by Kimberly P.

Just sampled some Acme donuts from a box on the shared food table at work. I don't know who brought these tasty treats in but I would like to know so I could give them a great big hug.  YUM YUM!  Will have to pay a visit to their shop soon!

by Shawn B.

With doughnut shops like Annies and Voodoo in town (and Tonelli's, too), I thought, "Another doughnut shop?" But it was right around the corner, so it didn't really have to be great for me to frequent it with regularity.  After visiting it four or five times, I decided to write my first Yelp review and give them five stars.  The doughnuts, which are less sweet across the board than the other doughnuts around Portland (and around the US in general), are fantastic.  A chocolate glazed doughnut with REAL chocolate?  A cinnamon-sugar cake doughnut where you can taste the perfectly baked goodness of the doughnut? I didn't realize what I was missing all these years while I was eating those oversweetened 'donuts' (Krispy Kreme and Dunkin' Donuts, I'm talking to you).  Don't get me wrong, Voodoo Donuts is a cool place with crazy donuts, but I'll take Acme Doughnuts every day of the week.

by Christian M.

A mixed review for a mixed-bag type of place:Cool place, sure, but it's also got the feel of a place that would sort of prefer to just be a walk-up window since there's no where to sit. That's cool though, I'll eat in the parking lot or whatever--when you're fat ass is already eating a donut, you should stand, damnit. But then, what kind of donut would you like? Doesn't matter - you'll take what they've got.Sometimes it's good. Scratch that, sometimes it's amazing:My friend loves chocolate cake donuts - I've always despised them for the donut-abominations that they are. She's been searching for good ones for awhile, and has a favorite place but it's on the fringe of Tigard and they're never fresh. One day it was all they had at ACME, so we got them on the house, which was nice. Walking home, I tried it, and it was the very best chocolate pastry with a hole in it that I've ever had.I think it's good that Voodoo has some competition now, and I think Acme can become a serious contender, at least for the East Side, since the Voodoo on Sandy has consistently sucked.I guess seeing as The Hub has no desert, if you're willing to risk playing real life Leap Frog through steel and asphalt death machine that is Powell, it's a great place to stumble after a beer and pizza.

by Daniel P.

There is a new donut in town!Acme opened this weekend on Powell 29th next to Vino Vixens and across from Hopworks.We were driving down Powell headed to Bend and saw this sign on the sidewalk.  Donuts?  YEAH!  Around the block we went for some sugar express driving help.They had been open for a few minutes it had seemed.  Very nice people.6 - 10 different donut flavors. They seem like homemade. Just good, clean flavors, nothing crazy, nothing fancy.We had a classic cake with powdered sugar.  Tasted like we expected; good cake.We had a similar chocolate - good cake.We also had a  coffee-chocolate filled 3rd option.  It was very well made; just not my favorite.  Kind of tasted like instant coffee whipped with cocoa...almost a burnt coffee taste.I say good on them for opening a new niche place in this crazy work.  Give them a try if you are driving

by Ken N.

All the postive reviewers for Acme Donuts have only reviewed one plac... Acme Donuts!!?? Don't be so obvious. If you want good reviews on Yelp you need to make some great donuts, have great service, and be different. I believe you can do it. But cooking your Yelp review is not cool in my book, and it won't last. Like other Real reviewers said, you need more variety. You have potential. But you can't fake it if you want to make it.By the way the donuts were ok. Better the Voodoo in my opinion. But nothing outstanding. Cool decor and great signage.

by Todd S.

