The Original Ferrell’s Donuts

This little place is sad. Which makes me sad because it’s the only donut shop nearby. As soon as we walk in one of the two ladies asks in a slight «tone» if we want to buy donuts. Umm I DID just walk into a donut shop, yes? And as I look at the selection, I decide I’m not really sure now, wait… AM I in a donut shop? Because this is the saddest selection of donuts I’ve seen. None of them looked appetizing! My husband says he thinks he wants a bagel, and right after that a person drives up and I guess the ladies know him since they said «oh great, another bagel guy». I almost ordered a bagel but decided to give the cinnatwist a try, and the saddest little chocolate glazed donut out of the 4 that were there. She couldn’t have snagged one of the slightly more puffy ones? NOPE! The whole transaction seemed like it was a total inconvenience for these two ladies. Oh and the little «tippers go to heaven» sign? Yeeea THAT’S the reason I’m going to hell. Because I didn’t tip these grumpy witches.
As we were waiting, my hubs noticed their coffee station, $ 2 for a small coffee… Really? It’s not even local coffee, it’s what you would get at a gas station.
Ahhhh that must be where I actually am. I’m in a gas station that doesn’t sell gas.
My husband seemed to like his bagel, even though it was made entirely through the microwave (I don’t even think about eggs in the microwave) my cinnatwist is «eh». Was definitely not made with love. I could feel the hate sliding down my gullet as I tried a piece without milk. It definitely goes down easier with milk, but I wasn’t about to buy a $ 5 (I actually didn’t see the prices for the milk) grade school lunch sized milk from them!
They should just close up shop for good.

Wow, it’s really to bad that this place has some bad reviews. My experience was nothing like others describe. Customer service was very friendly and helpful. We purchased 4 different types of donuts and they were all tasty and fresh. Without hesitation I would come back here for donuts.

Wish I checked Unilocal before walking in here. They had merely 2 trays of mixed donuts, none looking too appealing. The lady behind the counter kept on repeating «we’re closing… closing. closing» ad nauseum. I noticed she was getting a bagel ready for someone and was microwaving the egg. I should’ve walked out at that time but since we had hungry kids with us, we didn’t feel like driving around looking for something else. So we picked two biggest doughnut pieces that were left over after basically being informed «take it or leave it, this is what I have». The lady was still repeating that they are closing, guess to make sure the kids don’t stay and eat their donuts there. We paid for our stuff and left. Orignal Ferrell’s, on top of measly selection has some of the rudest employees I’ve seen. If the person who «served» us was the owner, even worse. Believe the reviews and don’t come here.

Great donuts! Very fresh and the woman behind the counter was so pleasant and friendly! I’ll definitely recommend this place and go back.

I write a review when something is either really good or really bad. Sadly this is the latter of the two. We were camping at Seacliff when we had seen this donut shop across from Safeway. My 6 year old son and I walked nearly two miles from the beach at 9:30am to pick up donuts for breakfast. As we walked up to the door, a woman pokes her head out and says, «We’ve sold all of our donuts, every last one. Sorry.» ARE YOU KIDDING??? After a 2 mile hike up a hill, my kid was beyond disappointed. It’s only 9:30, but I’ll cut her some slack since it’s Friday. We ended up at the breakfast joint across the street which made up for such a bummer. I drove back the next morning at 8:30am and there were two people in the place. The same woman sitting at a corner table obviously having a social conversation about a drugged out friend. I was obviously interrupting her convo by her snotty tone when she came to help me. She only asked «Are you paying cash?» I am surprised she wasn’t drumming her fingers as I picked my 12 donuts from the sparse selection. I asked how big the large coffee was and she simply pointed to the cups without saying a word.
Oh biotch, please!
As previous posts report, the donuts are not fresh and tasted like the desperate donut you eat in the break room the day after a potluck at the office.
Not only will I never go here again, but it was bad enough that we returned from camping 30 minutes ago and I am already writing about this experience.
I think the woman working there missed her calling as a brothel madam.

This place as been a staple for the community for many years. It continues to provide great service with very fresh donuts. Always has great selection.
They have always been kind to provide the local baseball events with discounts on large orders.
Thanks so much for being a great asset to Aptos!

