Note: Hours, prices and flavors change — and many shops sell out by mid-morning. Always confirm with the bakery before you go, especially on Fat Tuesday. Pair a doughnut with Milwaukee's best coffee, a full breakfast, or weekend brunch.
The Milwaukee Doughnut Institutions
Multi-generation bakeries and decades-old shops — the names locals grew up on and still measure everything else against.
Grebe's Bakery
Family-owned since 1937
Old-school Milwaukee bakery doughnuts — 30+ varieties daily, with the classic Milwaukee-style cruller as the calling card. Yeast-raised, cake, filled, glazed, all turned out in volume and fresh.
MUST TRY
The cruller — sugar-shell crisp outside, soft inside — and on Fat Tuesday, the apricot or sweet-cheese paczki.
VIBE
Fourth-generation bakery, no pretense, neighborhood institution
INSIDER TIP
Go early. By mid-morning the best varieties are gone, and on Paczki Day they bake 160,000+ and still sell out — preorder online.
📍 5132 W Lincoln Ave, West Allis, WI 53219
Cranky Al's
Alton Brown favorite cruller
Hand-cut, made-fresh-daily doughnuts using locally sourced and organic ingredients — the shop Alton Brown put on the national map for crullers.
MUST TRY
The cruller — oblong, hard glaze shell, buttery interior. Alton Brown called it dream-worthy and locals don't argue.
VIBE
Tosa neighborhood coffee-and-doughnut shop, also slings hand-tossed pizza
INSIDER TIP
Closed Mondays. The cruller is the one — order it before anything with sprinkles tempts you.
📍 6901 W North Ave, Wauwatosa, WI 53213
Honeydip Donuts
Milwaukee staple since 1974
35+ varieties of no-frills, sub-$1.50 doughnuts — cake, yeast, filled, crullers — fried fresh through the day. Cheese pockets and sour cream doughnuts are sleeper picks.
MUST TRY
A sugar-crusted cruller and a cheese pocket. The sour cream doughnut is the local order.
VIBE
Old-school South Side counter, ice cream and burgers too
INSIDER TIP
The Layton Blvd spot is the surviving location and runs 6am to 10pm most days — the 27th St shop is closed, so don't drive there.
📍 805 S Layton Blvd, Milwaukee, WI 53215
Modern & Craft Doughnuts
Chef-driven, in-house dough, organic glazes, vegan, loaded — the new wave doing things the old shops don't.
Donut Monster
Fine-dining trained, chef-driven
Sour cream-based old-fashioneds and yeast-raised rings from a Michelin-trained chef — no artificial colors, organic fruit concentrates for glazes, everything made in-house.
MUST TRY
Brown butter old-fashioned, PB&J with Concord grape glaze, or the rotating special.
VIBE
Bright modern shop, quick line, breakfast sandwiches too
INSIDER TIP
Only open Thursday–Sunday. Also at Whitefish Bay (5169 N Elkhart Ave) and Cedarburg if the Third Ward is a haul.
📍 316 N Milwaukee St, Milwaukee, WI 53202
Donut Squad
Late-night weekend reopen
Yeast and cake doughnuts loaded with cereals, candy and cookies — Fruity Pebbles, Cap'n Crunch, Sour Patch, Reese's, Oreo — plus straightforward classics and filled specialties.
MUST TRY
The Boston cream with Nutella and crushed peanut butter cups, or anything Fruity Pebbles.
VIBE
East Side counter shop, quick in-and-out, very Instagrammable
INSIDER TIP
They reopen at 10pm on weekend nights for the bar-crawl crowd — Milwaukee's de facto late-night doughnut move.
📍 2264 N Prospect Ave, Milwaukee, WI 53202
Sugar Cube Donuts
Vegan doughnuts, square-shaped
Square-cut yeast doughnuts made from a dough free of eggs, butter and dairy — fully vegan but designed so you don't notice, with bold glazes and creative toppings.
MUST TRY
Whatever the rotating glaze of the week is — the vegan dough holds up to wet toppings better than most.
VIBE
Small downtown counter, also pops up at the Public Market and Bayshore
INSIDER TIP
This is the spot to take a vegan or dairy-allergic friend without compromise — almost no one clocks them as vegan.
📍 400 N Water St, Milwaukee, WI 53202
Polish Paczki Specialists
Where Milwaukee goes for Fat Tuesday — and where the paczki tradition actually lives the rest of the year. See also: Grebe's in the Institutions section, also a paczki powerhouse.
National Bakery & Deli
40,000 paczki on Fat Tuesday
Traditional Polish paczki — denser, richer than a doughnut, filled with prune, raspberry, lemon or raisin. A 2026 collaboration adds a Brandy Old Fashioned paczki with Central Standard Distillery.
MUST TRY
The prune (the original, and the most Polish), or the Brandy Old Fashioned if you can grab one.
VIBE
Three-generation Milwaukee bakery — accordion players on Paczki Day
INSIDER TIP
Lines start 4:30am for a 6am open on Fat Tuesday. Preorder online or hit the Greendale (5637 Broad St) or Brookfield (13820 W Greenfield Ave) locations to skip the worst of it.
📍 3200 S 16th St, Milwaukee, WI 53215
Peter Sciortino Bakery
Brady Street landmark since 1946
Italian bakery first, but the Fat Tuesday paczki are made from scratch daily like everything else here — yeasted, fried, filled, dusted, sold out by noon.
MUST TRY
A fresh paczki on Fat Tuesday, plus a few Italian cookies for the road.
