JD Flannel Donuts & Coffee

Orange County has a ton of great artisanal donut shops, particularly in its northern cities, where Friendly Donuts, Old Ferry, Oliboli, and Yozm each offer flavors and styles different enough to stand out from the pack. The county’s southern cities have no shortage of donut options, but few with an artisanal focus on ingredients or recipes, which is why San Juan Capistrano’s JD Flannel Donuts & Coffee is locally distinctive. Not far from foodie destinations including Heritage Barbecue, Mayfield, and the River Street Marketplace, this one-off donut shop touts made-from-scratch recipes, premium ingredients, and a rotating collection of monthly flavors – for around $5 per donut.

Based on the many OC donut shops we’ve sampled, JD Flannel’s donuts reminded us most of the ones at Costa Mesa’s Sidecar Doughnuts & Coffee; even their rotating flavors substantially overlapped when we visited JD in February 2025. Both offered chocolate, vanilla bean, maple bacon, festive/celebration sprinkle cakes, cookies & cream, butter & salt, cinnamon, and old fashioned donuts; JD’s fruit flavors were just a little different (boysenberry instead of huckleberry, blueberry lemon rather than lemon pound cake), and it offered a Girl Scout cookie-inspired striped coconut caramel instead of Sidecar’s striped chocolate chip trailblazer. Cosmetically, the shops look different from one another – Sidecar’s shop leans “1900’s Americana” while JD’s has more “chill SoCal dad” energy – but as donuts go, they’re clearly following the same general playbook.

By comparison with other OC donut shops, we’d call JD Flannel’s donuts above average rather than great in both ambition and execution. All of the flavors we purchased were pretty doughy, leading with a bread-like texture and flavor that only the heaviest toppings matched or overcame. Our favorite was their maple bacon, which was loaded with uncommon levels of meat and frosting, fully matching its name and exceeding our initial expectations. By comparison, their vanilla bean and chocolate donuts were comparatively forgettable: Despite JD Flannel’s use of Madagascar-sourced vanilla and French Valrhona chocolate – each expensive and important in high-end desserts – the donuts were too thinly coated and basic in flavor. We’ve had equal or better versions at too many places to count.