Some of the Bay Area's best doughnuts are worth losing sleep over

It was 10 p.m. and my partner and I had ended up at the Colonial Donuts on Lakeshore in Oakland. Earlier, we had bad luck at two restaurants - their kitchens had closed, so we settled for a burrito. Left with a desire for something sweet, we were drawn to Colonial, that 24-hour beacon, where the only thing brighter than its hospital-grade lighting is a glass display advertising doughnuts of every kind: crullers, maple bars, jam-filled. Aside from the overnight staff, the only other soul in the place was a man trying his luck on a scratcher. 

We ordered two glazed raised doughnuts. As the cashier handed them over, they asked, knowingly: "Just two?" 

I felt heat emanating from the bag. I removed the doughnut and watched as the sugar glaze started to set, small cracks forming around the indentation of my thumb, which rested on the puffy yeasted dough like a memory foam mattress. The first bite was like sinking my teeth into a warm cloud. At that moment, I'd never understood Homer Simpson more. 

Like a margherita pie at a Neapolitan pizzeria or a plain croissant at a viennoiserie, a glazed doughnut is the most honest way to assess a doughnut, offering a clarity of flavor and texture that could be obscured or bogged down by additional toppings. And there are few pleasures on this plane of existence like that of the temporary romance of a doughnut that's still hot from the fryer.

This wasn't my first time trying Colonial, but it might as well have been: Those glazed doughnuts were easily some of the finest I've had in the Bay Area. It dawned on me that the difference between Colonial's glazed doughnut in the evening versus in the morning is, well, night and day, so I asked the staff what time the doughnuts are usually fried. 

"Now," a staffer replied.

Phing Yamamoto, Colonial Donuts' manager, confirmed that staff fries at night, somewhere between 10 p.m. to midnight. Though since the business is open 24/7, staff might restart production during the day. (The business posts updates on Instagram or you can try calling for updates.)

That explained it: By morning, the oil in the doughnuts solidifies and the plushness of its interior diminishes. It's a shadow of its former self.

But according to Yamamoto, the shop sees two camps of customers - those who like them at room temperature and those who want ‘em hot and fresh. The former, she said, finds the freshly fried doughnuts to be "too messy." The late-night inventory, on the other hand, draws diverse crowds who may include youths from the nearby DJ set, nonchalant teens in camo-patterned hats and a dad with kids repeating the phrase "hot doughnuts" like a religious chant. 

Part of Colonial Donuts' appeal is in its dependability. For more than half a century, it's been one of Oakland's few 24/7 businesses, an affordable source of caffeine and carbs that never closes - equal parts where people start their morning, local chess players spar and late-night drivers congregate. (In 1995, it closed, once, for Christmas Day.) 

Richard Seymour founded Colonial Donuts in 1969. (His son, Dan Seymour, alleges it opened 1959; the 1969 date is what shows up on company records.) In 1989, Seymour sold it to Phey Yam and Ching Ung, Chinese immigrants who moved to Oakland from Cambodia during the Khmer Rouge. Southeast Asian immigrants, particularly those of Cambodian descent, have a long history of working the doughnut business, as seen in the book and documentary "Donut King." 

Today, only the Lakeshore and Montclair locations remain in operation, and only Lakeshore is open 24 hours. Yamamoto, Yam and Ung's daughter, a "donut kid" who's worked in the family trade since she was nine, started managing the business in 2017, after leaving a job at Apple. Yamamoto modernized the selection, introducing flavors such as red velvet and ube, as well as varieties like croissant doughnuts and mochi doughnuts, which are only available Friday through Sunday. "A lot of people will ask me, ‘Do you have any regrets leaving your corporate job? ' And 100% I do not have any regrets because, you know, I love the community," she said.

It's easy to find nostalgia-tinged testimonials on Facebook, which is where I found Dan Seymour, who worked at several of his father's shops. He has fond memories of working the graveyard shift at the Lakeshore outpost. Back in the 1960s and ‘70s, Seymour said that the area had several bars, including a gay bar, a lesbian bar and a jazz bar, and after last call, many ended up at Colonial. "It was like an after-hours club," he said. "What made the donut shop so unique was we weren't a 24-hour society back then."

Before I left that night, the cashier asked if I wanted another. They knew the answer before I did.

Colonial Donuts. 3318 Lakeshore Ave., Oakland. 510-893-2503

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