Carlson’s Donuts & Thai Kitchen

Move over lemon grass. Annapolis has better thai food than you and at a better price. This is about the food. If you want the outside ambiance and are willing to accept lesser food, no problem. If it’s about the quality and freshness of the food, Carlson’s is your place. All I needed to see was the colors of the ingredients. So fresh, the colors just pop! And the taste didn’t disappoint. If you haven’t been, don’t let the exterior fool you. This is a very good, family run place.

Donuts are freakin awesome!!! Yeasty and fresh, none of that fake crap. I can eat a half dozen and not get an upset stomach or need an insulin shot so I know these are legit. Perfect balance of dough and icing/​sweetness. These aren’t sugar bombs like most chain donut stores.
I’m usually not a fan of crullers-​style donuts but the ones here may just be my new fav donut. So soft and yummy inside.
The other types are great too the blueberry cake, chocolate cake, Bavarian cream…
Only negative is they don’t serve breakfast sandwiches until like 7 – 7:30am so early bird donut buyers can’t pick up a breakfast sandwich when they get donuts early.

I can’t believe this place escaped my search for good food in Annapolis for so many years! I spoke with the owner for about 25 minutes. She is so sweet and easy to talk to. I came in for the Thai food for lunch, but once I saw the donuts and based on my experience with Carlson’s in Severn, I had to try them. I am not a big fan of donuts but have tried them all over. It is one of those foods like fried chicken that always looks so good but then you are usually disappointed. Not the case here. The owner was soon to point out that her recipe is better and man was she right.
I could not wait until I got home to try the donuts. My Thai food was supposed to be for lunch, but the donuts had to be tried while still fresh. I just wanted a bite. 4 bites and one chocolate covered donut later, I was transported to heaven. It was so airy and perfect that I felt like I ate some delicious chocolate flavored air. Well now I had to try a bite of the cream filled beauty. I have to say that while the yeast donut was perfect, the pudding was a thick little nugget in the middle. Thick enough not to drop all over but there was no oozing. I enjoyed that half of donut and figured I should quit now or go to rehab, even though rehab is for quitters. After all I had my lunch of Larb Gai to eat. I didn’t even want to look at the apple fritters.
I will start off by saying «no more visits to Lemongrass». The Larb was better than most any I have had and equal to one or two. Nicely shredded tender chicken, just the right amount of spice and perfectly seasoned veggies. My only «complaints» or point of difference from the best that I have had was that it was missing the crunchy topping that I have had sprinkled on some of my other Larb dishes. The other is the quantity vs. price. For $ 8.25 (I think), it wasn’t the cheapest dish. I don’t mind paying for quality and would get it again, but as an appetizer, I think $ 6.95 or $ 7.25 would be a fair deal. That or up the quantity which would be even better.
Bottom line: very friendly owner, and excellent food should make this a must stop when in Annapolis.

Real spice. Amazing donuts. Good stuff.

I am a self proclaimed donut connoisseur. Imagine my surprise when this place showed up as the top donuts in the Annapolis area. Donuts and Thai… WTF? However, my visit here did not disappoint.
Came here around 11a.m. on a Saturday morning… big mistake! The sweet little lady behind the counter could tell that we were first timers and explained that they only make a certain amount of donuts each day. She recommended coming earlier for a bigger selection. Although the selection was lacking, the remaining donuts did not disappoint! I love a good yeast donut (F this cake donut fad that’s going on– I’m talking about you Fractured Prune/​Sandy Pony, etc.!).
The yeast donuts here were delicious– soft, squishy, and sweet! She even piled a handful of donut holes into a napkin and told us to enjoy them in the car before we got home to eat the box of donuts. Overall, I love supporting local small businesses (especially ones that sell delicious yeast donuts) and I am looking forward to my next visit!

Best doughnuts. Ever. The nice lady behind the counter gave me a extra free doughnut to try. Cinnamon twist. Yummie!

Without a doubt the best donuts for miles. Get there earlier because they run out quick.

The Thai food is good, but I have had better. We tried each others and some was fresher than others.
But the donuts! Wow. So delicious. There is a sweet older lady (wish I had asked her name) who has made them for 48 years. Her own recipe. When we told her it was our first time there, she made a dramatic shocked/​pity/​unhappy face and loaded us with extra free donut holes. She is very proud of her baking and should be!

One of our Annapolis stand-​bys — we probably eat here 2 – 3 times/​month. My husband spend time in Thailand and he swears this is as authentic as you will get in Annapolis. We do carry out… the ambience inside isn’t «all that». But the food is amazing, the donuts are to die for, the staff is very nice. I could eat the Thai Noodle Soup every day. If you’re lucky, they’ll have leftover donuts if you stop in for dinner but don’t count on it. Their donuts are so good they’re usually gone by morning’s end.

Best donuts in all of Anne Arundel County! I have lived in Annapolis all my 44 years and they are a tradition in my family. You have to get there early though or else they may be out of your favorites.

Amazing Thai food for such a small restaurant! Authentic and quick! I ordered the pad Thai with chicken and the drunken noodles with beef, perfect for a post workout meal. The combination of veggies to noodles to meat was perfect. The real wow factor were the donuts! Man these were some good freaking donuts for $ 1.30! These have got to be among the best donuts I have ever had and they were free! The cashier just gave them to me, super cool. I wish I had them fresh out of the fryer. I will definitely come back in the morning for some donuts and Thai food.

