Spoiler alert: this Victoria tour doesn't glaze over any of the salty details.
Settling in at a table near Empire Donuts, guide Cait Irwin gets down to the business of name tags before embarking on a walking tour of the fried sweets.
Underground Donut Tours rose in the U.S. and and celebrates a decade in February of 2025, but the downtown Victoria version marked its one year anniversary in August.
Those American origins explain the spelling of doughnut, but Irwin’s hospitality as tour leader has all the Canadian hallmarks.
The sweet walk is a tasty twist on a traditional foodie and history tour. Leaving the ’50s diner-style Empire Donuts after a taste of their best-selling brown butter doughnut, the two-hour walking tour heads for Discovery Coffee, Oso Cafe Desserts at the Bay Centre and finishes with some Chinatown history and snacks at Friend and Family Bake – known for its Filipino treats.
Irwin knows the ins and outs of the city. During the amble, she shares the history of Richard Blanshard, local First Nations lore, and spills the tea on Francis Rattenbury. Blanshard was the first colonial governor of Vancouver Island – resigning and leaving the colony after just 18 months.
Sometimes it’s a little spicy, such as the case of murdered Rattenbury who is famous – or some might say infamous – as the architect of many historic buildings in B.C.’s capital city.
At the different shops, aside from filling up with fritters at Discovery, chocolate-topped treats at the mall and traditional sweet bread with ube (purple yam) in Chinatown, Irwin outlines bits of history of the shops, the patrons, or the tasty treats about to be inhaled.
The second stop she explains is the coffee shop named for its first location on Discovery Street. This purpose-built space lies at Broughton and Blanshard streets, and is home to the gluten-free chocolate cruller. With no such limitations on the tour, instead a fritter and cruller are divvied up by sanitized scissors and shared.
Irwin proudly notes Discovery previously hosted the national barista championships. “And I like to say they were kind enough to let somebody else win that year,” she adds with a laugh.
A looping walk to the waterfront inspires the tale of Rattenbury who was murdered in 1935 after his return to the UK. Twice-divorced, Rattenbury’s second wife’s lover was jailed for the crime.
A few blocks away the frosted pink paint job on the customs house – or rather the history held within – inspires Irwin’s tour chatter as the walk continues to Bastion Square where bricks in the ground outline the original fort footprint. There she notes the diversity of names etched in the bricks – people critical to early formation of the fort – including several First Nations and Chinese names.
A storefront display inspires Irwin's shift to the history of the woolly dog that played an important and cultural role for Coast Salish people but when colonists moved in the animal became extinct. The animal’s thick woollen undercoat was shorn for weaving blankets and textiles, but increasing settler colonialism forced the decline of the tradition in the 19th century and the Indigenous dog population was lost.
As she tells the tale, the trek takes a tour of the fourth-floor food court at the mall downtown. At Oso, the owners themselves – with bright smiles and cheery conversation – serve the chocolate-topped doughnuts and a handful of other creations.
The tour cruises down to Chinatown where Friend and Family Bake in Fantan Alley offers a window into its kitchen. There the sweet traditional doughnuts and sweet bread are again, served with a smile, straight from the oven.
Learn more about the tasty tours online at undergrounddonuttour.com.
