I love the seasonal flavors. Theres always something new and im excited to try. The staff is personable and know about the food well. I love the small cafe but I prefer to go outside and walk to the shops whole I eat. read more

What else can I say but awesome donuts. We like Bavarian crème filled donuts- please bring back the coconut glazed that we can add filling! Cinnamon buns and apple fritters are about 4 servings each. If you like yeast donuts- they are the best. Call ahead and order for pick-up. They run out early! Take out is best but they have a place inside to eat too. read more

The Apple Fritter is loaded with apples and can satisfy two people.. Pair the coffee with glazed donuts or donut holes will make your tastebuds say "Thank You". Be sure to get there early!!! read more

After having wanting to visit this place for months, finally made it last week! I am definitely a fan. I love yeast donuts and I tried a couple of yeast donuts from early bird donuts and loved them both. You can get flavored donuts or filled ones. I got the salted caramel donut and a Bavarian cream filled donut and omg it was amazing! Their menu comprises of yeast donuts, cake donuts, biscuits, and coffee. I mainly went for the donuts and I am one satisfied customer. It was a Sunday morning and it wasn't crowded. Due to covid, they only do takeouts. They do have a small outdoor dining area if you want to eat there. Parking is very convenient and they have spots right outside the store. True to their name, ensure that you show up early since they sell out pretty quickly. I would definitely go back to try some of their seasonal flavors soon. read more

See all

These donuts are HEAVENLY! I am in love with their everyday flavors like original glazed and chocolate glazed, but I enjoy trying their specialty/ seasonal donuts like this glazed donut with crumbled apple cider donut pieces on it. They also make incredible breakfast sandwiches to order -- highly recommend a bacon egg and cheese on a croissant. This is definitely a Durham staple! read more

Early Bird Donuts - Donuts Near Me - Durham, North Carolina

Words cannot express how phenomenal a person Sowadi is at Early Bird Donuts. We had recently received troubling medical news about my father and we wanted to buy doughnuts for the nurses that have been taking care of him. The doughnuts looked very delicious and smelled outstanding. Sowadi did something extremely thoughtful and went above and beyond to make our day. Thankyou so much Sowadi for providing optimal customer service and showing a kind heart. read more

I ordered a maple bacon yeast doughnut. I love that they don't price the flavored doughnuts more than the plain glazed doughnuts. The texture was nice and soft on the inside, but with enough of a chew on the exterior - not overly dry or gooey or stale, which I appreciate. The maple glaze wasn't overwhelmingly sweet, and was countered with the saltiness of the bacon. I imagine the plain glazed doughnuts would be just as enjoyable. For $1.50 a doughnut, it's a decent deal. They serve Joe Van Gogh coffee, which I like. Also, if you're a Duke employee, you get a small discount on Tuesdays, which I only found out coincidentally. read more

Early Bird Donuts - Maple bacon yeast doughnut with Joe Van Gogh coffee. - Donuts Near Me - Durham, North Carolina

The donuts are the real star here! They're fresh, creative and not too expensive. The cinnamon bun is HUGE and a must order. My parents loved the maple bacon. The staff was friendly and kept things moving fast. The biscuits were solid and I'd eat again. I got an egg and cheese and it had great flavor. I do wish they had a veggie sausage type option for non-meat eaters. Would not recommend this spot to vegans due to lack of options. The parking is convenient and especially early in the morning easy to access in front of the building I wish they had online ordering but it can be charming to do things old school with walk up only. read more

See all

Sold out of donuts hours before they close, employees just shrug and ignore you. Don't waste your time. Not sure how a business with donuts in their name can run out of said product and remain open for hours after. read more

Delicious apple fritters. I'm so glad they are 30+ minutes away from where I live otherwise I'd eat them way too often

Early Bird is your friendly, neighborhood donut shop. It's good one - the one you go out of your way for so you can take some to your family or friends. The yeast donuts are pillowy clouds with just enough chew to make them satisfying. The apple fritters are the size of the Death Star (that's no moon). And the sour cream/old-fashioned donut is moist with a nice crunch on the top - PERFECT with coffee. I took a dozen assorted donuts from here to my parents and my dad said, "Why have you been keeping this place a secret! We need to go there every time we visit you." I agree. P.S. If you want to make a birthday very special, order ahead for one of their custom, giant donuts! read more

Early Bird Donuts - At 9 o'clock: old-fashioned 12 and 6: regular glazed 3 o'clock: lemon filled - Donuts Near Me - Durham, North Carolina

Great donuts, great customer service, even with my big family holding up the line when ordering. The bacon, egg, and cheese on a cross ain't was really good too. read more

