Third time's a charm. Twice, I walked into newly-opened George's Donuts & Merriment to find them freshly sold out of donuts. I'll never wake up on time to beat the early risers, but I had some luck mid-morning on a weekday. I ordered: -- Bacon & Eggs (brioche, $4.50): this had potential to be uniquely sweet & savory, but it was sweet all-around, including the bacon & custard filling. -- Classic Raised Glazed ($3.50): too springy, not enough of that fluffy softness I want to sink my teeth into. -- Classic Chocolate Glazed ($3.50): did not try although the bright sprinkles stood out against the dark chocolate glaze. -- Valrhona Chocolate Cruller ($4.25): again, the substantial texture is not what I was expecting. -- Apple Fritter (brioche, $4.50): taste does not compare to my favorites of its kind. -- Créme Brûlée (brioche, $4.50): the only one I would consider ordering again. Soft brioche bread encased in a thin crystallized sugar coating with a sweet filling. It's obvious that great care was taken in preparing George's high-quality donuts, which makes it all the more disappointing that the taste & texture weren't there for me. I'd love to make a habit of sitting in their charming diner enjoying the gorgeous skylight & modern marble & brick design, but I'm more likely to be slummin' it at Krispy Kreme or some 50-year-old donut shop without a fancy $10 name. read more

George's Cafe - Donuts Near Me - San Francisco, California

Gorgeous decor, fresh pastries, excellent service! Loved their donut holes with chocolate sauce, just like beignets! Will definitely go back! And the bathroom is gorgeous, had to take a picture! read more

George's Cafe - The washroom is stunning! - Donuts Near Me - San Francisco, California

Came in on a Wednesday afternoon around 11:30am with 3 coworkers, we're told that there was no waiter service today and to order out food before finding an open table. Ordered the food and "no table was available" because 3 had a reserved sign on them. Then the manager Josie said she would check if we could sit there came back 15mins later to told us we couldn't. Two Caucasian customers walk in way after us, have not have a reservation, took an open table we were waiting for, and miraculously after they sat there the waiter service is now available to them. We tried to ask for an explanation from Josie who just bluntly told us she could refund us for the food and we could leave. So here we go, terrible service with discriminatory staff. If I could give minus 5 stars I would. This type of behavior is disgraceful for a city like San Francisco. read more

Finally a new donut place that competes with Krispy cream donuts. Fresh brewed coffee with tasty donuts of all sorts. This place is not your ordinary donut shop you see all over town. The only small problem is if you don't come early a long line going out the door starts. read more

See all

Ambience and the decor inside is cute. Liked the créme brulee donut the best - loved the crunchy exterior with the cream inside. The strawberry champagne was okay. I felt bready part of both donuts was a little dry. Latte was good. Came on a Sunday around 10am and you can just walk in, order at the counter, and then sit where you want. I think around 11am they started to have people wait to be seated for lunch. Once it approached 11am, I felt like the staff was trying to get me and my friend to buy lunch / push us out to make room for those to be sat for lunch which I did not appreciate. read more

George's Cafe - Créme Brulee & Strawberry Champagne donuts, and Latte - Donuts Near Me - San Francisco, California

Very disappointed with the Vanilla Bean donut. Didn't detect any vanilla bean flavor. Instead, there was a vegetable oily taste that overpowered everything. read more

hadnt been there for a few months - not a donut person but found it a good place to meet up for afternoon tea and an occasional grilled cheese which i recommend. wait staff are fine but not thrilled with mgmt as always felt rushed out when getting next to closing time at 4p..they really need to stay open till at least 5p to accommodate late lunches and afternoon tea... was meeting up with a friend today and tried to order donuts online as a treat for a friend to no avail, then tried calling several times- no answer.. when i went in this afternoon to meet up with my friend spoke to a gentlemen so i believe is the manager (had not seen him before) alerted him of the online and phone issues said he has a list of concerns going..he couldn't have been nicer and whislt am aware of the closing time didnt feel in anyway rushed out... i need to get back there for that grilled cheese :) read more

I had a very disappointing experience at this donut shop. The customer service was unfriendly, and I did not feel welcomed during my visit. While I was there, I witnessed another customer become ill shortly after eating a donut. I can't say what caused it, but it was concerning to see and made me question the quality of the food. Overall, between the poor service and what I observed, I would not recommend this shop and do not plan on returning! read more

The coffee here is amazing!! The latte art on my drink was beautiful as well. The crullers here are delicious but all the donuts look good