It used to (and still does) confuse my how all of the Ferrell’s Donuts are called «The Original.» I guess it’s just the name, rather than a statement of being… At any rate, I tend to find that the donuts at this place are generally stale-​tasting and not very good. The selection is small, and I’m not really even sure they make them there.
Today’s visit was even less fun, since it came with a counter person who obviously didn’t want to be there or serving me.
If you’re headed south, stop by Top Donut in Watsonville. Soooooo good. Ferrell’s will do in a pinch, but really you’re probably better off going across the street to Safeway to get your donut fix on.

I was bummed when I came here because I was excited to (finally!) stop by here since it’s right by our house. I was greeted by a lady with a serious frown on her face. Not until it was time to give me my change, with the thought of a tip in mind, did she smile and tell me to have a good day. Did she think at that point she could change my mind? Maybe. But that didn’t work. The donuts were good but service makes all the difference, even at a donut shop. I’ll drive all the way to SC for good service.

I put in a huge order of donuts every week for my company, and working with Ferrell’s has been a delight. Not only do they provide us with a wide array of flavors, but each one tastes great. Every morning I pick them up, I am greeted with a friendly face and a hand carrying the 3 large boxes out the door.

Just forget about this place and move on. Oh how I wish I would take my own advise and stop going here. But I keep wishing this place would get better but sadly, they won’t.
I’ve stopped here many times hoping for a good donut but to my dismay each time I find there are about 2 – 3 trays of donuts that are obviously cooked someplace else and perhaps left abandoned somewhere for a day or so before they finally make it to the display case at 7765 Soquel. Clearly they are beyond fresh and probably beyond day old as well.
Today I stopped and got a Cin-​twist donut. It was $ 1.60 and was clearly cooked yesterday sometime. Frankly, I could have gone across the street and got a 0.45 (that’s right my friend, 25% of the price) cin-​twist from Safeway that would be orders of magnitude better. And that is from Safeway — a grocery store.
Others pointed out the workers here are miserable. I’ve had good and bad when here. Today she was not in the mood. If you actually are up all night making donuts, this is understandable but clearly she did not make donuts — donut makers are generally covered with flour and have dark circles under they eyes — I know as I assisted the night donut makers when in college.
As others wrote, this Original Ferrell’s as well as the 17^th ave Santa Cruz and the Scotts Valley locations are owned differently from the Mission Street and Ocean Street Ferrell’s. I have not been to the 17^th ave nor Scotts Valley locations but have seen cupons that are accepted at these 3 locations.
The Mission (West side SC) and Ocean stores actually make their own donuts fresh. Different owners are these and apparently by people who are serious about making donuts.

Freaking AWESOME!
I don’t know why the other reviews are negative — we were stoked we stopped here. We just happened to see it as we drove by and we flipped around to grab a donut on our way out of town. The woman behind the counter was VERY nice, and we had difficulty deciding, everything looked so good. We each got a vanilla custard filled chocolate covered, then I got a buttermilk bar, and my man got a chocolate covered buttermilk bar. We were still discussing all the donuts we would have liked to try as we paid, and I dropped a buck and a quarter in the tip jar as we were picking up the bag. The lady was so happy we tipped her, she gave us an apple fritter as a bonus. I tipped her another buck.
We stopped for coffee elsewhere, but dug in to the custard donuts right away. Heaven! Sheer delight.
I saved my buttermilk bar for later, and I wish I had another one right now. You just don’t see buttermilk bars much anymore, and this one was delectable. Delicious! The chocolate one my husband had was just as lovely.
Sorry for all the folks who had a bad experience there, but we found it to be absolutely wonderful.

One of the worst doughnut shops i’ve been to. Not worth stopping at. I actually drive by it on my way to the doughnut station.

It’s not one of the better doughnut shops in Santa Cruz County, but it’s the only one in Aptos. I’m not a fan of their raised doughnuts at all. The berry cake doughnuts and buttermilk bars are pretty good.
If you’re in Aptos and really want doughnuts, you might also want to try Deluxe Foods, Safeway or Sno White. Or, just drive further up the road to Soquel Donut Station for really great doughnuts.

The donuts and coffee here are ok but the workers are really miserable. Every time I have gone in there the workers are unfriendly and on the verge of rude. I would say pass this place up.