(Image: CHS)
As it approaches its five-year anniversary in the neighborhood. Dough Joy is closing the E Pike shop where the Seattle brand got its start.
Owners say the Capitol Hill Dough Joy will close later this month– but the other Dough Joys in Ballard and West Seattle will live on.
“This is not goodbye to Dough Joy. It is a new chapter. And this one that allows us to focus on what made Dough Joy so special in the first place and to deliver the very best Dough Joy has to offer,” the announcement reads.
While the closing message focuses on refining the business, the closure follows the Capitol Hill shop’s frustrations over ongoing break-ins at the E Pike store.
Break-ins continue to plague Seattle small business owners though resources have improved to give help.
During a rash of break-ins in 2025, CHS reported on expanded support for grants and awards to help small businesses with up to $3,000 for repairs or $6,000 for security and prevention. The GSBA chamber of commerce administers a portion of the neighborhood Investment funding as part of its public safety work, providing funds to additional Capitol Hill businesses who apply directly to them for support for repairs or prevention. A recent project included security work at E Pike bar Life on Mars.
Dough Joy is moving on.
CHS reported here on the first plans from owners Sean Willis and Christopher Ballard for the small chain’s Capitol Hill start in the E Pike space formerly home to Old School Frozen Custard.
They started Dough Joy as a mobile doughnut truck.
“Many of our customers have said, ‘Wow! I can’t believe these donuts are vegan!’,” the donut entrepreneurs wrote in their crowdfunding pitch. “And that’s our goal: to make donuts that everyone can enjoy and show how plant-based food can be just as good — if not better — than animal-based options.”
For Capitol Hill vegan doughnut fans, the coming closure is another blow. Mighty-O shuttered its 12th and Madison shop in 2025 where Seattle’s first Thai coffee shop Nudibranch Coffee now holds down the corner.
The exit of Dough Joy’s $4-and-up-a-pop creations also adds to the holes in the neighborhood’s artisanal doughnut fabric. The Rene Erickson reboot of her Jeffry’s steakhouse included the shuttering of the original General Porpoise filled-doughnuts location. Meanwhile, Half and Half Doughnut Co. at the corner of E Pike and Belmont closed down and is now home to the cafe creations of The Counter Shoppe.
What’s next for the former frozen custard shop and doughnut shop on upper E Pike? Stay tuned.
Dough Joy’s final day of business at 1316 E Pike is planned for June 21st. Learn more at doughjoydonuts.com.
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