dining in (standard Chinese takeout place with booths that they keep reasonably clean).

    Amy O.

    12/26/24- Needed another side dish to serve for dinner. The usual go to spot was closed, and I had my heart set on sweet & sour chicken- Unfortunately, I'm very picky when it comes to my liking or disliking.. (too saucy or too thick- or too big of pieces etc..). Called in and was a 20- min wait time. I've been here once- ordering Pho to go long ago.. Reasonable price- good portion size and value- Staff was friendly- Now serving dim sum- ( they get it from the bay and have it delivered).. A very nice surprise- I liked the dish! Case was almost empty of donuts- but did snag a maple bar...

    Menu/prices as of 12/2024
    Lena T.

    So this location down south is really much more than just donuts. The donuts itself in already a fan from the other location in sparks. The fact that this location has some damn decently priced bomb ass pho is also a huge bonus. The pho is more shallot forward, and I honestly am I fan of that as it really reminds me of my momma's pho. I feel Everytime we come, we notice a limited amount of staff but the service itself has always been to the best that they can do. So no complaints on our end. I haven't tried anything else on the menu, but from what I've observed, there are regulars there come and order other items besides pho and they keep coming back or rave about it. If this place isn't our of the way, give it a try for the other items and just just pho or donuts.

    hot sour soup
    Diane C.

    The food is amazing. So big portion for a lunch special. I had to take some home. The counter person is nice and the food comes to the table hot and fresh. Very clean restaurant. You can't forget to get the donuts at the end of your meal. Donuts was hard to choose. Always a go to place for Chinese food or Pho.

    Egg Drop Soup
    Kirby D.

    If you are looking for inexpensive Chinese, Donut Bistro is the place. Where else can you pick up a Glazed Twist and Kung Pao Chicken. :-) In all seriousness, Donut Bistro serves decent Chinese. I wouldn't consider it the most flavorful nor amazing, but it is decent. Today I had the Kung Pao Chicken Lunch Special. It was served with Egg Drop Soup and an appetizer order of cream cheese wontons. Hot and Sour was also an option. The Egg Drop Soup kinda surprised me. I had fairly low expectations, but the soup was pretty good. Nice texture and good flavor. The Kung Pao Chicken was a more mixed bag. The chicken was surprisingly good but overall, the dish lacked flavor. It was decent enough for lunch but probably not something I would come back and order for dinner. Donut Bistro serves decent Chinese at a good price.

    Very dry and way overcooked foo young.

    Had the beef skewers and egg foo young. The beef skewers are overcooked. Like a jerky to be honest. The egg foo young is also overcooked. It is very dry inside. Such a disappointment.

    Lunch special and spring roll (comes with 2, one is in my office fridge)
    Richard M.

    This place is great! I always order the lunch special, it comes with white or fried rice, your entree, your choice of soup and 2 wontons. The rice is always fresh (you might be surprised how often places use stale, dry rice), and the wontons are perfect. Seriously PERFECT! Ive tried many of the entrees, but my favorite has to either be the Kung Pao beef (which is oddly rare to find around town) or the Mongolian beef. I also like the spring rolls, always fresh. The peanut sauce is a bit tarter than I like, but its ok. Also, their tea is always fresh. Give them a chance. I still havent tried their donuts.

    Kimberly N.

    My husband and I stopped by here for a late lunch/early dinner yesterday. We have come here several times over the years because my husband enjoys their Pho. He typically gets their No. 10, Hu Tieu Hai San which has an assortment of seafood like shrimp, fishballs, and scallops. I would probably enjoy that, too, except instead of a seafood stock it is made with chicken stock. I never had their eggplant dishes before so I decided to try their Eggplant in Spicy Szechuan Sauce. When the dish was delivered to our table, it was a generous serving and steaming hot. And while I liked the sauce, I was a little disappointed that it was not very spicy. But the biggest disappointment was that the skin left on the pieces of eggplant was too tough to eat. I ended up scraping the soft bits of eggplant from the skin of each little piece. It would have taken much less time to peel the eggplant before cooking it. We also got two tasty doughnuts to go for breakfast this morning.

    general chicken
    Robbie R.