Sigh. You know, Acme is nearly everything I want: close to my house, a small independent business, doughnuts, not a business called "Urban Hookah" (the previous name of this location), and so on.But the doughnuts ... sigh. Look, I'll admit I'm a fan of Voodoo Doughnut, the inevitable comparison here. Yes, Voodoo is way over-hyped, there's no question. But in the end, Voodoo not only makes some very inventive offerings, they also make a solid doughnut. I wasn't expecting Acme to match Voodoo's craziness, but I was hoping -- and expecting -- for a solid workaday doughnut for the occasional sugar rush on the way to, well, work.I've tried two doughnuts -- the chocolate-covered raised and the "Boston Wicked [espresso] Cream", both of which seemed to have the potential to be a good doughnut and then some, and in both cases, I was left unimpressed.Neither was as sweet as a doughnut should be. Now, some people will take that as some sort of gourmet nod. But we're talking doughnuts here, people -- I eat them for the sugar and the fat, not for subtlety. The chocolate-covered seemed to have dark chocolate on it, rather than the usual milk chocolate -- and I love dark chocolate! But the end result was more like unsweetened cocoa powder on fried bread than an actual chocolate-covered doughnut. The "espresso" cream-filled doughnut was sweeter, but it still wasn't right.Frankly, I wish the stupid check-cashing store up the street on 39th were still a Dunkin' Donuts, because their offerings are better than Acme's.And finally, the person behind the counter could use a few lessons in selling a doughnut. It's like pulling teeth to get her to tell me about the different varieties and why I should buy one. The first time I went, the only description I could get for each doughnut from her was, "That one's a yeast doughnut ... that one's cake." Yeah, I could've guessed that much, thanks.I haven't given up on Acme entirely, but I'm not sure how many more chances I'm going to give them.

by Minna S.

Stopped by here on my way to work (it's in the neighborhood) and got a random dozen on the owner's recommendation.Generally I will eat any kind of donut, from your Krispy Kreme hot and nows to more fancy concoctions (mostly Voodoo, Annie's, and Donut World in Gresham) - my all time favorite donuts are the old fashioneds.The general consensus in my office is that these donuts are great!  Not crazy sweet, and more than one person was pleasantly surprised by the fact that they "taste like donuts".Thusfar I've only tried the Wicked Boston Cream (great espresso cream center, extremely subtle and not cloyingly sweet - though the texture is closer to a slightly-over-set custard) and Choco-rama (I recommend this triple-chocolate to anyone who prefers dark chocolate over sweeter permutations).  The Apple-Lemon cake and Coconut Job donuts also got enthusiastic thumbs up from co-workers.I would give Acme three stars since I think these more subtle donuts are an acquired taste, but the convenient location and excellent customer service (and apparent responsiveness of the owner) bump my rating up to four.

by Brice B.

Things I would not do without being totally prepared:- Go into battle- Act in a play- Deliver a speech- Open a hip donut shop in Voodoo's backyardWhy wouldn't I, you ask?  Because if I do any of these in a half-assed way, everybody's gonna know it. The menu board lists tons of neato donuts.  Don't bother looking, though; these are just concepts.  We've been twice now, and their answer is that they're "working on new flavors."  Huh.   It seems like they're so stoked that they have such a hip little donut shop that they overlooked an important detail: the donuts.I could rant for days about opening an unfinished business, but I'm going to hold off.  I really want this place to be successful.  The people seem nice, and the idea of Acme is cool.   Right now, though, the selection sucks, the donuts they have are bland, and the staff seems pretty impressed with all of this.Acme... do me a favor and get your shit together.  I want to love you.

by Jens J.

Admittedly, I came here this morning only because of a kerfuffle I saw in the Yelp Threads today, regarding Acme's owner contacting a Yelper. I also came here because I remember in the RoadRunner T.V. cartoon, Wile E. Coyote was always ordering equipment from an Acme Company.  So there is an Acme, and here it is!Upon pulling up front, I first noticed the bright Mexican colors.  Entering, I was struck by a deathly silence.  Only about five minutes after I arrived, did some nondescript music suddenly start coming out of this big black speaker.On the wall in back of the counter, I saw a cool illustration of a man's head, inked in the style of Mexican pulp fiction covers from the 1970's.Two women were ahead of me in line.  I think each one ordered a couple dozen assorted doughnuts.  To the credit of the sweet girl who was working the counter, she realized that it was going to take a while to fill their orders, so she asked if I wanted to get my doughnuts now.  I said, no, I'm not in a hurry, I'm on vacation, so go ahead and finish filling the other women's orders.   Besides, I wanted to look around some more.I'm just not sure it is cool or trendy to have paper reproductions of Vermeer art hanging on a clothesline next to something a three-year-old has scrawled with a crayon on notebook paper.  And what's the deal with kiddie art all around Portland lately?  This is the fourth establishment I have been to in the last two days where pre-school art is splattered on the walls.  It's corny.  I think in New Season's dining room I saw a placard next to one 2-year-old's piece that described the little girl's objectives in life and art, and what she liked to in her spare time.  A 2-year-old?Meanwhile, back at Acme, I got myself a nutjob and a cinnamon roll.  The nutjob was a cake doughnut with chocolate frosting and sprinkled with walnut bits.  I liked that the nutjob has an unexpected and original texture - more like an oat bran muffin.  But it just wasn't sweet enough and the chocolate frosting was rather bitter.The cinammon roll, with slightly melted chocolate chips (no, those are not raisins!) was really very good, with just the right amount of cinammon and glaze.It was disappointing that they had lots and lots of chocolate and strawberry milk in the fridge, but no plain milk.