Prior to this visit I'd only had their donuts and coffee, which are fantastic! Huge variety to choose from. There was a sample of the apple fritter, which was delicious. This review is strictly for the biscuit sandwich which we decided to have first and if we had room left we'd go back to the counter to choose a sweet to share. We each ordered a bacon, egg, and cheese biscuit which upon arrival looked really good and was BIG. Unfortunately the biscuit itself was very greasy, quickly fell apart, and was so doughy it overtook any flavor the bacon, egg and cheese had to offer. Even though it was only 10:30 when we went back up to the counter the Apple fritters were sold out and they weren't going to make anymore. What?!! We were very disappointed and felt like our thirteen dollars and change could have been better spent elsewhere. read more

Early Bird Donuts - Bacon, egg & cheese biscuit. - Donuts Near Me - Durham, North Carolina

I love donuts... I love donuts so much that I skipped my Monday night Crossfit class to come try these guys out. The location: great location near all of the college students, doctors and patients of the world renown Duke Hospital. Within walking distance to everything local there. The physical location of the shop is kind of confusing as it sits on the back half of the building as there are shops faces Erwin and some facing behind. For some reason I did not see a sign for the donut shop on the side of the road. It may have been on there but I missed it with the darkness. Parking: free parking but it's limited if you want to park in the lot connected to the donut shop. There is a parking deck out back as well. The Donuts: let's face it... it's hard to make a nasty donut... it's even harder to make a donut that stands out from the competition. I'll give Early Bird 5 stars as I truely believe their recipe is beating the competition. The yeast donut is amazing!!! I love the fact that they offer different types of donuts (yeast, cake). I absolutely love the fact that they fill your donuts with filling when you order. That way the inside of the donut isn't all soggy thanks to the filling that's been sitting inside. The staff: The young lady frying the donuts was really nice. Amanda (I think that was her name) was super friendly as well. She made some awesome suggestions on what to top the donuts with. She was so eager to help. She showed no resentment while bringing those filling buckets back and forth. 5 stars for Early Bird! I'll definitely be back very soon! Now I must come up with a lie for my crossfit instructor. read more

See all

Only stopped in once but the staff were friendly. Plus the iced coffee/lattes are very affordable and the food is delicious. Not a whole lot of places to sit but if you can grab one at the counter it's a nice enough and quiet atmosphere. Yet to try the donuts but the croissants are on point read more

I adore Early Bird Donuts! The donuts ate fluffy, soft, and absolutely delicious. My favorite is the cinnamon sugar donut. It has the perfect amount of cinnamon sugar and a little bit of glaze. It's very simple but very good. This is a quaint place, the staff is friendly and I always look forward to stopping in for some sweet treats. read more

Reasonably priced and great small shop feel. The food was very good. Donuts were light and airy and the breakfast sandwiches were sloppy good! Got the Vietnamese drip coffee.... Strongly recommend this place. read more

Early Bird Donuts - Working morning- they recommended the cinnamon crumb donut! Well done - Donuts Near Me - Durham, North Carolina

See all

Didn't experience any mentioned situation where early bird sold out donuts. I guess it's because I am here on the weekend? Place is jammed on a Saturday morning 10am where lots of people dined inside. I ordered their Christmas special donuts and apple fritter. I like it. Just the service is slow af read more

They did not lie ....Early bird gets the doughnut! I came at around 11 am and they were sold out!!! However I was able to snag their coconut doughnut and although it was cold it was a beautiful doughnut. The coconut was a great flavor of choice and the doughnut was huge. It was soft and moist. The dough was perfect. Even cold I could tell it was delicious!! I also tried their iced Vietnamese drip coffee! SO GOOD. It was strong but had a good amount of sweetness to it. The coffee was great quality too! I want to come back earlier to try more options! read more

See all

Early Bird Donuts is the bomb diggity. That's it. That's the review. *logs off* Seriously though. Early Bird Donuts is the perfect place to cure your sweet tooth or grab breakfast. Let's talk about donuts. They are fluffy, but not airy. They are a bit dense. Large in size and filled or covered in glaze, sprinkles, chocolate ganache, coconut or maple, and bacon. I've visited the shop about three times. Each time there's a different kind of donut. There are donut holes, "Long Johns," jelly-filled and holiday/seasonally themed donuts. One thing that Early Bird Donuts is now known for are the kolaches. THEY ARE SO GOOD! Think of a pig in a blanket -- instead of a hotdog, its a sausage covered in cheese. The croissant is golden brown. There are different flavors. I've only tried jalapeno. I can't get over how good they are! I recommend going early because they sell out... fast! read more

Great service and best breakfast sandwiches in durham!!!! And the doughnuts omg ! Delicious

