Dough Joy is a small chain of

doughnut A doughnut or donut () is a type of pastry made from leavened fried dough. It is popular in many countries and is prepared in various forms as a sweet snack that can be homemade or purchased in bakeries, supermarkets, food stalls, and fran ...

shops in

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

, in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...

of Washington. The

queer ''Queer'' is an umbrella term for people who are non-heterosexual or non- cisgender. Originally meaning or , ''queer'' came to be used pejoratively against LGBTQ people in the late 19th century. From the late 1980s, queer activists began to ...

-owned business, which specializes in

vegan Veganism is the practice of abstaining from the use of animal products and the consumption of animal source foods, and an associated philosophy that rejects the commodity status of animals. A person who practices veganism is known as a ve ...

doughnuts, was established by Christopher Ballard and Sean Willis. Dough Joy initially operated from a

food truck A food truck is a large motorized vehicle (such as a van or multi-stop truck) or trailer equipped to store, transport, cook, prepare, serve and/or sell food. Some food trucks, such as ice cream trucks, sell frozen or prepackaged food, but m ...

in the Ballard neighborhood, and later expanded to

brick and mortar Brick and mortar (or B&M) is an organization or business with a physical presence in a building or other structure. The term ''brick-and-mortar business'' is often used to refer to a company that possesses or leases retail shops, factory produc ...

shops on

Capitol Hill Capitol Hill is a neighborhoods in Washington, D.C., neighborhood in Washington, D.C., located in both the Northeast, Washington, D.C., Northeast and Southeast, Washington, D.C., Southeast quadrants. It is bounded by 14th Street SE & NE, F S ...

and in the

West Seattle West Seattle is a conglomeration of List of neighborhoods in Seattle, neighborhoods in Seattle, Washington, United States. It comprises two of the List of neighborhoods in Seattle, thirteen districts, Delridge, Seattle, Delridge and Southwest, ...

neighborhood. In 2024, Dough Joy announced plans to open a third shop in Ballard. The business has garnered a positive reception.

Description

Dough Joy is a small, queer-owned chain of

shops in

, specializing in

doughnuts. Varieties include: The Basic B (traditional glazed); the

breakfast cereal Breakfast cereal is a category of food, including food products, made from food processing, processed cereal, cereal grains, that are eaten as part of breakfast or as a snack food, primarily in Western societies. Although warm, cooked cereals li ...

-inspired Cereal Killer, which uses cereal milk and is topped with fruit-flavored cereal; The Faconator (maple frosting with coconut bacon); PB & HEYYY, which was inspired by a

peanut butter and jelly sandwich A peanut butter and jelly sandwich (PB&J) consists of peanut butter and fruit preserves spread on bread. The sandwich is popular in the United States, especially among children; a 2002 survey showed the average American will eat 1,500 peanut ...

and has

peanut butter Peanut butter is a food Paste (food), paste or Spread (food), spread made from Grinding (abrasive cutting), ground, dry roasting, dry-roasted peanuts. It commonly contains additional ingredients that modify the taste or texture, such as salt, ...

icing with strawberry jelly; and Petal to the Metal, a rose-flavored doughnut with pink marble icing. Other flavors have included

birthday cake A birthday cake is a cake eaten as part of birthday celebrations. While there is no standard for birthday cakes, they are typically highly decorated layer cakes covered in frosting, often featuring birthday wishes ("Happy birthday") followed b ...

caramel Caramel ( or ) is a range of food ingredients made by heating sugars to high temperatures. It is used as a flavoring in puddings and desserts, as a filling in bonbons or candy bars, as a topping for ice cream and custard, and as a colorant ...

, carrot cake, chocolate with sprinkles,

cookies and cream Cookies and cream (or cookies 'n cream) is a variety of ice cream, milkshake, and other desserts that includes chocolate sandwich cookies, with the most popular version containing hand or pre-crumbled cookies from Nabisco's Oreo brand under a lic ...

, cookie butter, everything bagel,

french toast French toast is a Dish (food), dish of sliced bread soaked in beaten eggs as food, eggs and often milk or cream, then pan-fried. Alternative names and variants include eggy bread, Bombay toast, gypsy toast, and poor knights (of Windsor).''Oxfo ...

, mango con chile,

s'mores A s'more (alternatively spelled smore, pronounced , or ) is a confection consisting of toasted marshmallow and chocolate sandwiched between two pieces of graham crackers. S'mores are popular in the United States and Canada, and are traditionally ...

, sour watermelon, strawberry milkshake, and vanilla Biscoff, as well as a

Pride Pride is a human Emotion, secondary emotion characterized by a sense of satisfaction with one's Identity (philosophy), identity, performance, or accomplishments. It is often considered the opposite of shame or of humility and, depending on conte ...

-theme variety with rainbow sprinkles.

History

Dough Joy was established by Christopher Ballard and Sean Willis in May 2021. The business initially operated from a

in Ballard, selling out from pre-orders on launch day. Dough Joy later opened

shop on Pike Street, on

. The Capitol Hill location operates in the space previously occupied by Old School Frozen Custard. Dough Joy also operates in

, which has a plant shop called Botanic! at the Disco. In 2024, the business confirmed plans to open a third shop in Ballard. Dough Joy Lil Dippers, or "doughnut balls", have been available at

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW and informally U-Dub or U Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington, United States. Founded in 1861, the University of Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast of the Uni ...

games.

Reception

Zuri Anderson included the business in iHeart's list of "the best new places to eat in 2022". In 2023, Anna Not included Dough Joy in

Tasting Table Tasting Table (incorporated as TDT Media Inc.) is an American digital media company focused on food and drink. The brand's website and email newsletter report on food and drink trends in the categories of dining, wine, cocktails, cooking, and fo ...

list of 25 queer-owned vegan eaters "you need to try" in the U.S., and Mark Van Streefkerk and Harry Cheadle included the business in ''

Eater Seattle ''Eater'' is a food website by Vox Media. It was co-founded by Lockhart Steele and Ben Leventhal in 2005, and originally focused on dining and nightlife in New York City. Eater launched a national site in 2009, and covered nearly 20 cities by ...

'' list of doughnuts "you should know" in the

Seattle metropolitan area The Seattle metropolitan area is an urban conglomeration in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington that comprises Seattle, its surrounding Satellite city, satellites and suburbs. The United States Census Bureau defines the Seattle–T ...

. Allecia Vermillion included Dough Joy in ''

Seattle Metropolitan ''Seattle Metropolitan'', or ''Seattle Met'', is a monthly city magazine covering Seattle, Washington Seattle ( ) is the List of municipalities in Washington, most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington and in the ...

'' magazine's 2024 overview of the city's best doughnuts.

References

External links

* {{Coord missing, Seattle 2021 establishments in Washington (state) Restaurants in Ballard, Seattle Restaurants in Capitol Hill, Seattle Doughnut shops in the United States Food trucks in the United States LGBTQ culture in Seattle LGBTQ-owned businesses in Washington (state) Restaurant chains in the United States Restaurants established in 2021 Vegan restaurants in Washington (state) Restaurants in West Seattle, Seattle

Description

History

Reception

See also

References

External links