cupcakes & donuts

[cleopatra999]

Are there any good cupcake places on or not too far off the strip? What about donuts, other than Krispy Kreme.

[Steve Green]

I'll weigh in on Ronald's: Great apple fritters, mediocre donuts -- although the old-fashioned and buttermilk bars are OK. Their raised donuts truly suck, IMO. I've yet to find a decent regular glazed donut in Vegas. YMMV.

[RonnieMB]

Alcohol infused cupcake shop delivers for free to the casinos on the Strip.

www.sincitycupcakes.com

Real good cupcakes. My wife and I orderd for our anniversary and we will order again when back in Vegas.

[westie]

Ronald's Donuts are the best in Las Vegas. The apple fritter has achieve cult status without Dave Feldman's endorsement. LOL. We also like the buttermilk donuts. Gigi's is just terrible.

[jackattack]

Gigi's is not worth a trip.

Retro Bakery in Centennial Hills is world-famous, but they're a 20 minute drive. They'll deliver for 20 bucks, and since their cupcakes are a buck less than any you'll find on the strip, and better, it's worth it if you're ordering a dozen or more. Brownie sundae Cupcake, Drumstick Cupcake, Apple Cider Cupcake, Donut Cupcake, Cupcake with a Toll House Cookie on top......the list goes on and on.

www.retrobakerylv.com

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Retro Bakery
7785 N Durango Dr Suite 130, Las Vegas, NV

[chocokitty]

There was a recent thread on a beloved local donut shop called Ronald's Donuts in the Chinatown area:

http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/764286

I haven't been but am planning to visit there in a few days, as I'm leaving from NYC this weekend.

[shamu613]

Ronald's is far from beloved. It's just marginally better than any other donut shop in the Vegas valley, and trust me, that ain't saying much.

Here's an old thread comparing donuts in Vegas with donuts in Los Angeles.
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/694743

I happen to like a particular cinnamon twist from Ronalds. I'm not a fan of fritters. I'll stop by there any time I'm in that neck of town and buy extras to freeze.

Frankly, I find the Las Vegas donut scene miserable. I come from Los Angeles where the the donut shops are open 18-24 hours a day and the selection and variety of stale donuts at closing is four times what Ronalds has when they open in the morning. Most Vegas donut shops are closed before I get out of the shower in the morning and considering that most open for business at 4:00AM if I do manage to get to one before they close, there's usually little left to choose from. Ronalds is an exception in that they are open until 4:00PM. (Big whoop!

)

Would I recommend that you go out of your way to get to any Vegas donut shop? Absolutely not! Lotus of Siam... yes. Ronalds... no.

Unless you live in the middle of Death Valley you likely live closer to a better donut shop than I do living here in Las Vegas.

[chocokitty]

To tell you frankly, I'm not an avid donut eater. I do appreciate a good one every so often and New York City is getting flooded with a few fancy pants donut shops like Doughnut Plant (in Manhattan) and a few others in Brooklyn, mentioned on The NY Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/23/din...

At any rate, I'm out in the LV Chinatown area since I'm going to Raku for dinner on one of the days I'm in LV. I might as well drop in.

[shamu613]

Ronalds will be closed by dinner time.

Hours:
Mon-Fri 4 am - 4 pm
Sat 5 am - 4 pm
Sun 5 am - 2 pm

Better to hit them up before you hit the sheets at 6:00AM,

[Dave Feldman]

I disagree with Shamu on this one. I happen to dislike Doughnut Plant doughnuts. They use high-quality doughnuts but don't know how to make a decent cake doughnut, in my opinion, and the yeast doughnuts are too greasy for my taste. Ronald's is exactly the opposite: a relatively uninspiring variety of doughnuts, but beautifully executed. I'm especially partial to the classic buttermilk bar, and the simple cake doughnuts. I'm not wild about anything with chocolate at Ronald's or the cinnamon rolls.

I wish Ronald's were open later, too, but on the other hand I've never encountered a stale doughnut. I don't think there's a better doughnut in Manhattan than Ronald's, although I know there are partisans of Alpha and some other places in Queens.

[cleopatra999]

hmmmm, I actually really enjoy Krispy Kreme, so maybe will just head there :) (it's something we don't have up in Canada)

[Dave Feldman]

Ronald's doughnuts aren't as sweet as Krispy Kreme's. I think they compare favorably to Tim Horton's, for sure.

[cleopatra999]

well, I have absolutely no desire to go there now, Tim Hortons are the worst donuts ever, I have no clue (as a born and raised Canadian) what the deal is with their donuts and coffee.

[Dave Feldman]

I think you misunderstood my point. I wasn't comparing the quality of Ronald's doughnuts to Tim Horton's, just trying to reference a Canadian doughnut that you'd know that was not as sweet as KK. If TH's doughnuts aren't sweet enough for you, then you might not like Ronald's either.

[cleopatra999]

Gotcha. Thanks for clarifying. The biggest problem with TH is that nothing seems fresh. The donuts are always dry, too cakey for my taste.

[MrsCris]

Hi! In December I had a fantastic salted caramel cupcake at Jean Phillipe Patisserie in Aria, and my friend had a delicious and huge apple fritter. They had a good selection of pastries, and I wanted to go back and try the Napolean and the eclairs but never got the chance. They also had beautiful bon bons and candies in lovely packaging that make great gifts.

[cleopatra999]

yummy, sounds great, we are right next door to the Aria.

I did google cupcakes and found Gigi's cupcakes not too far off the strip. They are a chain in the States, any reviews?

[rednyellow]

I"ve gone to Gigi's over a dozen times and the cupcakes have always been fresh, moist, and delicious. Everyone I've shared them with loves them too.