This place is so awesome. Since moving to Durham, I haven't left home before 9am, but would gladly wake up early to come here again. I got the sausage egg and cheese on a croissant, maple bacon yeast donut, and the Vietnamese iced coffee. Sausage egg and cheese on a croissant - this was huge, 2 peppery patties the size and thickness of slider patties. Also it wasn't fatty like the usual sausage, it was thick and meaty. Croissant toasty, egg and cheese melty and delicious - worth the $5.99 price tag. Bacon yeast donut - delicious. My friend got the long one that you could fill - GET IT FILLED WITH CREAM CHEESE FROSTING, ITS SO WORTH. Vietnamese iced coffee - I haven't had a decent Vietnamese iced coffee since moving here (tried at several places, none were good) but at early bird donuts it's pretty solid. Not as creamy and thick as I'd like, but good enough. EXCITED TO COME BACKKKKK!!! read more

We had to wake up pretty early to grab anything here. I heard most doughnuts sell out by 9am. So make sure to come early since they open at 6am and close at 2p My friend and I had a sausage, egg, & cheese on a croissant, a maple bacon doughnut (filled with cream cheese) and a Vietnamese iced coffee. The sausage for my breakfast sandwich was quite thick and kinda-over powering. Especially since they gave two sausage patties. After taking the second one out, it was more enjoyable. The maple bacon longer shaped doughnut was great. They have about 8 different types of fillings. I chose the cream cheese filling and it did not disappoint. I wouldn't be the best to review the Vietnamese iced coffee since this was my first time trying one. However, my friend told me it's suppose to be creamier since it's made with condescend milk. I personally didn't taste the difference. All in all, a 4 star experience. I will definitely be back. read more

Early Bird Donuts - We each had a sausage, egg & cheese on a croissant, a maple bacon doughnut (one filled with cream cheese) and a Vietnamese iced coffee. - Donuts Near Me - Durham, North Carolina

Stayed at the AC hotel a few doors down. Decided to try this local spot instead of the $15 buffet. The donuts are amazing. Fresh and soft with a good chew. The apple fritter is to die for. Definitely get one to share because they're big. Yes it could be your whole meal but others in your group will definitely want a bite. We also got 3 breakfast sandwiches. Sausage egg croissant, bacon egg Croissant and sausage egg biscuit. I had the sausage egg croissant... tasty, with good sausage. But REALLY salty. In fact all the sandwiches were salty, almost to the point you couldn't eat them. But we did. Just really thirsty now. If you're someone who salts food even before you try it, you're going to hate life if you get a sandwich. Try it first. Cook needs to ease up on the salt and toast the bread about 40 seconds less... croissants have butter in them and tend to burn easy. This is a strong recommendation to go here. 4/5 stars, would be 7/5 if the sandwich was better read more

Early Bird Donuts - Bacon egg Croissant, sausage egg biscuit - Donuts Near Me - Durham, North Carolina

See all

I stopped here on a whim because it was on my way home, and it totally blew me away! I got a bacon egg and cheese biscuit that tasted great and super fresh. It was also quick and a great price. read more

Early Bird Donuts - Bacon egg and cheese biscuit - Donuts Near Me - Durham, North Carolina

These are the best donuts I've ever had. Big Donut is ruining America. I thought I knew what a good donut was, but now I can't even eat at Krispy Kreme. read more

Absolutely the best donuts! The donuts are so fresh, lights, have such a light crisp to them, but so incredibly soft inside. read more

See all

Sausage egg (no cheese) sandwich on a locally made English muffin (pictured cut in 1/2): 5/5 loved the bread and the sausage especially. This was actually my favorite item, I'll get this again for sure Maple bacon donut: 4.5/5 Raspberry frosted: 4.5/5 Our two favorites. Both had great flavors and weren't too strong or too weak. The actual donuts on all of the donuts were excellent, but these stood out for the icing. Chocolate frosted: 3/5 Coconut: 3/5 Once again, the actual donuts are delicious. Great texture and flavor. We felt that these just lagged behind some of the best we've had. The chocolate frosted really had very little chocolate taste. I'm not sure if ours just had less icing on it or not, but you couldn't really taste it. It just felt like a mildly sweeter old-fashioned donut, which again, still really tasty. The coconut tasted more like a glazed donut with some coconut shavings on top. Tasty, but as coconut lovers, we were left wanting more. (Not pictured) Joe Van Gogh coffee: 5/5 please have this with your donuts! I wish they crossed off the donuts they were out of on the menu board, or labeled the donuts in the case. They were out of 60-70% of types of donuts by 9:15am, so you gotta be an "Early Bird!" read more

Early Bird Donuts - Coconut, maple bacon, raspberry icing, chocolate icing, sausage & egg on English muffin (no cheese). - Donuts Near Me - Durham, North Carolina

I recently moved to NC from TX where there's literally a donut shop on every corner. I have been looking for a go to place and I think I found it! Stopped in before work and grabbed a few donuts to try. All were so soft, pillowy, and frosting was the perfect amount of sweetness! Strawberry was my favorite! Will be back:) read more

Early Bird Donuts - Strawberry Donut! - Donuts Near Me - Durham, North Carolina

Best Donuts in Town!!! If you're ever late for work, get a couple dozen and you be forgiven.

