Hook And Press Donuts

Reviews

• Sarah B.

  star star star star star 11 June 2026

  My Husband and I decided to stop into Hook and Press while we were on a Mini-Moon in Santa Barbara.  We arrived around 10:15 on a Tuesday.  John, the owner, was there and greeted us with a smile. There were plenty of each flavor of donuts left, which I was surprised as it was later in the morning and definitely after breakfast.  Score! (Donut shop tip: if you want the full variety of donuts, from any donut shop, you should get there in the morning).
  
  I am normally plain Jane when it comes to donuts.  I decided to go outside of my shell and ordered the Butterscotch Walnut Brittle.  My husband ordered the Maple Coconut Bacon Donut (no pigs were harmed in the making of this delicious donut!).  We loved every single bite.   The cold brew and Cappuccino also hit the spot.   My sister, a few weeks prior, had brought back some donuts from her trip to SB;  the Horchata and POG, both equally as delicious as those we tried on this trip, even when a day old (pop those bad boys in the microwave for 25 seconds and they are just like freshly made donuts).
  
  We decided to sit on the State Street patio so that we could people watch and enjoy our sugary delights.  The ambience of the shop and patio are definitely SB local and it is worth sticking around to enjoy your treat.  Thank you Hook & Press, we will be back on our next trip!

• Jennifer N.

  star star star_border star_border star_border 4 June 2026

  I came here with my co-worker during our lunch break around 12:30. It was pretty easy to find since it was located next to Old Navy on State Street and had a big sign in front saying Donuts. We were excited to come and try the different donuts they had, but when we got there, they only had a minimal selection left. I first learned about this place on Instagram and have been following them for a little while now. They definitely do not live up to their advertisements.
  They have two separate areas- one was the donut/latte station & the other was empanada/beer. This made everything kind of confusing because more people started coming in and you couldn't tell who was waiting for what.
  My friend ended up just getting a vanilla creme sprinkle donut and I just got two doggy donuts & a iced matcha latte (that I forgot to even get since we were too busy waiting for our empanadas on the other side). I'm super bummed out that I forgot my iced latte! It costed $5 and what bothered me the most was that it looked so good from the picture I saw. I was already back at work when I remembered about the latte, so I just called it a loss. However, the chicken empanada was pretty good though. I don't think I will be coming back here anytime soon.

• Ari R.

  star star star star_border star_border 2 June 2026

  Hook and Press is a cute shop. And the employees seem passionate when they describe their offerings. I liked that. We ordered about six different ones and then gave them a try.
  
  Luckily my first donut was The Horchata Crumb. This is a great donut. Great, robust flavor and amazing texture with the crumb topping. It's an almost perfect donut.
  
  The Pog, a passionfruit donut, lacked tang. Their famous browned butter with sea salt tasted like a pretty bland glazed donut and had absolutely no taste of sea salt. The Nutella Cream was pretty meh, too. In fact the last few donuts, we just took a bite or two out of each, then threw them away.
  
  If I were them, I'd rethink everything but their insanely awesome Horchata Crumb!

• Natalie W.

  star star star star star 28 May 2026

  This was my last stop on a weekend visit to Santa Barbara, and it was well worth it!
  
  Hook and Press was easy to find inside Mosaic Locale, and the space itself has ample seating and a spacious outdoor patio.
  
  I stopped by right around Noon and they still had a very good selection of flavors, which included a few rotating specials and a donut hole flavor of the day. I ended up trying the Nutella Cream, Vanilla Sprinkle, Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough and Brown Butter. All were extremely tasty, but the Nutella and Cookie Dough were the favorites.
  
  They also were serving coffee from Low Pigeon. Tried the iced latte and it was also excellent.
  
  Must try whenever visiting SB!

• Ryan C.

  star star star star star 25 May 2026

  I'm so stoked that there has been an artisan uprising in the donut world the last few years! I love a good mom & pop joint, but they generally lack any creativity. Not a knock on the standard shop, but you pretty much find the same selection everywhere in America. There's the occasional store specific creation or twist on something, but you get where I'm coming from. Hook and Press definitely takes their creations seriously. I was torn when standing at the donut case, and ultimately opted for something as an ode to summer; The S'mores.
  
  Appearance: ARTISAN BEAUTY
  Taste: 8/10 (it was absolutely delicious, my taste buds were seeking more of that graham flavor from the crumble though)
  Customer service: Fantastic! Smiling faces and kind words to start the day are a huge W!
  Cleanliness: 10/10 (pretty immaculate facility)
  
  HIGHLY Recommend 10/10 LOL