    I'm headed back to Sacramento with my work crew from our site location east of Carson City and needed some lunch before heading over the pass on the 80. We're headed north up the 580 to Reno. One of my guys says he's heard of this donut shop that serves great Chinese food and Vietnamese pho. What? A donut shop the has Chinese food? You're kidding me! Nope, so we exit at South Meadows, turn right and the first left and we're there! Good freeway access, that's for sure. Walking in, it's not too crowded. We got 6 people, so we take a big table in the middle of the room. Yep, there's those donuts all displayed in the glass case! We're here for food though. Our server is friendly and hands out menus. I see a variety of your normal Chinese food and Pho bowls. Two of the guys get the lunch specials, cause well, that's what they always get at Chinese places. They ordered the Chicken Mushroom and the Pork Sichuan Eggplant both with fried rice for about $9.00 ea. That's a good price! Entree prices are around $13 ea. I ordered some pot stickers for the table. You only get 6, so we each got just one to try. They were more like the Japanese ones but fried, a little smaller, but tasty. The rest of us got entrees to share. We got the general chicken, house pan fried noodles, large won ton soup, asparagus chicken, chicken chow fun with black bean sauce and this crispy eggplant which was one of the strangest dishes I've had. The crispy egg plant was definitely not what I was expecting. It was pieces of eggplant coated with a thick batter and deep fried. It look like chicken nuggets and came with this bowl of brown sauce. It was not very good. The general chicken was good for being general chicken, it had a crunchy coating instead of the normal squishy kind. I did like the sauce. The house pan fried noodles were good, a bit too much sauce, but the noodles were crispy. The Asparagus Chicken was excellent. It was a simple dish that was done well and had great flavor, my fave out of all the food we got. The won ton soup was very good. The broth was better than most place that serve this standard soup. The dumplings were nice and tender. The chicken chow fun black bean sauce was excellent, one of the better versions. The noodles were super tender and soft melty in the mouth. The sauce, chicken and veggies were piled high on top. The two guys that got the lunch specials really liked what they got. The fried rice was better than most places that serve cheap fried rice with the specials. This rice was like actual real fried rice with eggs and some veggies in it. The little fried won tons were good dipped in the house made sweet and sour sauce. I tasted the sauce and it was way better than most cheap Chinese joints that serve sweet and sour sauce out of the gallon food service bottle. Good for this dount shop! You get a ton of food with the lunch specials if that's what you want. OK, I was surprised at the quality and value of the Chinese food here at "Donut Bistro". I'll tell everybody I know, we had Chinese food at a donut shop! Dang, those apple fritters do look good and we still have a ways to drive!

    Rice Krispies to add to soup
    Sharon G.

    Stopped in here for a bowl of soup as recovering from a cold and all other Asian restaurants closed. This is not a regular stop for me as I've had their Pho here and Chinese dishes and they were subpar. Dishes never seem to contain fresh veggies- always frozen and today was no exception. Ordered the sizzling soup which is a fave of mine ( not here), and it wasn't too bad. If you've never had 'popped rice' ie Rice Krispies in soup, you gotta try it! Soup had chicken, shrimp, snow peas, carrots in a tasty broth, altho once again- frozen veggies! Shrimp was chopped up, no whole pieces and chicken was almost shredded and unfortunately, no whole snow peas as they too were diced as were the carrots ie frozen from a bag. Not bad for a quick stop for fast food soup or potstickers, but wouldn't make a dinner out of this place. They are advertising dim sum but I wonder if they too ar frozen?

    Current Menu with prices Dec 2023
    M L.

    When I heard that there's this donut shop that has great donuts, but ALSO serves Chinese and Vietnamese food, THIS I gotta see! I know Asians make some of the best donuts, so I guess makes sense, might as well serve Asian food for the rest of the day, and make use of the restaurant space they're paying rent for anyways! Only in Reno, Donuts and Chow Mein and Pho in one place! The inside looks like a typical donut shop with tasty morsels on display. Prices are reasonable just $1.25 for a regular donut. My friend purchased a half doz for $7.00. I'm not THAT much of a donut fan, I'm here to see how the Chinese food is at a donut shop! The menu includes all the standard Chinese American dishes and lunch specials, but also has a few dishes you don't see very often. I ordered the large Wonton soup with egg noodles added for $12.95. It was plenty to share, no skimping on the wonton dumplings here! The egg noodles were cooked al dente how I like. My friend ordered a dish I never saw before at a Chinese restaurant, Lemongrass Beef ($13.45). This dish I'd def get again, unique flavor like no Chinese dish I ever had, tender beef and a wonderful sauce eaten with rice. Both dishes 5 STARS! My friend loves to get egg foo young and it was on the menu. When we asked about it, the server told us it takes 45 minutes to make! Wow, I'd never heard of that before! It must be good for taking that long! OK, next time we come, we'll order 30 min ahead, so it'll be ready soon after we get there. Our next visit, Egg Foo Young here we come! Pork Egg Foo Young ($15.45). We also ordered Spicy Sichuan Eggplant with Pork, that didn't sound like one of the run of the mill dishes. The Egg Foo Young comes out .... Holy OMFG! wow, that's not like any egg foo young I ever saw! It looked like 2 large meatballs covered in a rich brown sauce. I cut into one with my fork and whoa! Not meat inside at all, but a moist mix of eggs cooked with veggies and pork. Normally I'm not a fan of egg foo young, they're usually just flat little patties with some generic gravy on it. This was totally a different animal! (Carson City sayin I heard). The gravy went well with the eggs and it was cooked so evenly across the diameter of the ball. Get this, just to say you did, but order ahead! The eggplant dish was fantastic, better than I expected for sure. Everything cooked perfect, no tough skins like one other review complained about, just tender and full on yummers experience. Get this one too! Both 5 stars!

