Foster’s Family Donuts

I have been coming to this donut shop since I was in high school! And coming on my 27^th birthday here in a few weeks, that’s about oh say, 13 years worth of donut time. That’s a lot of donuts!
I used to come since I lived in San Marcos and the previous owner was the sweetest guy. Always chit chatting with my mom, always had the best donuts and you know what? Still do!
I’ve been to other donuts shops and they are either too greasy, too filling, or overloaded with sugar and frosting. Fosters makes the perfect balance. The bread is always light & fluffy!
And I like their coffee!
Come say hi, the guy whose now always there is super nice too. He’s been around probably as long as I’ve been coming too!
This is a total family spot in my book. I’ll probably continue coming here for as long as they’re here.

Lived here for a year before we finally discovered Foster’s Family Donuts — and are we glad we did! Family-​run business with outstanding quality product. The owner doesn’t cut corners when buying the ingredients and you can taste that in his end product. Don’t come for the interior (kind of plain), and get here early because the regulars eat these donuts up QUICK. (They also make a great cup of coffee here. We see lots of people running in for a to-​go cup.)

Great place and very nice people. They are popular so if you show up late morning it’s tough to find a full selection. Excellent croissants, as well as donuts. My kids love their maple bars and twists. I go for their apple fritters and cinnamon rolls. All the cake donuts are excellent as well. Again — go early!

Im a big fan of their ham and cheese croissants but usually they’ve been running out by like 10am, amongst other items as well. What does that tell you? To me it means that they are not making enough product for the day. They have plenty of space to keep that place stocked till 3pm. Not sure what the owner/​s are thinking but they need to hire one more person and make enough goods. More products equals more profit obviously.

This is really a 2.5 star review. Not a place I would frequent, but I had time to kill before running more errands, so I stopped in.
Very outdated place and a bit on the dirty side too. No credit cards are taken and there’s no ATM machine around.
I went in around 11am and the donut case was 95% empty. I was a bit confused because they are open until 3. I ordered a chocolate frosted/​sprinkles donut for my son and a cup of decaf for me.
Total was 2.40. I had 2.25 (or so I thought) but then I found extra change. The worker was fine with me paying 2.25.
Oddly enough, the donut was pretty good. I like cake donuts. but I was really surprised at the donut tasting better than decent.
The muffins didn’t look appetizing at all.
Doubtful I would return when I love Peterson’s Donuts.

Close to home, great place to reward treats for my family. No restroom if you want to eat there, so you need to eat and go.

I love the doughnuts here, especially the crème filled doughnuts. They also have old fashion doughnuts, twists and coffee. The price is cheap, and the people are always friendly.
A warning: its cash only

Omg the cream cheese doughnut, so amazing. The cream filled is also good

Good selection of pastries and donuts if you arrive early. I enjoy supporting local businesses that provide a good product. Prices are reasonable and the pastries are fresh.

Walked in at 9:30am on a Saturday morning and there were about 20 donuts in the display case, mostly cake and none of them looking fresh. We just walked out without eating anything because there was nothing available.
If you don’t have anything on a Saturday morning I can’t imagine what other days are like!

I have been coming here since I was knee high. I would say these are the best donuts in San Marcos. The owners often throw in a few extra donut holes if the recognize me. The product is always fresh and there is seems to be a solid array of donuts. However, it is best to get there early if you want the best selection.

Ken you are the greatest! Called Thurs afternoon, needed 400 donuts for a school function the next morning. 6:30am the next day picked up — the donuts were a HUGE hit — I had people asking «where did you get the donuts» — interestingly when I said «fosters» a lot of folks knew it. NOTE the function was in San Elijo hills and there are some picky folks in that neighborhood. Thanks for helping make me look good and be a success!

Just like the donut shops from my childhood. Plain white cases lined with the usual donuts. The 6 we tried didn’t stand a chance and we devoured in minutes. Darn tasty! 6 donuts with two of them being fancy (apple fritter and a cinnamon roll) for $ 5 and change is a bargain.
Don’t come here thinking you are going to be impressed by their interior decorating skills but its a donut shop so who expects much in that arena.
The two guys working were very polite too.

I’ve been here a few times, and the majority of the time the man and lady were rude. «What do you want?» Is usually all they say. Once, I clearly told the lady what Donut I wanted, and she grabbed two other different kinds and placed them into my bag. I ha to tell her three times I only wanted one. Almost like she was trying to hope I was dumb enough to not notice. I will not be coming here again.

The donuts here are delicious. Every time I am in San Marcos I come here. The staff is very nice and they always give me an extra donut. Don’t know why, but I’ll take it. BTW, this is a DONUT shop, NOT A BAKERY. This place is called Foster’s Family DONUTS.

Very yummy and really reasonable prices! Much better than Peterson’s in Escondido. This will be our go-​to from now on!

I hesitated to visit due to the low Unilocal review but then noticed the food didn’t seem to be an issue aside from the dry muffins mentioned: no prob –I had a donut craving.
Service was fine. The Asian woman who helped us wasn’t warm and fuzzy but she was polite and friendly enough to answer some questions.
we got 3 donuts: raspberry filled, honey wheat?, and chocolate cake with choc frosting and shedded coconut. At 4:15pm there was a decent selection of standards plus some interesting/​unique options like the honey wheat. (I think that was its name)
They get 5 stars because the donuts were delicious, tender and fresh even so late in the day.

I went out to find a legitimate bakery in San Marcos for breakfast last weekend (something mom n’ pop beyond the Vons or Panera). My intent was to try West Gin but can you believe they were closed at breakfast time on a weekend? What’s the point of owning a bakery if you’re not open on the weekends? Anyway, West Gin was closed so I continued driving until I found Foster Family donuts.
The place is small and had zero design and was not particularly clean looking by any means. The fluorescent lighting did nothing to sell the food. There were a few people there when I arrived which I took as a good sign but I was quickly disappointed to find very little selection. The man who helped me was very unpleasant, borderline rude. He asked me what I wanted and never said another word not even to thank me when I paid. I wished him a nice day and he didn’t even respond. I was surprised that he didn’t crack a smile or raise an eyebrow. I can’t even be sure that he blinked throughout our interaction. Before I even tasted the food I knew this would be my last trip to Foster Family Bakery.
I selected an apple turnover, a chocolate chip muffin and a donut that resembled a glazed French cruller but was round (I don’t know what they’re called). My boyfriend ate the apple turnover and said it was good. I had the muffin which was dry and flavorless and was probably not baked that day (I didn’t finish it). We shared the donut. The donut was pretty darn good I will say. Very moist… sweet, soft and sugary. This would have been a 1 star review but thankfully I took a single bite of that donut.
I would have thought San Marcos, being a large suburban community, would be flooded with wonderful bakeries. Turns out I would have thought wrong. I have been asking around town and haven’t yet met a single person who could name ANY San Marcos bakery much less one that was good. Either there isn’t a customer base there or it’s completely untapped and ripe for the taking. Are you a baker? Even a mediocre one? Please come to San Marcos, until then, I’ll be at Panera.