Restaurant in Portland, United States
Small doughnuts, walk-in only, nationally ranked.
Pip's Original Doughnuts & Chai on NE Fremont is one of Portland's most consistently recognised cheap eats, ranked twice on Opinionated About Dining's North America Cheap Eats list and Pearl Recommended for 2025. The made-to-order doughnut and chai format is built for weekend mornings and casual visitors. Easy to visit, no reservation needed, and well under $15 per person.
Pip's earns a spot on a short list of Portland breakfast stops worth planning around — ranked #79 on Opinionated About Dining's Cheap Eats in North America in 2023, then #96 in 2024, and carrying a Pearl Recommended designation for 2025. For a morning or weekend outing where the goal is a genuinely well-made, low-cost treat rather than a full sit-down meal, Pip's delivers. If you are comparing it to Blue Star Donuts, the short answer is: Pip's is smaller, less polished in setting, and more neighbourhood-local in feel, but the OAD ranking suggests the product holds its own on quality.
Pip's, run by Nate and Jamie Snell on NE Fremont Street, focuses on one thing: small, made-to-order doughnuts served with chai. The format is built for the morning and weekend crowd , the kind of stop that works leading as a destination in itself rather than a last-minute detour. The OAD Cheap Eats recognition, awarded across two consecutive years, is a meaningful signal in this category. OAD Cheap Eats rankings are peer-driven and difficult to game, so consecutive appearances indicate consistent execution rather than a one-season spike.
The NE Fremont address puts Pip's in a walkable residential stretch of Portland that rewards combining the visit with other nearby errands or a morning walk. It is not a downtown anchor or a tourist-circuit stop , which is part of why it reads as more authentic than some of the city's more widely photographed food destinations. For visitors staying in the northeast quadrant, it is a practical morning outing. For locals, it is the kind of place worth revisiting.
The brunch and breakfast framing is the right lens for Pip's. This is not a dinner destination or a special-occasion restaurant in the conventional sense , it operates in the casual, affordable, feel-good register that makes a weekend morning feel like a small event. The made-to-order approach means what arrives is fresh, not sitting in a case. That distinction matters more at a doughnut shop than at a full-service restaurant: freshness here is the whole product. For a weekend breakfast that costs almost nothing but lands with a bit of intention, Pip's is one of the better options in Portland at this price tier.
If you are visiting Portland and want to understand what the city's independent food scene looks like at the accessible end, Pip's is a better representative than a downtown dining room. The gap between Pip's and fine-dining Portland options like Kann or the multi-day wait-list spots is enormous in format, but the same city-wide commitment to doing a single thing well applies. For a broader picture of where to eat and drink while you are in town, see our full Portland restaurants guide, and check our Portland bars guide and hotels guide for the rest of your trip.
For context on where Pip's sits relative to other doughnut-focused destinations across the country: Donut Pub in New York City and Dynamo Donut & Coffee in San Francisco occupy a comparable neighbourhood-institution register. Pip's OAD ranking places it above most casual doughnut shops nationally, and the two-year consecutive recognition means it is not a one-off press spike. If you are travelling between cities and want to compare the category, all three are worth a morning stop. Portland also has Holy Donut as another local option worth knowing about before you decide where to go.
Address: 4759 NE Fremont St, Portland, OR 97213. Reservations: Walk-in only , no booking required, which keeps the barrier to entry low but means early arrival on busy weekend mornings is advisable. Budget: Cheap eats tier , budget well under $15 per person, likely under $10 for doughnuts and chai. Booking difficulty: Easy. Dress: No dress code , casual neighbourhood café setting. Leading timing: Weekend mornings when the made-to-order format is at its most relevant; arriving early avoids any wait. Google rating: 4.6 based on 132 reviews.
For more on what to do beyond NE Fremont, see our Portland experiences guide, our Portland wineries guide, and the broader Portland dining guide for full-service restaurant options across the city.
Pip's is a casual counter-service doughnut shop, not a bar or sit-down restaurant. There is no bar seating in the conventional sense. Seating, if any, is limited and informal , this is a grab-and-go or linger-briefly format. If you want a full sit-down breakfast experience in Portland, look elsewhere. Pip's works leading as a quick morning stop.
The doughnuts and chai are the entire focus of the menu, so ordering both is the obvious call. The made-to-order approach means the doughnuts are fresh rather than pre-made, which is the main differentiator from a standard doughnut shop. Two consecutive OAD Cheap Eats North America rankings confirm the product is consistent. Specific current menu items are not confirmed in our data , check the shop directly on arrival or follow their current offerings online.
It depends on what kind of occasion. Pip's is a strong choice for a low-key, personal celebration , a birthday morning, a Portland visit that deserves a local highlight, or a first-day-of-trip start. It is not suitable for a business meal, a formal dinner, or a group dining event. The price point and format make it an easy yes for a casual morning treat. For a proper special-occasion dinner in Portland, consider Kann or browse our Portland restaurant guide for higher-end options. For reference, at the leading end of the national dining spectrum you have venues like The French Laundry in Napa or Alinea in Chicago , Pip's occupies the opposite end of the formality axis, which is exactly right for what it is.
Specific dietary accommodation details are not confirmed in our data. Pip's is a doughnut shop, so the core product is flour, sugar, and frying oil , not naturally suited to gluten-free or vegan diets without menu modifications. Contact the shop directly before visiting if dietary restrictions are a concern. Phone and website details are not currently in our database, so checking via Google or social media is the most reliable route for current information.
Blue Star Donuts is the most direct alternative in Portland's doughnut category , more polished in setting, wider distribution across the city, and more prominent nationally. If you want a sit-down brunch rather than a quick doughnut stop, Portland has strong options across cuisines; see our full Portland restaurant guide. For casual Vietnamese, Berlu is worth knowing. Holy Donut is another Portland doughnut option. If you are comparing by national OAD recognition, Pip's two consecutive rankings give it a credentials edge over most unnamed local competitors at the same price tier.
| Venue | Price | Value |
|---|---|---|
| Pip’s Original Doughnuts & Chai | — | |
| Kann | — | |
| Ken’s Artisan Pizza | — | |
| Nostrana | — | |
| Apizza Scholls | — | |
| Blue Star Donuts | — |
Comparing your options in Portland for this tier.
Dietary accommodations can vary. Flag restrictions in advance via the venue's official channels.
Pip's is a walk-in counter-service spot, not a sit-down bar format. Seating is casual and limited, so arrive expecting to grab your doughnuts and chai and find a spot rather than settling in for a long table meal. No reservations, no bar seating in the traditional sense.
The format is built around small, made-to-order doughnuts paired with chai — that combination is the reason Pip's earned back-to-back Opinionated About Dining Cheap Eats rankings (#79 in 2023, #96 in 2024). Order both. Skipping the chai misses half the point of the concept Nate and Jamie Snell built.
Not in the conventional sense. Pip's is a walk-in-only doughnut counter on NE Fremont Street, not a reservation-driven special-occasion restaurant. That said, it's a strong choice for a low-key morning celebration or a first-timer's Portland food tour stop given its national cheap eats recognition.
Keep this venue in your Pearl passport, rate it after you visit, and track it alongside every other place you collect.