Came here on a Saturday line around 10 AM and the line was already kind of long. But it was well worth the 20 minute wait. I loved the decor and how modern the bakery was. I was disappointed that a lot of the donuts that I was especially interested in were already sold out. Guess I will have to come at opening to snag them. The Key Lime Pie donut was by far my favorite with the perfect amount of sweet and tart. The cinnamon bun was a bit too sweet for my palette. But the service was super friendly and they helped suggest which treats to get based on what I like. It is definitely worth the wait and I will be back to try some of their other offerings. read more

See all

I had to try the donuts since I was in the neighborhood. Definitely not recommended. The donuts did not meet my expectations. I had two different donuts. They were pretty to look at but once I took a bite of each one they tasted bland. I swear they were more than a day old because they were stale! If you're paying more than $5 for a donut I would expect the quality to be much higher. I will stick with Noe Valley Bakery in the same area as their pastries and bread is always consistently good. So sad that such a nice looking cafe sells low quality food. read more

The donuts are perfect delicious and well made! Salad is great also. Service is a bit busy, but also good along with the chill ambiance. What's not good is the chicken sandwich. They use very very cheap chicken cuts I would not order that again. What's a shame is that it's marked as a special. Easily one of the worst sandwiches I've ever had. read more

See all

Super cute place and delicious donuts. BUT my daughter and her friend went in and asked if they could sit at a table that was open. The lady working said no, it's reserved. There were no other clean tables. She instructed them to sit at a dirty table and she would clean it. It took her 8 min to clean the table. She then left and didn't come back for their order so they went up to the counter and ordered and sat back down. They asked for water but didn't get it until the food was almost gone. Meanwhile a group of 3 young women came in and sat at the RESERVED table and not 1 min later an employee came over, kindly welcomed them in and promptly got them water and took their order. My daughter and her friend, later 2 friends were not being anything but polite and respectful. If I had to guess I would say this group of employees did not take kindly to teenagers visiting this establishment. Bummer. read more

the interior was super pretty, including the display and donuts displayed. the strawberry champagne donut was pretty but the donut itself was slightly greasy read more

George's Cafe - strawberry champagne donut - Donuts Near Me - San Francisco, California

See all

This place became the neighborhood staple immediately after its opening , and surely deserves the highest praise for the food, services and ambiance. read more

George's Cafe - Perfect cup of cappuccino - Donuts Near Me - San Francisco, California

Well worth the wait! I finally got to try George's Donuts after hearing all the hype--and let me tell you, it did not disappoint. Even after waiting in line for an hour, every bite was totally worth it. I'm so glad to hear they've extended their hours and increased production so you don't have to show up at the crack of dawn to get your favorites anymore. Huge shoutout to Isaac--he's been an incredible server, and the customer service overall has been nothing short of amazing. Highly recommend! read more

See all

Chocolate cruller sounded great but was disappointing, over-fried & a little dry. It was in afternoon so maybe not-so-fresh was part of it but I was expecting more. Place was cute but don't need to make a special trip here, if I'm back in the neighborhood I might try again with something else. read more

Great service. Beautiful interior. Reminds me of Europe. Everything I tried was awesome! Definitely recommend.

I got the key lime pie and the sugar donut. I thought both were off, I like desserts with a little less sweetness but these tasted a bit bland. Key lime pie needs sugar or fat to balance it but it just tasted sour. The place was beautiful and the staff were super nice though. read more

6.75 out of 10 stars West Portal, Luxury, Ambience, Food. If you're lucky enough to experience walking through the doors on a calm day, consider yourself very lucky. I don't think it's worth coming here if there's a line out the door or a table unavailable to sit at. You're just setting yourself up to be disappointed. That wasn't the case for us today. The husband and I were in and out and on our way to lunch. We stopped and picked four donuts. I can justify the four stars, for these reasons: - ambience, style, decor and vibe - Felix was fantastic and made the transaction nice and convenient - super cutesy and creative -I feel like there's a lot of potential The best of the donuts was the chocolate cruller. Brioche donuts are not my favorite. But the idea is to eat it with a cup of coffee, or some kind of sexy beverage. If you consume this way, it is pleasurable in the extravagant atmosphere of George's. I may try this place again if there's no line and it's not crowded. My 4 year old would love it. read more

George's Cafe - Donuts Near Me - San Francisco, California

See all

Donuts are supurb, good selection of what you call gourmet donuts !!! Reasonably priced and you felt fancy after the experience!!! Good place to buy a box of good donuts for a gift !!! Staff are very friendly and Ambiance is fancy !!! As I said its affordable with a fancy looks !!! read more

See all

Great doughnuts and friendly service. A very cute space, I really want to get in there for dinner one of these days soon!

