The OC Donut Bar – The hottest donuts in Orange County

Line up early, or get none. National notatriety from the Big Poppa Tart Donut

It was 7 am and my alarm goes off. It is Saturday and I am cursing my soft addiction to food and bad habit of watching my Instagram feed before bed. The night prior, I watched The OC Donut Bar video of a Bacon Cinnamon Roll being made on a continuous loop. “Fuck, I need this in my life.” Sleep be dammed, I set my alarm.

I showed up at the OC Donut bar at 8am and there was a line around the building. There was a solid buzz and nervous energy in the air.

It felt like I was waiting in line at the Ticketmaster for Nirvana’s final In Utero concert. According to reports in the OC Register, the most popular Pop Tart donut, “the Big Poppa”,  was selling out by 9:00 am.

We were not waiting for Dominique Ansel’s Cronut in New York, nor Portland’s Voodoo Donut. The latest buzz was coming from the OC Donut Bar in Fountain Valley.

They are producing some of the best and most creative donuts in the country. Even Ellen Degeneress, Steve Harvey,  USA Today and various regional news outlets across the country are covering OC Donut Bar’s creations. 

About OC Donut  Bar

The Donut Bar originated in San Diego and opened up their second location in Fountain Valley about one year ago. Chef Santiago Campa has street cred, having worked at the Ritz-Carlton and then decided to become an Owner/Baker of the OC Donut Bar. Their major differentiator is the use of very high quality ingredients including Madagascar vanilla beans for the Boston Cream pie to real Vermont syrup for the bacon cinnamon roll .  

 

The day I visited, Chef Hector Garcia came out to to folks in line to thank us all for visiting and our patience. He even gave the kids Olaf frosted donuts. Nice move, reminds me of a move from the business book on customer service, “Go Fish.”

The OC Donut Bar has a rotating daily selection of 25+ donuts choices, this is clutch. There is also an abundance of donuts available at any giving time, this is essential! During the course of the morning service, they were producing fresh donuts to meet the demands of the crowd. Vegan options available, sorry no gluten-free options. 

Donuts I Tried

Big Poppa Chocolate Tart

The Big Poppa Chocolate Tart is a donut monstrosity. A chocolate Pop Tart is wrapped in yeast doughnut dough, fried and then stuffed with Nutella. Boooyah! It is topped with vanilla frosting base, chocolate sprinkles, crushed pop tart crust, and a drizzle of chocolate.

Big Poppa Strawberry Tart

Same story as the chocolate Big Poppa Tart, but instead it is stuffed with a strawberry pop tart and house made strawberry jam. The donut is topped with vanilla frosting and drizzled with strawberry jam, rainbow sprinkles and crushed Pop Tart crust. The Strawberry Big Poppa Tart is like the Arnold Schwarzenegger of jelly donuts, it is all pumped up and juiced up.

Chocolate Smores

A chocolate cake doughnut  is topped with marshmallow vanilla icing, sprinkled with graham cracker crust, drizzled with chocolate, and topped with a fire toasted marshmallow.  This is a very special donut as it touches on many childhood memories. I loved the chocolate base of the donut and the toasted marshmallow, no camp fire required. 

Samoa

Just like the Girl Scout Cookie, the Samoa donut got me giddy. The vanilla cake style doughnut is topped with coconut, toasted coconut, graham cracker, and lined with chocolate frosting. Just like the cookie. The bottom of the chocolate donut is covered in more chocolate.

I found that this doughnut was slightly more dry than the other doughnuts, which was a little distracting. With that said, this donut paired best with the chocolate milk.

Homer’s Donut

This classic fluffy yeast doughnut is an homage to Homer Simpson from The Simpson, “Mmmmmm Donuts.” It is topped with the classic pink frosting and rainbow sprinkles. If you get there late, this one will be out. Doah!

Boston Creme

This is a new spin on the classic Boston Creme Pie, which is my go to donut. The OC Donut Bar’s Boston Cream pie is constructed in a bar shape, unconventional yes.  It is stuffed lengthwise with Madagascar vanilla bean custard cream. It is topped with a thick layers of chocolate frosting and a feathering of vanilla frosting. I would have preferred more cream stuffing. 

Creme Brulee

This is literally a creme brulee in doughnut form. A small yeast doughnut is heavily stuffed  with vanilla bean custard cream  and topped with a a creme brulee style sugar glass topping. When attempted to cut this doughnut open, the glossy topping shattered just like glass.  This was an awesome donut; I highly recommend you try this one. 

Bacon Cinnamon Roll

This is an amped up version of a cinnamon roll, as it is rolled with a strip of hickory smoked bacon. Although I loved the flavor of the cinnamon roll, it was too burnt to be perfect. I would try it again.

Don’t Forget the Chocolate Milk on Tap

One of the coolest features of the OC Donut Bar is their chocolate milk and coffee on draft. They offer both chocolate and strawberry and chocolate milk on tap. I tried the chocolate milk and it was rich and creamy. They also off cold brewed Stump Town Coffee, pushed through the lines by nitrogen. 

My Final Thoughts about The OC Donut Bar

OC Donut Bar’s creations made Devilicious donuts look like a Jr.High basketball team playing Duke at the NCAA championships. Sidecar Donuts is no longer the only hot girl in class. Tom’s Foodie Blog highly recommends that you try OC Donut Bar; the Creme Brulee, Strawberry Big Poppa, and the Homer’s Donut are my top picks

Read my Other Foodie Posts

Best Las Vegas Buffet – Bacchanal at Caesar’s Palace versus the Wicked Spoon at The Cosmopolitan

Side Car Doughnuts

Where to find Cronuts in Orange County

Death of the Food Truck Scene and Rise of the Food Halls