Perk’s Donut Bar

Love the concept. Make your own donut. Bacon on a donut!
The execution wasn’t perfect. I don’t love cake donuts to begin with. Also, if you go at the end of their work day, you’ll be getting a cold donut. And their bacon is just a tad too sweet.
But it’s a cute place, and I like that they aren’t a chain (yet). I had their seasonal donut (vanilla donut with apple cider glaze) and a donut with maple glaze and bacon. Neither changed my life, but they were still both good. If they were fresh, they might have been better. Also, if I’d chosen peanut butter with bacon, the sweetness of the bacon probably wouldn’t have bothered me.
I’ll return the next time I have a donut craving and don’t feel like dealing with Hyde Park parking.

Not a fan. SOHO donut company in Hyde Park is a much better place. Better donuts. Better service. Better atmosphere. We received bad service. We each ordered two donuts and ½ the order was wrong and it wasn’t because it was busy we were the only people there. How hard is it to get that order correct? She didn’t offer to make it right either. The atmosphere is bland.
So, if you want a good donut head over to SOHO donut company.

Fresh hot donuts, best part is the variety and being able to choose your own glaze/​coating and topping! Recommend the peanut butter icing or the cinnamon sugar. Trust me you can taste the difference in donuts made fresh to order vs other places that have been premade and sitting around. About $ 1 per donut and well worth it. Coffee was smooth, not too sweet, not too bitter, and great to have with the donuts.

Donuts are probably my favorite thing in the whole world. So when I heard that there was a donut shop in Tampa where I could make my own donut creations, I knew that I HAD to go! The interior is a cheery shade of bright blue and DONUTS is displayed in large marquee letters on the right wall. I’m not sure how busy it gets on the weekend, but I visited on a Thursday so there was only one woman working. She was very friendly and assisted us in making our ample decision.
There are ten different icing/​powder choices and a few extra flavorful drizzles you can have on top of that. You can also add toppings such as nuts, sprinkles, or bacon! My favorite combinations were the signature S’mores donut and chocolate frosted with bacon crumbles. You can complete your meal with a Buddy Brew coffee or a variety of TeBella tea flavors. They even serve locally produced milks and juices! I thought the donuts had a great crunch to them and they tasted very fresh. I left dreaming of all the combinations I wished I had thought of while making a mental note to return to try them all!

I hesitated between 3 and 4 stars bc I don’t want to become too fond of the place! But it’s a great, unique idea. Fresh, Delicious cake doughnuts, fluffy and light and you choose the coating and 1 topping. Mine was chocolate iced with raspberry topping; tasted like a Black Forest cake! My sons had Carmel topping and peanuts, like a snickers. Apparently my son is more up on donut places because he has been to one in the Sarasota area and said these were definitely better and more filling.
Sorry for no pics but just imagine how delicious!

I don’t eat donuts very often, primarily because I like real food, not over processed food-​products churned out from a factory en masse. I hate Dunkin Donuts’s version and the waxy coating it leaves in my mouth; I’m not kidding to say that I can taste the preservatives.
The last few days, I was craving a donut, perhaps because I saw some Krispy Kremes here in Florida, and we don’t have them where Iive. We had some free time today, so we went in search of a good donut.
The closest place was Perk’s, and it was well rated on Unilocal.It has a fantastic concept of taking one good, always fresh-​from-​the-​oven cake donut and then letting you choose the toppings. It is a great idea, and they offer an excellent variety of toppings to give you tremendous creativity. Good so far.
But the toppings are also where things go wrong, in my opinion, to prevent a higher star rating from me. I chose a simple strawberry icing for my donut. See, I’m not the type of person who piles things onto foods — I just want cheese my burger, a little salt & pepper on my eggs, and I order plain hotdogs and plain pizza. Without a bunch of food «traffic» in my mouth, each component does need to be able to stand on its own merit. Frankly, I should skipped the icing at Perk’s.
The flavor was vaguely strawberry, much like strawberry-​flavored candy rather than an sugar icing made with actual fruit. My husband’s chocolate icing was much the same; more like a tootsie-​roll version of chocolate than actual cocoa-​infused sugar-​based icing. The raspberry gel on his donut was good and fruity.
The texture of the icing was the real star-​killer for me. It’s gummy. I suspect that they’ve added some preservative to the icings to keep them in this liquid-​but-​tacky state so that the donut can be dipped to order. The strawberry one is much like liquified Starburst candy. I guess that’s good if you like Starbursts or if you like clumpy, gummy icing that sticks to your teeth when you eat a donut.
In summary, excellent donut. Just skip the icing unless you like taffy on your donuts.

Delicious donuts! Only flaw was our donuts were room temp/​cold vs the hot and warm as advertised and expected l. None the less the service was great and food delicious, I can’t wait to go back for more!

