Seasonal shaped donuts don’t mean great tasting donuts. At least that’s what I learned when I tried Krispy Kreme’s Halloween offerings and now Heavenly Donuts falls into that same unfortunate category.
Heavenly Donuts is located in the Del Cerro neighborhood in an unassuming shopping center. It’s easy to miss but I visited here specifically to check out their ghost donut.
Their ghost donut ($0.80) is offered year round and there is a host of other doughnuts as well as a selection of coffee drinks. Everything is reasonably priced. The costliest thing on their menu is a blended coffee drink for $3.
After one bite into the ghost donut, I came to the sad revelation about shaped doughnuts. It’s all sparkle (this one is barely fitting the category) and no substance.
This raised donut was dry and tasteless. The chocolate icing didn’t help and further prompted me to question why didn’t they use white icing to decorate a ghost-themed pastry.
Their other donuts look tempting but nothing out of the ordinary.
Heavenly Donuts
5132 Waring Road
San Diego, CA 92120
619.286.1997
My Burning Kitchen 
Yeah… ghost donuts should be white, shouldn’t they?! It kind of looks more like a boogie man from Nightmare Before Christmas rather than a ghost. If you’re going to do something a little special, at least put in the effort!
I like the little effort they put into it. Maybe some strawberry filling would work wonders. Maybe…
Bummer! I grew up in that neighborhood — it’s actually Allied Gardens, which is adjacent to Del Cerro — and Heavenly Donuts is owned by a local family (my sister and I went to school with some of them). It’s too bad the ghost donut wasn’t delicious. I’ve always liked their donuts — it’s the closest shop where I can get a cinnamon-sugar cake donut — but I’ve always gone first thing in the morning when they’re fresh…
Thanks for the clarification of the neighborhood. I’m glad small shops like this exist. I’ll check out the cinnamon-sugar cake donut next!
It’s okay, I think Yelp combines Del Cerro and Allied Gardens anyway. It’s one of those “hidden gem” neighborhoods.
It is a great family-owned shop and it’s been there forever. When we were in high school, my friend and her younger brother frequently worked the counter on weekends. Unfortunately, I think they make all of their donuts in the mornings, so they can’t be as good later in the day.
In any case, I hope your next visit goes better!
Awww, you took one for the team. Sorry it sucked. Now you know not to go here again, at least for that particular donut. it reminds me of the voodoo doll donut but with no x’s for eyes and with no pretzel stick stabbing it, haha.
Yeah, it definitely reminds me of the voodoo donut! I should have went for the crueller instead…