I've been patiently waiting for this establishment to open for the past 6 months or so! So happy the Bacchus group (Spruce, Village Pub, etc.) decided to open up a shop on West Portal! This place is brand new, just opened on Jan 10, 2025, and so they are definitely working out a few kinks. But overall, I had a great time, and I'm so happy they have arrived in my neighborhood. The great new shops and restaurants on West Portal have really improved over the past few years, including addition to Elena's, Little Original Joe's, Lion West Portal. The donuts were good. This is definitely a "fancy donut place," but they were also somewhat reasonably priced for fancy donuts at around $4.50 each. Each of them were great. I guess they had sold out of the Brioche one for the day at this point (someone behind me in line said they'll come back another day, so they must be good!), but I was able to try quite a few considering it was 11:50am, and IG said they had sold out an hour later! In order I loved these: Strawberry Champagne, Vanilla Bean Glazed, Chocolate Glazed, Nutella filled. The Strawberry Champagne was delicious - the strawberry filling had this nice sweet, but also nicely tangy taste! The Vanilla Bean and Chocolate Glaze were equally delicious, and had this interesting eggy taste to the donut itself, with a nice glaze on top - old fashioned style, but better. I liked the Nutella filled donut too, although this tasted more typical, not as special as the other 3 donuts. I also wanted to try a regular pastry to see how they were, and gave the cinnamon roll to try, but it was just okay. The restaurant also has an assortment of sandwiches, salads, Third Wave Coffee, and wine. They're only open in the morning and early afternoons, but the sign on the door advertises for a "date night," so potentially this will open to be a late night spot too? Fingers crossed. Aesthetics were very, very nice. It's modern, it's chic, it's instagrammable, it's light, it's beautiful, it probably was a mini fortune, especially since they had to redo some parts from the fire last year. It was completely renovated (from what? I can't even remember anymore), and sure looks like the glowing gem on the block at the moment. It also has a nice parklet out in front, that didn't look like it was being used, not enough staff perhaps? Speaking of staff, I do wish there were more of them. I wish there was someone telling people in line that there's only one line for both take-out and dine-in. I wish there was someone to give us a menu. I wish the person asking if you were takeout/dine in would talk audibly to everyone in line, instead of at the few people at the front. They are new, they're working out kinks, I get it - just suggestions. But I feel like the Bacchus Group should be a well-oiled machine at this point? I got here on a Tuesday at 11:15am, intending to do take-out donuts, and couldn't step inside the restaurant until 11:50am. The line is not efficient at all. There's one line for everything, people who are seeking to dine-in at the restaurant, mixed with people like me who just wanted some donuts to go. Honestly kind of frustrating - that would be my suggestion for improvement to just separate the lines. And also, with my simple to-go order, I picked what I wanted, paid and left within 4 minutes. So why was the line 35 mins long? I'm guessing because there was only one cashier? Not the most efficient once again. Overall, I did enjoy the donuts here, it's a beautiful spot, and I will return because I love what they're bringing to the neighborhood!! read more

George's Cafe - From left to right: Chocolate glaze, Vanilla Bean glaze, Nutella, Strawberry Champagne, and cinnamon roll - Donuts Near Me - San Francisco, California

See all

Had the chance to be one of the first to try George's and it far exceeded my expectations! All of the staff were super nice and attentive and I loved the decor and European feel. I had the espresso tonic which was delicious and came with handmade whip cream and a great candied orange. We tried the donut holes and our favorite was the brioche. We also had the key lime pie donut which had a great graham cracker topping and a delicious filling. The single best donut we had though had to be the bacon and eggs. The glaze was amazing and had the perfect egg flavor, not too sweet like some maple bacon donuts. Only downside is the long line and you need to get there early before they run out, but overall 11/10! read more

See all

if you are not on a diet, these LARGE gourmet donuts are better than most places. All my friends said, the donuts are GOOD and HUGE. No one wanted a whole one I was so surprised how delicious the strawberry and gingerbread cream is. Can we make a low calorie donut? I just tasted the donuts and gave the donuts to my co worker. Everyone loved it but they all only had a l/4 piece. photo coming...wish me luck uploading it read more

Honestly other than it being a little expensive, everything consumed was pretty good. Environment was amazing, half the time I was just jumping around the room to look at the different features of the styling and layout. Would come back and would recommend to others. read more

George's Cafe - Donuts Near Me - San Francisco, California

See all

Such a cute spot. Got there right when it opened and was seated right away. Their donuts are exquisite and the coffee was delicious. read more