Holy Moley!
What a local treasure I’m almost upset that nobody has told me about this place before. Typically when I want sweets I’m looking for the nearest slice of cheesecake I can find but this morning I was thinking a donut and coffee would hit the spot and this place did not disappoint. Parking is ample and you could almost miss this establishment if you aren’t looking for it. Inside it’s very crisp and clean… almost into sterile territory. I really like the concept of being a donut bar so you can mix and match and create something of your own. Lots of icings and toppings to choose from so I definitely was the customer standing in the middle of the room with her mouth hanging open in awe trying to decide. I settled on maple icing and bacon crumbles and it was seriously the best donut I’ve ever had! The donut itself was not airy like Krispy Kreme but had that home made cakey texture, the icing was not too sugary sweet, and boy do they know how to cook bacon the right way! It was the perfect balance of crispy chewy. They also brew Buddy Brew coffee so you’re able to get a good cup of joe while heading into South Tampa. Bottom line this place is great and the only place I’ll get donuts from for now on.

FUN CHOICES AT THIS DONUT FACTORY
The toppings here allow lots of variety. (And I can’t believe I’m saying this) but I wish there were more crazy options – Bacon was the only standout and its shock value has already worn off. You’re allowed a choice of frosting, then topping, then drizzle… just choose from the menu near the counter and watch the staff create it.
GLUTEN-​FREE, ALLERIC PYRA SAYS:
I usually enjoy fried, air-​filled, Donuts as opposed to Cakey types, but the gluten-​free option only allowed the Cake variety – and they were so light and fluffy and not very thick – I loved it! But remember they also create these GF versions using dairy and Eggs.
RICH TOPPINGS
Our Maple frosting, Bacon Crumble, and Caramel Drizzle (both GF and regular version) tasted like a Donut version of a breakfast treat. Another Strawberry frosting, Chocolate sprinkles, and Raspberry drizzle looked like food porn in a box. Both were insanely delicious and rich in flavor. I especially liked the Raspberry drizzle providing a tart, fruity, addition.

Made to order donuts are starting to claim their stake in my donut obsession. We found Perk’s thanks to Unilocal and were interested to check it out. The storefront is in an unassuming strip center along Dale Mabry, however the bright blue interior offers a cheery welcome.
Lay of the land: each donut is made to order. You get to pick an icing, a topping, AND a drizzle to go on your donut with a variety to select from in each category. For this visit we both went with maple icing, bacon, and caramel drizzle. The donut was still warm from the fryer and while I was hesitant on the level of true freshness it would have, it was right up there. The only thing I wish I would have done was opt for the chocolate drizzle to add another layer of flavor. The maple & caramel kind of blended together and the caramel didn’t stand out too much.
I’m excited to go back and try other combinations.

Good coffee, but the best part is they design the donuts to order.
All the base donuts are the same — very fresh, smaller, yellow cake donuts. Then u pick the frosting and/​or toppings, such as sprinkles, cinnamon sugar, toasted coconut, bacon, etc…
U have to try the maple-​bacon donut. It was one of the best!
Service was polite and professional.
I rarely go to the same place twice on one trip, but sure enough a few mornings later, I had to return to Perk’s.

Came to check out the new local donut bar. Simple, cute and the staff was great. This doughnut shop only has cake doughnuts. So if your a yeast doughnut lover like myself you will be a bit disappointed to find they won’t have any. But I’m not one to turn around and not at least try one. The doughnuts are good but I wouldn’t be able to give an outstanding review since they don’t have a large selection of doughnut heaven to choose from.
The Cruller, Cream filled, jelly filled, the long John, fritters, Boston cream, dutchie, cider doughnut, cinnamon rolls, old fashioned… Just to name a few… All of these
Items are MISSING from this doughnut shop. :(
You do get to customize your doughnut with various toppings. Such as, chocolate drizzle, vanilla, sprinkles bacon, coconut, jellies and nuts. But they are missing the selective bases named above. This shop could still be working on building a variety doughnut list and recipes. But until that time I need more to choose from.

Their doughnuts are to die for. Some of the best I’ve ever had, and definitely the best I’ve had in Florida. I suggest just plain cinnamon sugar, glazed, or the peanut butter and chocolate frosted. They are best eaten while they’re hot and fresh, but last up to two days if you zap them for a few seconds in the microwave.
The only drawback I would say is the service is iffy. I’ve visited Perk’s three times: the first time we had wonderful service, but the second time the service was not great and the third time the service was pretty bad and they had to remake part of our order back they made the wrong doughnuts. They also threw away the «mess up» doughnut instead of just adding the correct one to our order, which I found strange.