by Krystal O.

I'm really disappointed with Portland's lack of a good doughnut place. This place seems like it is trying too hard to compete with Voo Doo doughnut and the poor doughnuts suffer! They are really dense and chewy ... not overly sugary (like KK) but that's ok. Weird "hip" flavors... can't I just have a freaking glazed doughnut? Can't I have a chocolate sprinkle doughnut? My husband just gagged and spit his out.. yikes! Apparently the chocolate topping of his Boston Cream was like baking chocolate!

by beth p.

I've been meaning to review Acme Doughnuts for awhile now, and I'm glad I just remembered to do so. What reminded me to hop on yelp and type away you might ask, well I just this moment had a craving for their coconut doughnut. This place is cute, kind of sparse but really cute. I adore their vintage electric fire place, flea market arrangement of retro tables and chairs, and most importantly the doughnuts. Yum. My son had a chocolate d.nut covered in yummy chocolate dipped sunflower seeds, which was so good I had to stop myself from snatching it from him. I obviously had the coconut which in my experience held together like the dense mutha luva any good cake doughnut should be. My man had the caramel which he liked a lot and my man does not like doughnuts at all. The staff was real friendly which I appreciate. Its hard to find hip looking people who are genuinely kind in this town. All in all it was a good lil shop. I cant wait to go back and try other flavors, soon... like now... are they open?Ps. Coffee ice cubes for iced coffee drinks!

by Reba T.

Krispy Creme makes me want to ralph and Voodoo has morphed from wicked cool to simply pretentious.  So when i recently moved to SE,  I was so happy to find a tasty donut shop within walking distance of my house!   Great tasting donuts, fun/funky atmosphere, chill owners.   Acme uses such great ingredients  that their donuts are almost healthy- real fruit, dark chocolate, apple/lemon sauce, cinnamon, espresso, and chocolate-covered sunflower seeds.  Yummmm!  Acme has become one of my regular joints.  Donut snobs should just chillax and celebrate the fact that there is now even more donut joy in Portland.

by Mike K.

We have two visiting grandkids, ages 2 and 3, and the older one wanted donuts. I had wanted to go to Acme Donuts for quite a while because it's close by, so today I went. Unfortunately, I discovered when I arrived that they are closed on Mondays. Fortunately, the nice gentleman in the doorway saw that I was craving donuts, possibly by the drool on my chin. He said, "Would you like some day-old donuts? We're not open, but I can give them to you since I'm here."I wound up taking home a box of day-old donuts, gratis. The man who was at the door, when I told him the donuts were mostly for my granddaughter who wasn't feeling well, filled an entire box with an assortment of what he said were the most "kid-friendly" donuts. I've gotta tell you, those day-old donuts were worth four stars, and opening the door on a day when the store was closed and giving me the donuts free was worth five stars. I guess I can't give nine stars, so I'll stop at five. I'll re-evaluate when I find out how good the donuts are when they're fresh and paid for, not day-old and free.

by Rob D.