Finally came here for the first time after eating at Elena's for lunch now that hype has died down somewhat from when they first opened several months ago. The Owner's did a nice job remodeling to what it is now a place for people to relax and have a bite to eat during lunch or enjoy their doughnuts. The 6 donut holes is the only item where they make it after you order them so there is a bit of a wait while everything else in the counter area is ready for purchase. We felt the $11 was reasonable for the size of the holes and the amount that you get. I wish they offered raspberry dipping sauce and perhaps they do but when we opened the box it came with a plastic container of chocolate sauce. The glazed doughnut was okay but not earth shattering. Price for the Classic glazed was $3.75. If you want an uber style donut, I recommend going to Dutch Door Donuts in Carmel where all donuts are made to order but price point per donut is $$$. read more

See all

Overall a 3.5 for me. A new addition to West Portal this is a high end donut shop and diner. It's probably the fanciest donut shop I have ever been to. Right now there is a long wait in the mornings and they are selling out of donuts around 11am, so you could wait in line and find they have sold out although if you dine in and wait you can get made to order donut holes with dipping chocolate which look good. The diner food looks good as well, haven't tried it. I have seen people order what looks like a giant plate of fries, not sure if that's the only size but it's big. As for the donuts I found them just ok, nothing too special and a little on the oily side. The one standout donut to me was the Bacon and Egg, which is a maple bacon donut with an egg custard inside. I don't think I have seen this donut anywhere else so I appreciate the creativity and the custard was pretty good. It's on the same block and side as Elena's if you know where that is. West Portal has a lot of parking meters but also gets busy so it may be hard to find a spot there but you can check the side roads which are free. Staff were very friendly. The space is beautiful, with luxurious fixtures, marble countertops and a very fancy bathroom, not what I would expect at any donut shop, maybe a high end French pastry shop. Only one bathroom that I could see however which I feel is a little low for a diner but maybe there is one in the back? I would like to go back to dine in at some point once the hype has gone down. It's worth seeing IMO as it's a beautiful place. read more

We took our kittencorns to brunch today for a treat. Not only was the staff exceptionally kind and seated us right away so my kids were out of the cold, they also gave us crowns upon arrival. They obviously recognized them as princesses. I never eat salad and I love their little gem salad. The princess kittencorns had the bengiets. We also enjoyed the fries. We're so full and my husband loved the decor and design of the dining area. It's all so thoughtfully done. We will be back soon! read more

George's Cafe - Happy kittencorn enjoying her hot chocolate. - Donuts Near Me - San Francisco, California

Very excited to see another great new addition in the area. Waited over an hour to get in. Note: One line for take out and the other for seating. Loved the vibes here. Tall ceilings, bright open space with background music. Staff dressed in green striped uniforms, welcoming and friendly. The restaurant seats about 50 customers from 2 seats, to corner tables with cushions and a larger table at the back which can seat about 6-8. Today it looked like a communal table due to the opening crowds. Donuts holes were freshly made and slightly bigger than the regular ones and came with fudge sauce. After almost 2 hours of opening, a lot of items were out. We were limited to 6 donuts per group and only the creme brûlée brioche were left and the rest of the brioche were sold out. The creme brûlée brioche looked decadent and decorated with raspberry and gold leaf, not your typical looking creme brûlée. Looks like I'll be back to try the other brioches and menu items. Definitely a place with great atmosphere and bougie donuts to enjoy! read more

The donuts were really good and fresh. The place is super cute & perfect for a brunch date. Please consider that there might be a long line, so definitely plan ahead. read more

George's Cafe - Donuts Near Me - San Francisco, California

See all

Was out and about in West Portal this morning and came upon this charming and beautiful Donuts and more restaurant. Reminded me of years past when Blum's was The Place to go in San Francisco for a wee bit of elegance. OMG the display case of decadent and pretty donuts lured me in as did the ambiance. I had the absolute pleasure of meeting one of the head bakers, which also might have been the GM Shyanna Cana. At least that is the name on the business card. I had questions re: cookie baking and she graciously gave me one of the HUGE CC cookies as a parting gift. Super moist w/a nice crispy edge and not overly sweet, YUM. I also tried the Glazed Chocolate donut, which was light and fluffy, not greasy. Not your typical glazed donut. And I might add, pretty pricey. All the food I saw people enjoying looked delightful. I shall be back for a nosh. Great place to meet a friend or treat a special friend. Best of luck to George's and welcome to the neighborhood. So classy yet warm and inviting. read more

