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George's Donuts & Merriment is a popular new doughnut cafe in San Francisco, located not downtown, but in the residential West Portal neighborhood that most visitors to the city never see. We took one for the team (ah, the hardship of taste testing doughnuts!) to bring you this review.
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George's Donuts Location and Hours
George's Donuts & Merriment is located at 163 West Portal Avenue in San Francisco, about a 12-minute Waymo drive from the Glen Park BART Station, or a 7-minute walk from the Montgomery Muni Station if coming from downtown San Francisco (Muni from Embarcadero to Montgomery takes ~17 minutes). George's Donuts is open from 8am-4pm on Sundays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays, and from 8am-7pm on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays, closed on Mondays. But if your heart is set on doughnuts, we highly recommend getting there a bit before or after 8am, when they open, as the doughnuts do quickly sell out.
The space itself is lovely, with a skylight, banquettes and cafe tables, and friendly service.
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George's Donuts Menu and Doughnuts
George's Donuts is of course most popular for its doughnuts, but it does serve other breakfast and lunch items as well:
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There was a line on both occasions when we arrived shortly after opening; we waited about 15-20 minutes each time. We'd strongly suggest that George's invest in a pre-ordering system so that people who want to order and take away doughnuts have a dedicated pickup line, as that seemed part of what was holding things up.
Once at the front of the line, we admired the many choices in the display case:
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We stuck with the main event: doughnuts. Over a couple visits and at home, we tried a chocolate cruller, an apple fritter, Key Lime Pie brioche doughnut, and a Creme Brulee brioche doughnut. The Valrhona chocolate elevated the classic cruller, and we appreciated the caramelized apple bits in the apple fritter, but these were otherwise fairly standard.
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Most doughnuts are quite sweet, so the tart lime curd in the Key Lime Pie is a wonderful contrast. And Creme Brulee fans will enjoy the crunchy caramelized topping and vanilla filling of those doughnuts. These will be our must-orders for return visits.
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The Verdict
We love the beautiful interior of George's Donuts & Merriment, with its abundant natural light from the skylight and elegant banquettes: this is far and away the loveliest doughnut shop we've ever been in.
The long and rather slow line, however, is something we wish could be changed: there has to be a more efficient way to make things move faster.
By far our favorite doughnuts of the ones we've tried are the Key Lime Pie and the Creme Brulee, in that order. The crullers and apple fritter were classic, but not particularly inspiring.
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