    Chicken and shrimp pho with jasmine tea
    Heather S.

    So yummy and warmed me up just right! Very clean and a friendly staff. Will definitely come back next time I am in Reno.

    chow mein

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    1 year ago

    Food, service lacking. Server would ask questions, we would respond and then she would do it differently.

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    3 years ago

    Consistently great service. Love their pho. And they are super quick if you call in for takeout. We have been customers of theirs for years.

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    Shrimp & chives dumplings are awesome. Personalized service and simple ambiance. Cozy atmosphere. Delicious vegetables!

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    Honey Bakery

    Honey Bakery

    4.3(387 reviews)
    7.0 mi
    •$

    Still loving Honey Bakery and stopped by to replenish my dim sum supply. Tip of the day: get there…read moreearly because they run out of certain items. Love to talk to the folks there about China and the different food items. Friendly service. Good prices and it's local.

    Coming originally from an area where you can find a pretty large range of Chinese/Vietnamese…read morebakeries, I was very excited to find out that Reno had one! Parking is very easy in the shopping center lot. Honey Bakers is a small shop where you order to-go. Highlights The location offers a range of dim sum standards (har gow, siu mai, sticky rice, etc.) that you can order on demand. Around Autumn festival time, there are also mooncakes and other traditional pastries, with lotus, black bean, red bean, taro, egg custard, and other fillings. There is also a long specialty menu of sweet and savory "buns," including steamed and baked char siu bao, coconut pineapple, red bean, and chicken. I don't think I've ever seen so many options in one place, amazing! Turnaround time is pretty fast as well. Lowlights The dim sum prices are "boutique," and by that, I mean much more expensive than dim sum restaurants I've been to. Dim sum doesn't have that many offerings around here, and so you pay for the convenience. The buns are more reasonably priced, but the fillings are on the low side, and some aren't quite as fresh or tasty as I'm used to. Again, demand often impacts these factors, so I can appreciate a small business has to balance things. Overall, a convenient option if you're craving dim sum or Chinese sweets.

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    Honey Bakery
    Honey Bakery
    Honey Bakery - Made to order menu

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    Made to order menu

    Best Donuts In Town

    Best Donuts In Town

    4.3(81 reviews)
    7.3 mi
    •$

    My family and I wanted some local donuts on our way out of town and this place was the first that…read morepopped up on our Google search. So glad we came by. It was about 10am and I was worried there wouldn't be much to choose from, however this was not the case. Seemed they have a little of everything. The old man working there (maybe the owner?) was so friendly and threw in a free donut with our dozen because it was our first time there. The donuts themselves were great. Definetly top 5 donuts I've ever ever had. My favorites were the apple fritter and the old fashioned . I think they are certainly in contention for the "best donuts in town"

    I was excited to try this place and really wanted to like them for different reasons.i do uber and…read moredrive by them alot so ive always been curious. Then i Saw a tiktok about them. They looked good and the owners are a little cute older couple.. When I walked in it took me back to the 80s/90s...Its a small place but retro vibes and decor/ furniture. the male owner immediately greeted me and was super nice. I got a half of dozen donuts.. First couple bites of the first donut was good but after that they just turned out to not be so good.. there was some weird taste. Kinda like the oil they were cooked in was old or bad. Not a good tasting experience. I really wanted to like them. They aren't the worse donuts I've ever had but they aren't ones I would go out of my way for or really want again.

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    Best Donuts In Town
    Best Donuts In Town
    Best Donuts In Town

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    Perenn - Rancharrah  - Crispy Brunch Potatoes

    Perenn - Rancharrah

    4.3(805 reviews)
    2.6 mi
    •$$

    This is, in my opinion, the best bakery in Reno. I had been going to their original location but…read morethis location is better if you want to sit down and eat. The space is adorable, well decorated and well spaced out. But the food is really good! I love both their brunch items and also their pastries, but I think it is quite expensive. Be prepared for a line especially on the weekend. It usually does go by fast and I've never had an issue finding a spot to sit after I've ordered, unless you have a big group.

