Wallingford Coffee Shop Ranks Among Yelp’s ‘Top 100 Coffee Shops’ In U.S.

WALLINGFORD, CT — While best known for its award-winning donuts, Wallingford’s Neil’s Donuts has picked up another honor — being named as one of the top 100 coffee shops in the U.S., according to Yelp.

Neil’s Donuts ranks No. 75 at Yelp's list of the "Top 100 Coffee Shops" in the U.S. for 2025. It was the only Connecticut shop to make the list.

Yaw Farm Coffee Roaster in Las Vegas, Nevada, earned the top ranking in the list, and was followed by 1022 Cafe & Gelateria in Oceanside, California, Rainbeau Jo’s in Lihue, Kauai, Hawaii, Mate Conmigo in Los Angeles, California, and Makua Banana Bread in Haleiwa, Oahu, Hawaii, to round out the top 5.

Yelp complied the rankings “using a number of factors, including the total volume and ratings of reviews,” according to a post on its website. “To ensure geographic diversity, we limited to 5 businesses per metro area. When available, all businesses on this list have a passing health score as of July 8, 2025.”

Neil’s Donuts, which also has a location in Middletown, earned a 4.8 star rating from more than 760 Yelp reviewers.

See also:

• Wallingford’s Neil’s Donuts Gets Shout Out On Kelce Brothers' Podcast
• 1 CT Donut Ranks Among The Best In America

Neil’s Donuts first opened in 2001 at 83 North Turnpike Rd. in Wallingford after owner Neil Bukowski found inspiration for the shop while he was working as a sales associate.

“For him, the donuts at meetings were always supposed to be the best part of the job, but he eventually became fed up with the quality of them,” reads a post on the Neil’s Donuts website. “Every week, as soon as he got to the sales meeting, he'd open up the box, but rather than finding the glazed donut he was looking for, he found an undersized piece of dough with virtually no glaze on it at all.

“After experiencing this disappointment week after week, Neil decided something had to be done about it. So, shortly after his 40th birthday, Neil quit the only job he had ever known and set out to make sure that those inadequate donuts would never find their way into a sales meeting again.”

Read more about Neil’s Donuts here.

Read Yelp’s full list of "Top 100 Coffee Shops" in the U.S. here.