This review is for takeout order.
We had the drunken noodles and the pad thai. The drunken noodles were amazing! It is better than the ones I’ve had in NY. The noodles were well cooked with a hint of spice which made me enjoy it even more!
The pad thai noodles were thinner than what I am normally used to but it was delicious. I think there was some tofu and egg with the pad thai as well.
They also gave us free donuts to try! We were able to snag an apple fritter and a chocolate donut. and MY GOODNESS it was amazing. It was similar to dough in some way. Maybe in between a dough and krispy kreme. The chocolate donut melts in your mouth and the apple fritter… yum… MUST GET THE APPLE FRITTER!!!

What an amazing unexpected gem! Husband and I decided to head out to Annapolis from DC on a random Thursday and halfway there I started looking for Thai places. Baby fell asleep by the time we got there so we got takeout. DELICIOUS!!! Hubby came out from ordering with a free donut (he was going to pay but they gave it to him on the house). Then we had super duper delicious chicken satay, chicken pad Thai and Panang curry (not sure if hubs got beef or chicken). The peanut sauce for the satay was seriously awesome. Not too thin, and with a nice heat that would come at the end. Pad Thai was best I’ve ever had – not greasy, not sweet, just delicious. All the meat was cooked to perfection in all the dishes, with a beautiful sear on the outside. Ingredients were fresh, and flavors were very well balanced. We’re moving soon but we will go again!

Many people are comparing this place to Lemongrass, so I’ll chip in. I think the food is actually better here compared to Lemongrass and Lemongrass 2. Lemongrass 2 has lunch specials, and both Lemongrasses beats Carlson’s at décor and plates, but I just think the cooking is a little better here. I don’t go to Lemongrass much anymore, the food there often comes out a little soggy. Also the price here is a little cheaper than the Lemongrasses. It’s not a big difference though (usually less than 1 dollar diff in price). Sometimes they’ll give you a donut for free, but it usually depends on luck (prob if it’s late and they haven’t sold out yet).
Anyway, I think this place deserves a little more attention for its food, which I think actually beats Lemongrass by a narrow margin. It’s definitely not a place to go to on a date. The décor is not impressive at all and the plates for lunch are really ugly. But if you’re just having a casual meal by yourself or with some friends that you don’t need to impress, they have some nice affordable Thai food.

The Thai is amazing and very authentic. Delicious take out, but what sets it apart are the donuts. AMAZING!!! definitely if they have any you must grab a few for dessert. Freshly made, and they last until morning as well.
Be warned the family loves spice, as do I but if you order extra spicy you will be sweating. In a good way

This is the best Thai food we could find since moving from San Diego to Annapolis. Lemon grass was Horrible in comparison, Lemon grass is just horrible in general– both locations. Yes they look nice inside, that’s all. Carlson’s might not have the ambiance, but the food is the best you can get around here and the prices are reasonable.

Be careful when ordering spicy food. Like everywhere else, ordering spicy food, is based on the server opinion on how spicy a dish actually is. Well this is as hot as it gets, what ever you do don’t go extra hot.
The donuts at a Tai resturant??? Much to my suprise these are the best donuts I have ever had.

Went with fiends for Thai dinner. Everything was «arroy-​d» = delicious! And she gave us each a bag of their donuts free to go +++
Small, family owned place. Friendly and welcoming atmosphere. Owners young kids came out with the mom as she served us our food, very cute.
Had tum yum soup, papaya salad (hot is very hot); paw kraw fried rice with chicken and it’s topped with a crispy, fried egg; pad see ew w beef (nice w chinese broccoli stems stir fried into it; it’s like eating beef chow fun); green curry w chicken was also good; ended w mango sticky rice (good balance of saltiness and sweetness between the rice and mango)
The food has different flavors compared to Ruan Thai in Wheaton. Both places are good though: D
Need to go back and try more of their other food: D

Bottom Line: Excellent Thai food served by a delightful family in a simple restaurant.
Carlson’s has two great things going for it — donuts and thai cuisine. I hear if you hit it just right, you can get both flavors of goodness. But for me, I was on a mission for a late dinner so I haven’t had the pleasure of the eating the donuts yet. If you have a hankering for Thai and are debating Carlson’s here’s some feedback to help with your decision:
–Food: The Thai food I had here was excellent. I had the Pad Thai and a red curry dish. The Pad Thai was delicious and mild with fresh vegetables. The red curry dish was spicy although still a palate pleaser. I like spicy so I could handle it but most of my family could not.
— Ambiance: The dining room is tired, for lack of a better word. It is small and quiet which I like but the décor could definitely use a refresh. On the other hand, I have found that the best ethnic food isn’t being served in fancy-​smancy establishments.
— Family Friendly: About that quaint dining room, I love the family feel of Carlson’s. This is a family working really hard to provide for their children and I really admire that. I can only imagine how tiring running a business is and I surely appreciate the Carlson’s.
— Options: If you don’t want to dine in for whatever reason, you can place an order for takeout. Although Carlson’s only takes cash for donuts, they do take credit cards for Thai orders.
— Take Out: Because I appreciate the small things, I wanted to point out that I like the sturdy take-​out containers Carlson’s uses. I appreciate that the containers didn’t leak and had a quality feel to them.
— Staff: I agree that Carlson’s is understaffed. One woman was taking phone orders, working the register and waiting on the entire dining room. She was pleasant and hustling like crazy, probably doing the work of three people, but she could really use some help, I think. At one point, her young daughter came out of the back room and said, «Mom, I’m bored.» It was so cute since her Mom was so busy!
Overall, my experience at Carlson’s was great and I appreciate the delicious cuisine this family contributes to the Annapolis community. I look forward to a return visit and would love to hit the sweet spot of both donuts and dinner!

I can only speak to the Thai food and not the donuts. Authentic pad see ew with beef. Would definitely recommend it.
I did not enjoy the ginger beef stir fry as much. Too much ginger.
Tip: If you want donuts, go early. I ordered dinner take-​out at 8pm. Donuts were all out by then.