Beautiful inside. Staff very nice and attentive. It's a small place with a small staff but they help with anything you ask. Definitely will return read more

See all

Went on to get a chocolate and glazed donut, nearly 9 bucks for two donuts that tasted stale. The staff couldn't care less about us being a first timer and they took forever to acknowledge me won't be coming back. read more

We went with a few friends and waited approximately 1.5 hours in total. We arrived about 15-20 minutes before opening. The staff were friendly and communicative--they even offered us cold brew and water as we waited. We each purchased 2-3 donuts each (priced at $4.75+ each). My spouse and I bought the following: - Strawberry champagne brioche: My ultimate favourite. Delicious filling with a delightful pastry shell. - Crème brûlée brioche: I really liked the taste of this. Delicious filling. Loved the raspberry and gold leaf on top, however the caramelised sugar shell was a bit too thick for my taste. I had to peel it off, thought I'd wreck my teeth on it. Could be made thinner and it would be perfect! - Raised glaze classic: Something tasted off to me. Possibly the oil it was fried in? The texture was great and glaze is hard to get wrong. - Chocolate glaze classic: Who doesn't love chocolate glaze with sprinkles? Delicious. Though I am thrilled to see a neighbourhood spot do so well, I hope that the crowd cools off over time. Personally, while I found the donuts delicious, I would not wait in a line that long again. read more

See all

So fun! Love to visit when I'm in San Francisco. Have the doughnuts! Beautiful cafe with lots of choices. read more

TLDR; good donuts, poor service Went in 3 weeks ago on a Saturday around 8:30AM. There was only 1 person in line in front of me. The first person asked me if I was ready and I said yes I would like a dozen donuts and she WALKED AWAY. Another person asked if I was ready and I said yes, can I have a dozen donuts please. They took my order and it was time to pay. I had a $50 gift card via text from Toast from my cousin who gifted it to me in May. The cashier couldn't figure out my gift card so called out the manager. The manager was giving me a hard time and asked if my cousin had a confirmation email because she had only seen gift cards via email and not text. She said if my cousin couldn't find an email, then she could go to the back to pull out her computer but it would take a while. Long story short, my cousin never received an email and even sent me a screenshot of her bank statement. I showed the manager the bank statement who then gave me attitude that this store hasn't been open for long and she hadn't been in the situation before. She was pushing back and giving excuses that there was nothing she could do. I was ready to leave. I was standing to the side for a total of 30 mins until she finally decided to go to the back to ask the chef. And she came out and gave me a replacement physical gift card. Disappointed with the initial reaction of someone walking away when I was ready to order and also the experience with the manager who seemed so annoyed to help me. read more

Soooo we went on day 2 at 9 am and the line for take out was about 1/2 a block long. The walk-in to eat line wasn't as long. The staff and management was super attentive and nice. They brought the kids gummy bears and paper crowns. The second time around they brought water for everyone. It's a nice touch in terms of customer service. I appreciated it! We waited about 1.5 hours just to get inside. Could it have been more efficient? Yes! They should have let more people inside to get donuts. They need to have at least 2 people taking care of the take out customers. They only had 1 employee which isn't efficient. They should have one person picking the donuts as customers order them. Then they walk to the cashier to pay. It's the same person getting you donuts and cashiering. If they had room they could have had two cashier counters. I recommend just waiting to eat in rather than take out as it's not worth the 1.5 hour wait for donuts. The donuts were good but not blow your mind amazing hence the 4 stars. They learned from their day 1 mistakes and only limited each customer to 6 donuts unlike day 1 where people bought dozens and they sold out really fast leaving unhappy customers. Glaze: 9/10 Donut holes: pillowy and delicious per my kids 9/10 Sugar: 7/10 Coffee cake: 9/10 but sweeter side Crème brûlée: didn't get to try but 10/10 on looks Sprinkle: 8/10 Churro: 7/10 Vanilla glazed cruller: 9/10 Old fashioned buttermilk glazed: 8/10 Nutella: 10/10 Lemon: 8/10 The interior is beautiful and very well done hence 5/5. The cooked food starts at 11 am and it looked pretty good so will go back to try that sometime. Overall the donuts were super pillowy and delicious, 4/5. We enjoyed the glaze, coffee cake, donut holes, cruller the most . Is it worth the 1.5 hour wait?? No because it's just not. They are donuts, not life changing. I say wait for the hype to die down or go inside to eat since the wait is shorter. Would I go back? Yes! I do appreciate a new shop in our hood! read more

See all

Delicious donuts and coffee. Interior design is really whimsical and tasteful. Very cozy place.