The Donut Mill

I can’t drive back home to Calgary without stopping in for some Donut Mill donuts.
With Tim Hortons shipping their donuts in frozen, there aren’t many places to get fresh cooked donuts at a good price these days. That’s where Donut Mill delivers. Donut Mill offers both cake and yeast donuts with a special flavour on menu each month. My favourites are the chocolate glazed (standard chocolate cake donut with a nice light glaze) and the oreo (yeast donut with cream filling and vanilla frosting).
For those from out of town, this store is on the west side of Gasoline alley, just look for the building with the big windmill.

Why waste time in a Tim Hortons queue when this gem is just up the street. I love the throw back to the 80s or at least that is what immediately comes to mind.
A large coffee and a 12er of doughnuts is under 15 bucks! Bob and Doug McKenzie would be impressed, eh! Get some crullers! The varieties are unique and delicious! Eclairs are huge (I think they are what used to be called a «long john» bisected on the horizontal plane and loaded with whipped cream filling)!
There are all kinds of lunch items as well! Service is usually good and there is hardly anyone ever in the place — at least at the few times I have stopped through. Always forget to check in on Unilocal.
Absolutely a must on the way through Red Deer!

Super friendly, small town small shop service. this is great.. The food is like homemade. not greasy fast food at all. I ordered a sandwich and some donuts. loved it. I might make this my regular fast meal drive thru main stop

I stop here when I go from Edmonton to Calgary. It is in Red Deer on Gasoline Alley in a big windmill.
Their donuts are so good and their whip cream centers are to die for. One is not enough so I got chocolate oreos with an oreo-​inspired whip cream filling and a Rolo one that was also had an awesome whipped cream filling.
A definite diet cheat.

I never met a cream filled donut that I liked… that is UNTIL I had a donut from this place! The «Maple Rolo» filled with caramel whipped cream seriously changed everything!
While it’s an hour and a half from home, if we’re anywhere in the area, we definitely make a stop at the The Donut Mill. Most recently I spent the weekend in Lacombe and couldn’t help but go just a little out of the way to bring back two dozen donuts– Don’t worry, we shared with friends at work!
My one recommendation — If you’re stopping at The Donut Mill, don’t go for boring… My typical favourites at other places (glazed and cinnamon sugar) have nothing on these flavours!
P. S. Their sandwiches are pretty good too!

How can you drive to Calgary without stopping at Donut Mill! It’s like an institution! Great donuts, awesome prices. I should really try out the rest of the menu, but when your name is The Donut Mill, you’re famous for something! Love it!

Surprised by raving reviews — were you guys that hungry?
Out of many roadside meal places this is one of the least inspiring, to my taste.
Pain in the butt to get in — crowds of cars stuck in these tiny parking lots, struggling to snatch a snack on the (intolerably) long way from Calgary to Edmonton or vice versa.
Inside, there is always a line, and service is slooooowwww… How long should it take to make a sandwich? Like, maybe, ten times less than Donut Mill staff suffers through usually?
And what’s in these sandwiches makes Subway shine like a gem. Greens are dull and sloppy, processed food is processed to barely acceptable level, bread is simply not fresh. Sad stuff to stick your teeth in — except if you are seriously hungry.
So I guess I’m back with my question — were you guys that hungry to praise Donut Mill? Really…

Another staple in Gasoline Alley that I’ve never been to until now! The Donut Mill specializes in, you guessed it, donuts but even more mind blowing is that they have soups, sandwiches and other food options that actually look appetizing.
We checked them out early Sunday afternoon on the way back home. Think old school diner style and that’s the Donut Mill. Everything is homemade and you can tell it’s a popular spot the moment you step foot inside.
Look at all dem donuts. The left side of the display had old fashioned, chocolate glaze, honey dip, apple fritters, and coconut to name a few. The right side was just as enticing with oreo, vanilla lemon, apple pie, chocolate/​maple/​rainbow dip, rolo. Sooo many choices.
— ½ Dozen donuts ($ 7.49) — from left clockwise, we picked raspberry bismark, chocolate raspberry, apple pie, oreo, white chocolate macadamia nut and apple fritter. My buddy went with both of the raspberry donuts as he loves the filling. I had a lick and you can tell it’s homemade. Apple pie and the macadamia (donut of the month) were mine. The macadamia had macadamia whipped cream inside that was so light and fluffy.
Can you guess what the apple pie tasted like? Just like eating real apple pie! Last but not least were the apple fritter and oreo. I had a bite of the apple fritter and we liked that it wasn’t too sweet. Everything was fresh.
Definitely a solid place to grab lunch and snacks for the road! D’oh nut heaven.