Round two. (ding ding ding)First: I appreciate the owner of the business corresponding with me via my review. I took his advice this time, though I want to make the following suggestions:a.) It would be best to not put single doughnuts in boxes as it would not be very well received by folks who would find this to be wasteful. I understand that the suggestion was being made in the spirit of my verbose and lighthearted review, but it may be taken out of context.b.) I would try to steer clear of describing your doughnut(s) as heavy duty self defense weapons. This left me with the impression that I would be returning to purchase hockey puck-like disks that could result in expensive dental work post-consumption. Might I suggest that you tell others that your vegan raised doughnuts are light as air and that they make even the most hardcore vegan weak in the knees when sinking their teeth into these beauties? Now... back to the main event.Before a doughnut is dead to me I give it one more chance to redeem itself.In this round, I gave the circular deep fried VEGAN sugar and fat delivery systems that Acme has to offer a chance for redemption.It's a weekday and it's cold and raining. I just delivered the children to school and make my way to Acme. I park right up front and walk in. I'm greeted by a polite employee who apparently doesn't want to be working, but I empathize and get 7 doughnuts.Over the next few hours I unleash my own personal taste test consisting of the following vegan offerings:- The Old Goat (a raised glazed doughnut)- Jelly Filled (with a pink, pepto bismal looking filling)- Maple raised (raised doughnut dipped in maple)The raised doughnuts were not terrible. They were very chewy and tasted a bit salty? They were better than the cake doughnuts I consumed months back but by no means a guilty pleasure that I would repeat.The worst of the worst was the jelly filled doughnut (a friendly reminder to the reader of this review that the doughnuts I have personally eaten here are the vegan doughnuts). I managed to make it through one bite and then the doughnut became a resident in my garbage can.I can't put my finger on what it was exactly. I think the filling was intended to be raspberry? It has the appearance of a raspberry salad dressing but was lacking flavor.So you might be asking yourself what was up with the remaining 4 doughnuts?Well... because I cannot eat non-vegan doughnuts I opted to have a couple of my own doughnut loving aficionados give four of the non-vegan doughnuts a try and provide me with feedback.1.) Chocolate cake with chocolate frosting dipped in coconutVerdict: Good taste, not too sweet, cake was a bit crumbly but overall a good doughnut.2.) Cara Maple (what I called the wiccan) (raised dipped in maple frosting with a caramel pentagram on the top)Verdict: It was okay. Didn't taste very maple or very caramel. Tasted like a glazed doughnut really. Good but not a repeat.3.) Plain cake with white frosting dipped in coconutVerdict: 3/4 of this doughnut disappeared into my 4 year old son's mouth in record time. I would have to give this one two thumbs up from his perspective.4.) Lemon Apple glazed cake doughnutVerdict: A good doughnut. Tastes good but was a tiny bit dry in the center? The taste was different but good.So, in round two I have come to the conclusion that the raised vegan doughnuts would do in a pinch but they are not my first choice of doughnut.The non-vegan doughnuts seem to be much better than the vegan ones, but according to my 'testers' in this round, not their first choice either.I wish Acme luck in their venture on SE Powell. I've got a vegan doughnut fetish.So finding out that Acme was going to delve into the vegan doughnut…

by Anna B.

Last night, I was standing out front of Vino Vixens next door and keeping an eye on Acme.  It was dead in there.  And what do you do when you work at a donut shop and you have no customers coming in?  You bust a freaking move, that's what.  I was stopped dead in my tracks for a second as I watched a gal in a microscopic skirt seriously get down for a minute.  It was awesome.  After the show was finished at VV, we bounded across Powell to walk home, but upon reaching the other side of the road, looked back at Acme and realized we were hungry.  Back across Powell, and in retrospect, I realize all of this gallivanting across a really busy road was somewhat dangerous.  But donuts at midnight?  That's how we roll, apparently.  It was a nice shop, really friendly people working (including dancing mini-skirt girl) and they had a pretty good selection out for it being that late at night.  I was expecting they would be down to the last dregs by that hour, but nosiree!  It was not dead by the time we rolled in, they even had a little line going for a bit.  My donut was solid.  I mean, literally solid.  It was dense and doughy and I mean that in the best possible way.  I like breadier donuts.  The caramel on top was also good, good enough that I licked most of it off of the wax paper the donut came in.  While crossing Powell.  Again.   I will come here again next time I'm due to bring treats to work for sure.  Lots of vegan options.  Best of luck to these guys... I'm sure they get tired of Voodoo comparisons, but really Voodoo has become ubiquitous enough to the point of annoying, so kudos to Acme for being a little different in a donut-obsessed town.  And kudos to that girl for her sweet, sweet dance moves!