For many years, I’ve only eaten donuts from Tim Horton’s. Every trip I make to Canada or Michigan involves at least a couple stops at the TH for a great sandwich, coffee or tea and a tasty donut. I’ve been waiting for Tim Horton’s to do more than just offer hot beverages at Lightning games and I’d put up my own money to invest in a store on Dale Mabry, Kennedy or International Mall.
Well, it was just after 9am and curiousity got the best of me. So, when I walked into Perk’s, it was completely empty and did not know what to expect.
A tremendously nice employee (Shona) recognized that I was visiting for the first time and explained to me how all their donuts are made-​to-​order with choices of one coating/​icing, one topping and one drizzle.
Ten different choices for the first option, five for the second and three different drizzles as well.
So, I got a little creative with a few combinations and took some donuts to the office and received rave reviews for all of them.
In particular, the donut combining peanut butter icing, bacon and chocolate was… well…what do you think it tasted like? Yes, you’re right.
And just $ 1.25 per donut ($ 12.95 for a dozen), which isn’t bad considering you can put together pretty much whatever type of flavor combo you could imagine.
Even though there was nobody else in there, the donuts were really prepared fast and there was certainly something appealing knowing they were put together when I ordered them and not sitting around in a case until I came along.
While there’s obviously fresh coffee and tea, that’s pretty much it. Clearly, they want to keep it simple and specialize in custom donuts and the result is quite a treat.
No, it isn’t the TH… but waiting for them around here may take longer than another Stanley Cup.

South Tampa has been in need of a great donut shop and we finally have one with Perk’s. I popped in one day to check them out and was blown away by their adorable shop and downright delicious donuts. My absolute favorite is Maple Bacon. You can’t go wrong with any of their donuts, as they are all truly scrumptious. They also serve TeBella which is my favorite local tea.

What a great find! Stopped in this morning for the first time. Shona was very friendly and helpful, as I wanted to bring a half-​dozen to a friend.
The donuts are made to order and delicious.
I decided on a half dozen:
1 glazed with coconut
1 vanilla icing with rainbow sprinkles
1 chocolate icing with rainbow sprinkles
1 maple with bacon (recommended)
1 chocolate glazed with bacon with raspberry drizzle (recommended)
1 choc icing with raspberry (recommended)
They were all hot and fantastic. We had to do a nut– free order because of allergies, but they also have nut/​peanut toppings available.

Donuts ! What’s not to love about donuts! They also have buddy brew which is delicious. I had a peanut butter and bacon donut which was great. But! The donuts are just basic cake donuts with toppings. So don’t expect a chocolate or blueberry cake donut! Service was excellent and no one was there at noon on a Saturday when I went in!

If you like freshly made custom glazed/​topped, you’ll like Perk’s as much as I did. They have plenty of regular selections for their one cake doughnut and I think different seasonal toppings. I tried a half dozen of different variations and all were great. Hubby raved about the powdered sugar but I’m still thinking about the maple glazed with bacon. I’ve had this doughnut all over the US and this one was the best I’ve had. I don’t drink coffee but I know people like they serve Buddy Brew here. Whenever I’m in the area, I’ll be stopping at Perk’s.

I had this place bookmarked before our little weekend trip to Tampa. We had a crazy busy weekend but made a point to stop here for a quick breakfast before heading back to Orlando.
It’s located in a non descript shopping plaza where every storefront looks the same. You probably wouldn’t notice it if you were driving by so I’m thankful for Unilocal alerting users to little gems like this place.
The interior was this pretty Bluebird Bake Shop blue (Orlando readers will know). And just made me so happy! The employee was sooo welcoming and was happy to explain the menu. They feature cake donuts and also have gluten free options. You are welcome to order a single donut, half dozen, full dozen or a 10 pack. You have a 3 lists of coating, topping and drizzle choices. Everything is made to order and nothing is left sitting out. They also sell Buddy Brew coffee and TeBella tea. Along with chocolate and regular milk.
I ordered a glazed doughnut and chocolate doughnut drizzled with raspberry. I loved that it wasn’t a crumbly doughnut (think Entemann’s) and more of a firm, softer texture. I had an iced coffee to go with my doughnuts and I just wasn’t a fan. I asked for it to be sweetened and even with sugar, it had a strong taste I wasn’t accustomed to.
Since it was a late Monday morning, it wasn’t too busy when we stopped in. Only one person came in after us. I do wonder how one employee handles the morning rush when it’s slammed… especially if doughnuts are made to order.
Anyways they have a good thing going here. Go support them!

There are some indisputable facts in life. The sky is blue, what comes up must come down, and that hot donuts are far, far superior than donuts at room temperature.
That’s where Perk’s steps in. Everyone knows and loves Krispy Kreme donuts. When they are fresh, they are basically the best, melt-​in-​your-​mouth food ever.
Perk’s donuts are similar to Krispy Kreme in this respect, but also way different because they are highly customizable. You can choose your frosting/​glaze, choose your toppings (sprinkles, bacon, even coconut), and then even choose a drizzle to go on top of all of that.
For my first Perk’s experience, I ordered a donut with strawberry icing, rainbow sprinkles and raspberry drizzle. I was not disappointed whatsoever. The donuts are made right in front of you so you know you’re getting a special treat just for you.
The donuts themselves are perfectly fried. They aren’t too doughy or too dry. They are just right.
The shop also serves Tebella Tea and Buddy Brew coffee.
I came in on opening day, so I’ll have to keep coming back to give a full report, but this place is bound to be a hit because it is VERY good so far. I can feel it in my Unilocaler bones.