City Donut is a family-owned shop in a Perdido Beach Boulevard strip mall that happens to hold the title of #1 donut shop in America — voted by readers in USA Today’s 2024 poll. It’s been at it since 2013, which makes it Orange Beach’s oldest donut shop, and everything is scratch-made daily by actual bakers, not thawed from a truck. It’s locally independent, not a chain outpost, though they’ve since started offering franchises — a sign of how far a strip-mall donut shop can go.
What to order
Classic glazed is the benchmark and it holds up. From there: cake donuts, iced and topped varieties, candy- and cereal-topped for the kids, cream- and jelly-filled, apple fritters, glazed croissants, and donut holes for the car ride. This is a traditionalist’s donut case done very well rather than a novelty-donut circus — the fun toppings are there, but the base donut is the point.
When to go
Early. The good stuff is a daily-batch situation, and a national title draws lines in June. The beach-walk crowd hits it first thing, and by mid-morning in season the case has holes in it (the other kind). They’re open well into the evening too — check their site for current hours — which is how the back half of the menu makes sense.
Good to know
That back half is a full sweet shop: 20 ice cream flavors, custom milkshakes, specialty sundaes, banana splits, donut sliders (ice cream sandwiched in a donut, which is exactly as reckless as it sounds), and boba drinks with either traditional tapioca or popping fruit boba. So it doubles as the after-dinner stop for the families staying along the Boulevard, and it’s an easy add to any family day that needs a bribe built in.
What's on the menu
A few things worth knowing about before you go — taken straight off City Donut's own menu.
- Classic Glazed Donuts Fluffy yeast raised glazed donuts made fresh throughout the day.
- Delicous Filled Donuts Bavarian Cream, White Cream, Strawberry, Lemon; seasonal flavors
- Fluffy Cake Donuts Flavors (change throughout the day): Blueberry, Vanilla, Chocolate, Red Velvet
- Apple Fritters Our famous apple fritters. Big and delicious!
- Glazed Croissants Traditional croissant - fried and glazed like a donut.
- Cinnamon Rolls Fresh made cinnamon rolls with lots of cinnamon and glaze.
- Donut Sliders Ice cream inside a donut, heated on a panini press and served with toppings
- Donut Split Donuts and ice cream come together for a delightful treat.
- 20 Flavors of Ice Cream Cups and Cones... Cookie Dough, Sea Salt Caramel, Butter Pecan, Moose Tracks, etc.
- Boba Drinks countless flavors and combinations, with or without milk; popping boba or tapioca
Prices as published by the restaurant on September 17, 2026. Menus change and ours is not the register — treat these as a guide, not a quote. See the full current menu ↗