    This is a lovely cafe but the service I received was pretty poor…read more When you first walk in, you'll notice that it is a big open concept space with seating, and a small shop setup in the front. For the shop part, there's some baked goods and sort of deli items you can purchase--almost like a little market. For their restaurant portion, you'll actually have to order at the register and get a number. You can also order the baked items to enjoy at the counter. There were so many unique baked items that looked delicious. As my friend and I awaited to order, we looked over the menu. Prices seemed to be as expected for a place that looks this pretty. When I got to one of the female cashiers, she was not very friendly. She did not smile the whole time, and she made it seem like I was inconveniencing her from the get go, even though I had my order ready to go and I greeted her with a smile. I went ahead and ordered a crispy brunch potatoes and subbed the bacon for the mushroom which is noted to be the vegetarian option; she did have to quickly clarify whether I wanted to add mushrooms vs subbing, so I clarified. I also tried to order a latte with oat milk with their brown butter marzipan house syrup. She was trying to enter the drink order to the tablet and told me that she didn't have the brown butter marzipan button to select on her tablet and that they had brown sugar cinnamon. She tried to explain to me that brown sugar cinnamon and brown butter marzipan are the same. I was very confused by that comment, as that's not true, otherwise why are they separate names/labels? She asked if I wanted to get brown sugar cinnamon instead, and I told her no thanks, and asked to cancel the drink order. When I'm trying a new restaurant, I want to try the unique options. She then gave me a questioning, "are you serious" look, and confirmed if I wanted to cancel, and I said yes. Then I went ahead and paid, she didn't even say 'thank you' to close off, and wish I didn't tip her for that poor service...she wasn't even waiting my table... I don't expect service workers to chat me up, and all I expected was a "hi, what can I get for you?", "We don't have that, would you like something else?", and "Thank you." and also she should have either tried to figure out if 'brown butter marzipan' is in stock and that the button is just not on the tablet from a more senior staff member. It's on the menu, and I can get if you might be out of stock. Her overall reasoning just made it seem like she was being dishonest. I can't believe she tried to tell me essentially cinnamon and marzipan are the same with a bad attitude to top it all off. My friend also saw this interaction and was also frustrated by this experience. She noted that it seemed this lady's coworker noticed this poor interaction from the get go and that they seemed to try to compensate by giving friendlier service to my friend. I did notice later that this particular female cashier was smiling and friendly to other customers, so I have no idea what the problem was. I actually ended up going to the Perenn market that's located in the next building over and they did have brown butter marzipan syrup. I also told them about the above incident and they were unsure of the brown butter marzipan stock in the restaurant and were confused by how the cashier lady's comment how cinnamon and marzipan are the same, and they apologized for it even though they didn't have to. The person who served us our food was friendly. Later when I went to ask for a to-go box from a different cashier lady, this person was very friendly and accommodating. Other than that, portions seemed pretty large. I would say the crispy brunch potatoes were crispy as noted, adequately salted. I think there was some flavors they could add that would take the dish further. If they added avocado, that would be nice, or some citrus flavor. My friends ordered the traditional breakfast and they had varying experiences. Both of them were surprised by how large the dish was, however one person got scrambled eggs and the portion of eggs seemed way smaller than the one who got two sunny side up eggs. The potato pave had a flaked salt finish for one person, but not the other person, even though it wasn't a special request for either of them. The toast was delicious. It seems they use those large loaves, and give you two slices, to which they cut in half (you get 4 pieces of toast in total). Not sure what kind of bread they used, but the texture was lovely--crunchy crust and very soft center. With butter, the bread was perfect. They also used a very fresh peach jam. I would probably actually order this myself! Restroom was very clean and it is located in the back. There is also outdoor patio seating, which looked so nice. Overall, the restaurant is aesthetic, and food was pretty enjoyable, but the service was unfortunately lackluster.