Most of the time the doughnuts are very good, especially the apple pie and jam ones.
I’m not a huge fan of the ones stuffed with cheap whipped cream.
The sausage rolls are fantastic and the staff is always heloful and quick.

This place has now been added to my must stops if I’m ever in the area! I decided to pop in while en route to Sylvan Lake. It is one of those places I’ve always wanted to try but never had. Well I’m sure glad I made the decision to check out this local gem. For a mere $ 7.50 I got some of the best donuts I’ve tried in a while. They were fluffy and fresh with amazing fillings. I love when a place puts love and attention into their product and this was apparent in every bite! So stop at that funky wind mill place. You won’t be sorry!

I think I might have agreed to allow my son to try out for the Alberta Rugby U15 team JUST so I could stop at the Donut Mill every Sunday for 5 weekends straight. I REALLY hate T. Ho’s donuts so when I am craving a donut fix, this is the place I am thinking of. They have so many varieties and always seem to be so well stocked. The sandwiches are pretty good too and they bake their own sub buns which are amazing! Our favourite donuts are the old fashioned (and hard to find) bismarck, the apple pie filled donut, rolo donut, bostom cream (real cream!), and of course the maple glazed. Ahhh, I’m drooling right now and counting down the days until next Sunday.

The donuts here are great but the problem that I have with the donut mill is the service. Consistently, every time that I stop and I always seem to be rushed or getting the worst service possible. The last time I was here I stopped in and ordered a sandwich to stay and observed as multiple people came through and ordered their food and were constantly being underserved by the staff. I watched as a woman was pointing out which donuts she wanted to the lady behind the counter and she told her «you know we have a glass wall that separates the donuts from you and us so you’re going to have to speak up so I can hear you or point out what you want» The customer is getting so frustrated because she was like «I was pointing them out, you just can’t see.»
Anyways I don’t know if they have a superiority complex about being such a hotspot to stop in on Gasoline Alley that they think they can forgo customer service, but I think it’s incredibly unacceptable and I won’t stop here on my own anymore and only if it’s on request with people that I’m traveling with.

It has been a number of years since I have stopped off at the Donut Mill. We used to do it on our day trips to Calgary with my buddies! Now, I simply motor on.
My wife and I stopped and wanted a fresher choice. I knew that Donut Mill had sandwiches as well. So we popped in.
I had the crab salad sandwich and she had the egg salad sandwich. EGGCELLENT!!! Absolutely delicious on both counts! The service was amazing and friendly and not crabby at all — unlike my sandwich, which was sooo tasty!
Then we got to the freshly made donuts — wow… just wow… the flavour just melts into your mouth and creates a heavenly feeling where you are pulled out of our dimension into some sort of suspended animation for what feels like an amazing eternity, but it actually is only a few seconds. Just brilliant.
So, yes, we are definitely going back.

Maybe it’s because Jelly Modern Doughnuts has ruined me for other donuts based on how spectacular they are, but I can’t find those made at The Donut Mill any better than okay. The dough was tasty enough, though had almost a mealy texture to it. I found the icing… not good. Hard and sort of plastic feel to it, with a quality no better than Tim Hortons.
I might return if I was craving something sweet, but it’s nothing to write home about.

This place is garbage. Extremely overrated. The rolo donut tastes the same as the s’mores donut. They all just have whipped cream stuffed in the middle. I was so excited to try these donuts and was sorely disappointed. Complete waste of calories.