VIBE
Old-Milwaukee Italian bakery, neon sign, line out the door
INSIDER TIP
Closed Mondays. Voted Milwaukee's best bakery more than once — even when it's not Paczki Day, the case is worth a stop.
📍 1101 E Brady St, Milwaukee, WI 53202
Wioletta's Polish Market
Polish-owned, authentic paczki
Imported and house-made Polish paczki from an actual Polish-owned market — denser dough, fruit fillings, the real-deal version most American bakeries are imitating.
MUST TRY
The traditional rose-petal or plum paczki when available — flavors you won't find at the big bakeries.
VIBE
Tight neighborhood Polish grocery, kielbasa case, Eastern European imports
INSIDER TIP
Since Polonez closed in 2022, this is the closest thing left to a true Polish bakery experience in Milwaukee. See also: Grebe's and National Bakery for higher-volume paczki.
📍 3955 S Howell Ave, Milwaukee, WI 53207
Late-Night & Worth the Drive
The bar-crawl doughnut, the arcade doughnut, and the North Shore day-trip doughnuts worth crossing town for.
Happy Dough Lucky
Donuts + arcade + late hours
Mini doughnuts fried to order — the dough isn't even started until you walk in — then dunked, glazed and loaded into custom builds like s'mores, dirt cup and Yabba Dabba Doo.
MUST TRY
The s'mores mini doughnuts, hot and built to order.
VIBE
Bay View arcade with Pac-Man cabinets, claw machines, pizza, drinks and doughnuts
INSIDER TIP
Open till midnight on Fridays — one of the only real late-night doughnut moves in town besides Donut Squad's weekend reopen.
📍 2691 S Kinnickinnic Ave, Milwaukee, WI 53207
Donut Monster (Whitefish Bay)
The original storefront
Same chef-driven brown-butter old-fashioneds and creative yeast rings as the Third Ward shop — this is the original 2019 location on a quiet residential corner.
MUST TRY
The cinnamon toast old-fashioned and whatever sandwich is on the breakfast menu.
VIBE
Tucked into a North Shore neighborhood, small but bright
INSIDER TIP
Worth the trip if the Third Ward line is too long, or if you're already on the North Shore — Cedarburg's W62 N634 Washington Ave shop is the third option.
📍 5169 N Elkhart Ave, Whitefish Bay, WI 53217
Donut Monster (Cedarburg)
Day-trip doughnut stop
The Cedarburg outpost of the chef-driven brown-butter operation, same menu and standards, with a small-town main-street setting.
MUST TRY
Brown butter old-fashioned and a breakfast sandwich on the housemade English muffin.
VIBE
Historic Cedarburg downtown, easy to fold into a day trip
INSIDER TIP
Pair with a walk down Washington Ave and a stop at the Cedar Creek Settlement — this is the doughnut excuse for a North Shore Saturday.
📍 W62 N634 Washington Ave, Cedarburg, WI 53012
More Milwaukee Food Guides
Frequently Asked Questions
Where are the best doughnuts (or donuts) in Milwaukee?
The consensus best donuts in Milwaukee come from a mix of old and new: Grebe's Bakery (West Allis, since 1937), Cranky Al's (Wauwatosa, Alton Brown-approved crullers), Honeydip Donuts (South Side, since 1974), Donut Monster (Third Ward, Whitefish Bay, Cedarburg) for chef-driven brown-butter old-fashioneds, and Donut Squad on the East Side for loaded specialty doughnuts. For paczki, National Bakery and Peter Sciortino's are the names.
Where do I get paczki in Milwaukee on Fat Tuesday?
Grebe's Bakery in West Allis bakes more than 160,000 paczki for Paczki Day in flavors like apricot, sweet cheese, prune and raspberry. National Bakery & Deli (S. 16th St., plus Greendale and Brookfield) makes 40,000 and partners with Central Standard Distillery for a Brandy Old Fashioned paczki. Peter Sciortino's on Brady Street and Wioletta's Polish Market on S. Howell Ave. round out the must-hit list. Lines start before dawn — preorder if you can.
What is a paczki?
A pączki (plural: pączki, pronounced 'POONCH-kee') is a traditional Polish filled doughnut made from rich, egg-and-butter yeasted dough, deep-fried, and filled with fruit preserves, sweet cheese or custard. Milwaukee's huge Polish heritage makes the city one of the best places in the country to eat them, especially on Fat Tuesday (Paczki Day) — the last day before Lent, when bakeries clear out their richest ingredients.
What's the best old-fashioned or cake doughnut in Milwaukee?
Donut Monster's brown-butter old-fashioned is the chef-driven pick — sour cream dough, made in-house with no artificial colors. Cranky Al's hand-cut cake doughnuts and the famous cruller are the Wauwatosa benchmark. Grebe's Milwaukee-style cruller is the old-school answer. For cake doughnuts under $1.50, Honeydip Donuts is the value play.
What's the best doughnut shop open early in Milwaukee?
Honeydip Donuts on S. Layton Blvd opens at 6am most days. Cranky Al's opens at 6am Tuesday–Sunday. Grebe's Bakery opens at 5am (and earlier on Paczki Day). National Bakery opens 6:30am. For late-night, Donut Squad reopens at 10pm on weekends and Happy Dough Lucky in Bay View stays open till midnight on Fridays.
Are there vegan doughnuts in Milwaukee?
Yes — Sugar Cube Donuts on N. Water St. makes square-shaped, fully vegan doughnuts (no eggs, butter or dairy) with creative glazes and toppings. Honeydip Donuts also rotates vegan and gluten-friendly options. Sugar Cube is the go-to recommendation for vegan or dairy-allergic doughnut eaters in Milwaukee.
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