    Photos
    Perenn - Rancharrah  - Inside the market cute espresso machine

    Inside the market cute espresso machine

    Perenn - Rancharrah  - Crispy Brunch Potatoes

    Crispy Brunch Potatoes

    Perenn - Rancharrah  - Soft Scrambled Eggs In a Croissant

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    Soft Scrambled Eggs In a Croissant

    The Jelly Donut - The Jelly Donut building exterior

    The Jelly Donut

    3.9(137 reviews)
    5.2 mi
    •$

    First, please forgive me…read more I've lived in Reno for quite a while, and for years I've driven past this little donut shop called Jelly Donut. Every single time, I thought, "Maybe one day." Well, last night my family and I were out on a little adventure by the Truckee River, enjoying an evening walk, when the craving hit: donuts! For some reason, Jelly Donut popped into my head. Now, I'll be honest--the outside doesn't exactly scream, "Stop here immediately!" In fact, it's one of those places where you wonder if you should keep driving. But I've been curious for years, so I finally took the plunge. Best. Decision. Ever. The moment I took a bite, I was transported back to my childhood donut shop from my hometown. You know, the kind of place that ruins all other donuts for you? Yep, that kind of good. Hands down, these are my favorite donuts in Reno. I honestly didn't expect to leave a Yelp review, so I never thought to take pictures. Boy, do I regret that! The donuts disappeared way too fast. I usually only eat the top half of a donut because I'm not a big fan of the dough itself. Not this time. I devoured the entire thing without a second thought. We got a half dozen: sprinkle donuts, a chocolate bar, a maple bar, a jelly donut, and one topped with Fruity Pebbles. Every single one was delicious, fresh, and packed with flavor. So, to Jelly Donut: I apologize for judging you by your exterior all these years. You've officially won me over, and I'll definitely be back for more!

    I was having a bad day and I went in looking for a specific donut the Oreo filled one, I got…read moregreeted very kindly by a young man and I told him I was having a good day (I lied). Turns out they didn't have it so I opted for a different one, I go to pay and he throws in some donut holes for free for me, that little act of kindness made my day instantly so much better. I hope he sees this cause I truly appreciated that so much.

    Photos
    The Jelly Donut - The Jelly Donut building exterior

    The Jelly Donut building exterior

    The Jelly Donut - 4th donuts

    4th donuts

    The Jelly Donut - The shop

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    The shop

    Black Rock Dessert - Exterior patio and entrance

    Black Rock Dessert

    4.4(303 reviews)
    6.2 mi•Midtown
    •$$

    This place felt like Willy Wonka opened a milkshake bar for the Instagram generation…read more We stopped by Black Rock Dessert while looking for ice cream and instead found milkshakes on steroids. We ordered the Dust Storm: a vanilla milkshake with chocolate bits, topped with a giant blondie skewered dramatically on top, plus whipped cream, sprinkles, and chocolate drizzle. The rim of the jar was coated in marshmallow dip and graham cracker crumbs because apparently subtlety has left the chat. Honestly, the presentation was on point and exactly the kind of milkshake kids dream about. Which is why we ordered it. My tween declared it "the best milkshake I've ever seen in my life," and honestly, that alone made it worth the stop on our mother-daughter trip. Taste-wise, it leaned very sweet for me and didn't have a ton of flavor depth beyond sugar overload. But clearly the goal here is maximal fun and aesthetic, and they absolutely nailed that. It's basically a photo op you can drink. The shop itself was surprisingly quiet when we visited in the evening--we had the whole place to ourselves--but there were games to play while waiting for our order (we pulled out Pick Up Sticks, which transported me straight back to my 90s childhood living room). The ladies at the counter were also incredibly kind and patient explaining the menu and flavors to us. If you're looking for an over-the-top dessert experience your kids will talk about for days, this is your place.

    I am a bit torn on Black Rock, but it's a great dessert spot nonetheless…read more Stopped in at Black Rock Dessert on a Thursday evening. Just one lone employee was running the place. In my opinion, it wasn't enough. There was a steady flow of people, and she couldn't keep up with orders and customer service. We opted for two small scoops of ice cream for the kids: chocolate and Cinnamon Toast Crunch. We also ordered the sizzling blonde brownie sundae. It was about $20 for three items. The ice cream was very good, especially the Cinnamon Toast Crunch. Very unique flavor and great texture. The blondie was a bit of a letdown. First, the blondie was not "sizzling". It wasn't even really warm. Only placed in a waffle iron for a few seconds. Second, it seemed very dry and crumbly, maybe even overbaked. I thought the ideas at Black Rock are fun, and I think trying one of their milkshakes should be my next visit. However, there are a lot of great ice cream spots in Reno. For just ice cream, I think there is some heavy competition.

    Photos
    Black Rock Dessert - Jesses Tropical Trip

    Jesses Tropical Trip

    Black Rock Dessert - Chango Loco

    Chango Loco

    Black Rock Dessert - Jesse's Tropical Trip

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    Jesse's Tropical Trip

    Donut Bistro - donuts - Updated September 2026

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