I went in 2 hours before closing. There were very few donuts, which I understand can happen. But the employee seemed so inconvenienced to have to help me. Rude enough that I have never gone back. read more

This was my second time here and they took even longer to get me my food than the first time, and the first time was LONG. People behind my group in line got their food earlier and we ended up waiting 20-30 minutes for the most basic biscuit sandwiches. The sandwiches were very greasy and dry but the worst part about this visit was cleanliness. Especially with living in a pandemic, they should not be using the same gloves that they use to make food to open the front door and use the payment iPad. I'm really hoping they can improve their COVID safety in this place. read more

I came late on a Sunday, about 10:30am which resulted in a limited selection of donuts (my fault), menu seemed kind of all over the place (just in my opinion) basically a food board and a donut board, but something seemed disorganized about it to me. I ordered the bacon egg and cheese croissant but they were out of bacon so I settled for just egg and cheese. I also ordered 6 glazed donut holes. Donut holes were great, croissant was fresh and very flaky, egg/cheese cooked perfectly but because of the flakiness of the croissant it was hard to eat without making a mess (mainly my fault too). I'd definitely come back, looks like they open at 7am and I'd love to try getting a half dozen of assorted donuts. read more

Early Bird Donuts is one of my favorite places to get a delicious sweet treat! The prices are very reasonable, and it offers so many classics. Donuts: This is the best blueberry cake donut I've ever had. Other highlights: apple cider crumb donut (awesome unique flavor and nice texture), and the "design your own" fillable donuts. You can choose a donut (I chose a yeast donut with chocolate on top) and have your choice of filling. I went a classic Boston cream route, but there are tons of options such as vanilla, raspberry, etc. This was also the biggest apple fritter I've EVER seen, and it was included in the half dozen!!! Real apple, awesome taste. Coffee: Early Bird also serves local coffee, and my Joe Van Gogh cup was delicious. I appreciate that almond milk is included as an option to add to your coffee without extra charge. Service: I found the employees to be very friendly and accommodating. For example, there was no decaf coffee available, and they offered to make a fresh cup just for my mom. We were in and out quickly with no wait time. My only regret is not trying a biscuit. Next time! Early Bird will always have my business. A+! read more

Early Bird Donuts - Apple cider crumb, chocolate, blueberry, Boston cream, old fashioned sour cream crueler - Donuts Near Me - Durham, North Carolina

See all

Without a doubt, THE BEST donuts I've ever had on my 55 years on this beautiful planet. Flat out incredible. Not to had too often ( even though it would be so easy), as they are rather filling. Do not leave their store without an Apple Fritter. Nothing else compares. read more

Great cinnamon rolls and donuts, fantastic breakfast sandwiches. This is a repeat place for me.

We were in town for a concert and thoroughly enjoyed this gem of a bakery. The maple bacon donuts were amazing!

So...this is a safe space right? Yelp? No side eyes, judgements or clutching of pearls? Ok great. Let me tell u, this donut changed my life. Here I am in the middle of this quarantine, trying to keep sane while sheltering in place and I decide to come up for air...and donuts. Best and worst decision ever. Best- maybe THE most amazing jelly donut I've had in my life Worst- maybe the most amazing jelly donut I've had in my life. I don't need this temptation lol. I don't know how to describe a donut but think of an absolutely scrumptious treat...boom. That's it. That's what this is. Even in the midst of this madness, they were patient, professional and delicious (which is exactly what I've heard about them). Believe the hype, they're legit. read more

Incredible Apple fritters...unbelievably good. Don't miss them. Busy in the morning, but worth it. read more

Early Bird Donuts - Apple fritter and bacon cheese croissant - Donuts Near Me - Durham, North Carolina

The donuts were delicious. The sausage croissants was tough and greasy! My husband and I were starving, but only ate a few bites. The shop looks like no one cares. The health rating wasn't in site. My box had lemon filling stuck to the bottom. Scrapings from the grill we're on the floor. The countertop was too cluttered to be used. The cafe needs a shot of love. read more