By Tiffany LaForge

Pip’s Original Doughnuts Review – The Hippest Donuts in Portland

In a city that idolizes the eccentric donut, one distinctive shop is proudly taking this fried dough back to its’ roots. Pip’s Original Doughnuts, located on Northeast Freemont Street, calls the Beaumont-Wilshire neighborhood of Portland home. Owners Nate and Jamie Snell were on a mission to “bring back the mom and pop donut shop,” designing an outfit that concentrated on simple sweets as much as it did on the local community.

Finding Pip’s Original doughnuts is easy due to the fact that the intoxicating aroma of their mini donuts being fried-to-order can be detected down the street. Smiling, bearded baristas are happy to pour you a cup of local Extracto coffee or make you a cappuccino capped with frothy latte art. However, the real highlight of the beverage menu is the handcrafted chai teas, made in small batches from raw spices and available in five custom varieties. Choosing between these flavors is no easy task, which is why Pip’s offers a Chai Flight that allows you to sample them all. While all of them are unique in their own right and equally delicious, customer favorites include the Smoky Robinson with smoked Chinese black tea, vanilla and spices, and the delicate, caffeine-free Emmylou with lavender, chamomile and raw honey.

Pip’s hand-written blackboard menu bids you the daily flavors, which change seasonally. You might find strawberry-rhubarb, blueberry-lavender or apricot-habanero during summer months. When temperatures drop, the mini donuts get dressed with maple-candied bacon, pear butter and apple cider glaze. Constant staples include Nutella, simple cinnamon-sugar and the wildly popular raw honey doughnut, drizzled with floral, local honey and sprinkled with pink Himalayan sea salt. You can watch your donuts get made-to-order, making their way through the fryer before getting hand-topped with goodness. The secret to their crunchy, caramelized exterior and soft, pillow-y inside? 100% soy shortening with no trans fat, which ensures they’re non-greasy and healthier than the average fried donut. You can get a dozen of these darlings for under $6.

Come during the weekday to avoid a line and be sure to pop in before closing time (4pm). While your treats can be taken to-go, Pip’s also provides a cozy, family-friendly interior. Adorned in a high desert motif, walls are hand-painted sky blue with downy cream-colored clouds, succulents line windowsills and kitschy vintage canisters hold spoons. Handmade mugs glazed with real desert sand are stacked on shelves and a communal guitar hangs in the corner. Pip’s welcomes customers to play a song, and brave entertainers even earn a free dozen on weekends.

But why should Portlanders care about another donut shop? If local, seasonal ingredients and honest (but absolutely delicious) simplicity doesn’t sell you, maybe Pip’s Original Doughnuts devotion to the local community will. Pip’s supports other local small businesses, musicians and artists and donates to Portland nonprofits and charities aplenty. The owners site that the store is named after the main character in Charles Dickens’ Great Expectations and inspired by the “tale of community, family and gratitude.” The hashtag “#community” floods their social media and the Snell’s understand the importance of giving back. A way they give back to you? This mom-and-pop shop gives you a dozen free donuts on your birthday week, your flavors of choice.  I’m not sure a place exists that’s more “Portland” than Pip’s.

For More Delicious Treats in Portland Check Out Ruby Jewel.