After years of driving through Red Deer and either blowing through town or stopping at the A&W for lunch, I finally went to the Donut Mill for the first time last summer. It’s now a regular stop if I’m passing through Red Deer.
The Donut Mill has the freshest, best tasting doughnuts I’ve ever had. The other food is fairly standard roadside diner fare — soup and sandwiches, mostly — but the quality is much higher than you’d expect.
As just about everyone else has said, a stop at the Donut Mill makes the boring drive from between Edmonton and Calgary just a little more fun.

Sure, the décor is straight out of a nursing home in 1980, but the donuts are not, especially when they are fresh out of the oven. While their standard varieties are quite delicious, the stars here are whipped cream-​stuffed donuts, which are rich, but not too heavy. I’m particularly fond of the Rolo. All are great.
And they also make deli sandwiches on home-​made bread.
The Donut Mill makes a monotonous drive from Edmonton to Calgary (and back) a bit more fun.

Located on the west side of gasoline alley goimg towards calgary. This busy joint makes great donuts. Fresh and moist. Variety of flavours which sell out quickly. Pretty cheap. Only $ 10 for a dozen donuts!
Ive always driven by this place for years on my commute to the mountains… the huge windmill cant be missed and is easy to find off the highway. Once inside it has that homey old fashioned lodge feel. But dont get me wrong… this place is packed and there are huge lines which move relatively quickly.
Glancing at all the donuts the spevialty flavoured ones caught my eye like cookies and cream, raspberry cream or maple caramel cream… yum. The donuts are a fluffy incredibly soft and light dough with a variety of flavours which are added to the whipped cream. Personally the maple caramel was my favourite. A dozen is really a great price and is really affordable.
Great for munching on the road for a quick bite. Just make sure to quickly pick your specialty donuts first bc they run out quick. people order like 6 of one type then theres none left. Sorry my son loves cookies and cream. The kids behind me were disappointed when they ran out before they got to the front. Yes that quick. Literally as I was ordering them… another guy was taking them. It was kinda stressful, like hurry up and get them before they are all gone!
Only problem is that by the next morning the donuts taste old and stale. Theres no preservatives which is a bonus but u gotta eat all those donuts on the day you buy them or the quality goes extremely down. Too bad. For this reason I minused a star… only bc I can only enjoy them for one day instead of three! Im not sure if thats a good thing or a bad thing!

By the title of this business you should probably guess they sell donuts here, and that’s what they’re known for. You have your standard glazed, chocolate, etc kind of flavours, but they also have a Venetian Cream, and some flavours of the month. On my last stop here (on the way to Calgary) I got a root beer donut. The donuts here are made in house, they’re fresh and the filling has real whipping cream. They are delicious, and there have been times my friends and I have said to each, «let’s road trip out to Red Deer to have some donuts at The Donut Mill.» Yes an hour (well 1.5 hour) journey for donuts — they’re that good. The one bad thing about the donuts are because they’re so fresh they go stale pretty quickly. If you decide to buy a 6 or 12 pack be sure they can be eaten within the day.
Of course The Donut Mill has other baked goods, and foods (soups, sandwiches, quiches, etc). I had the sausage rolls once and they were pretty good. There’s also drinks pop, coffee (regular cup of joe, nothing fancy), so it’s a great halfway break point on a road trip to Calgary from Edmonton or to Edmonton from Calgary. It’s located on the west side of gasoline alley, and being that the building is shaped like a giant windmill it’s pretty easy to spot. Inside they also would have little pinwheels (windmill shape and all) that you could buy, although I didn’t notice any the last time I was there.
There are many other restaurants and dining establishments in Red Deer, but for me a visit to or a stop in Red Deer just isn’t the same without a stop at The Donut Mill.

Okay. Been here before and doughnuts were fab! Today old and stale. Took hubby for the first time. He hated it.
The two large girl servers one with Mohawk and other with short brown/​blonde hair with green nail tips were extremely rude to 3 people in front of us.
I ordered 6 doughnuts and coffees. I stated my order one at a time with my head being bitten off after each request. The two girls kept talking amongst them selfs laughing at the previous customer as he didn’t quiet understand the ordering process for food and doughnuts. If they had
If listened to him they would of know what he wanted.
Never going back.