Both Back Door Donuts and Ben & Bill’s Chocolate Emporium and Ice Cream are on the Best of the Vineyard 2026 list and for good reason. There is an ice-cream shop on every corner of Martha’s Vineyard. I don’t know if the heat drives the ice-cream shops or just the fact that people love ice-cream. Ben & Bill’s not only serves up scoops of sweet goodness, but they also have fudge, candy, and drinks.

This is lobster ice cream! It has a butter base with real pieces of lobster. You could see the huge pieces of lobster in the ice cream. There were a lot of odd flavors such as grapenut, which has a butter base with grape nut cereal. There was also ginger ice cream.

Fudge and chocolates

Assortment of candy

I ordered the Ickersnay ice cream, which is a vanilla base, pieces of Snickers, and caramel streak sauce. I also ordered a scoop of mud pie ice cream, which has a coffee base, Oreo cookies, and chocolate streak sauce. I topped mine with Oreos! Lol! You might as well go big or go home!

My oldest daughter ordered scoops of mint, coffee, and coconut ice cream..

My youngest ordered mint chocolate chip, vanilla caramel, and cookie dough.

Now I know why Ben & Bill’s is Best of the Vineyard!

BACK DOOR DONUTS

Let me start by saying I am not a fritter person, but Back Door Donuts doesn’t just make a fritter. This is a classic work of culinary art. I think of most fritters as just greasy missteps. However, I could not say the same for these apple fritters.

We walked in around 2 p.m. and they had already sold out of their famous apple fritters. So, my daughter got a cookies and cream Oreo cupcake and an iced coffee.

Because Back Door Donuts is so popular among islanders and tourists, there is plenty of paraphernalia for you and your family to purchase.

Back Door Donuts opens at 7 a.m. and closes at 5 p.m. The bakery then reopens from 7 p.m. until midnight serving up more donuts. However, if you come between the hours of 7 p.m. and 12 a.m., you have to go around to the back door of the bakery, hence the name, “Back Door Donuts.” If you missed the apple fritters earlier during the day, you can swipe a few later that night. If you go on the weekend, you can expect to stand in line for a while.

Saturday night, we drove back to the shop only to find a long line at the back door that we had no plans to stand in. A couple of days later during the week, we were able to walk right up and order an apple fritter and donuts for the kids.

Matt walking around to the back door.

Matt was settlilng in to watch a movie, and I asked him to walk with me to get donuts. I kept stopping to look at stores, and he was trying to get the donuts and get back to the house. Poor thing! Here is the late night menu out back.

Cashier taking orders at the back door.

Within less than 10 minutes, we had our apple fritters and donuts. This is what I am talking about when I say you want to come when there are not so many people on the Vineyard. I know it is so much fun to be in the hustle and bustle for some, but not for me. I like to take it easy. Spare me the long lines. I’m not here for it, especially not on vacation. It defeats the purpose of a vacation if you have to fight for a reservation or fight just to experience the Island. I don’t think we could have done as much as we did if we had come in August when so many other families vacation here.

Friends, this apple fritter was so light and fluffy, overflowing with chunks of apples, and cooked to perfection. This is the best recipe for an apple fritter that I have ever eaten. As I am writing this, I am wishing I could just sprint down the street and get another one, but I’m home now. Boo hoo!

Sorry, but I took a bite out of the fritter before I took a picture. That is how excited I was to taste it. Everyone on the Vineyard raves about these fritters, and now I understand why these fritters are the talk of the Island.

This was not your average heavy, doughy apple fritter. This was pure heaven on earth! When I go back to the Vineyard, I will be racing to Back Door Donuts for one more bite!