It’s a Sunday morning; you wake up feeling lazy and hungry. It is the day of the week where no one feels like cooking or doing anything productive. It is the day where one can typically find  themselves in the drive-thru of McDonald’s or Dunkin Donuts in the late morning hours. But with the same old routine, these everyday breakfast items like a McMuffin or plain donut can get boring and unoriginal. However, there is a now a new hot spot for breakfast in which anyone can go to and enjoy in DeBary.

Donuts Galore.

On April 15, I went to this newly opened mom & pop-like shop accompanied by my boyfriend, hungry as ever as I had skipped breakfast at home to wait and eat everything I could at the donut place.

First thing, as soon as we opened the door, we were greeted right away by one of the employees, Katie. Katie greeted us with such enthusiasm and politeness straight off the back, asking what we were interested in. On top of that, the smell of freshly made donuts and sugar wafted throughout the small store. To some, they find it obnoxious. But to me, it was heaven.

Of course, it took me forever to decide what I wanted. The donuts available to us during the time we came in were not as crazy as I thought they would be. However, there was still a fair share of various donuts to choose from.

After taking some photos, one of the owners, Marie Rudd, came out to greet me. With another warm greeting and introduction, I was already very pleased with the customer service.

Soon after, my boyfriend and I were ready to eat, as we were both absolutely starving and the aroma of fresh baked goods did not add to the hunger well.

We settled for a half dozen variety, which included a glazed-bow tie donut, square glazed donut, glazed red velvet donut, chocolate frosted, glazed donut, Boston creme donut, and last but not least, the maple bacon donut. With this, we also got a couple of drinks; hot chocolate and a vanilla latte.

The owner, Marie, also added in a courtesy donut to the half dozen; a red velvet cake donut with cream cheese frosting and pecan crumbles. This only made me more excited, as I am a huge lover of donuts.

The excitement doesn’t stop there.  The owner also let me know that all UHS students are given a 15% off discount when they show them their school ID! So if that isn’t a big reason to go, I don’t know what is. She decided to take 15% off AND did not upcharge me for the more specialty donuts that I wanted in my variety, since they usually upcharge a few cents to a dollar for certain donuts.

As I sat down and took a bite out of each donut, I was pleased by how fresh and fluffy each of the donuts were. The Boston creme and maple bacon donuts were the best donuts I ate during my visit. The Boston creme was rich and filled entirely. And although I was hesitant in trying the maple bacon donut, I was blown away at how sweet the maple frosting was. The bacon’s savory crispness complemented the sugar.

However, the only downside I had in my experience was my vanilla latte. I was not expecting my latte to be over the top, as it was a small shop and I was expecting some coffee beverage at a RaceTrac level.

But, one, there was quite a bit of froth on top of my latte. So my first few sips were nothing but froth, along with the bottom ¼ of the cup. Two, there was little to no vanilla flavoring. It is understandable the coffee was not going to be the absolute best, as the store was meant for donuts. But, it would have been nice if the brew had been stronger as well. Personally, I feel that the drink should have been either better quality for the price of $4.19, or a larger portion at the least.

Before I left, I decided to grab a croissant sandwich, too. I was not let down by any means once I received my sandwich. The croissant was freshly baked and was enormous. The egg was fried to perfection on my sandwich, complementing the gooey cheddar cheese and ham slices I asked for.

I talked to the owners a bit more before my leave. Finding out what makes them different than other donuts shops and what inspired them to open their own place.

“Well, I love donuts. And I wanted to bring back the old-fashion donut, made fresh everyday,” owner Michael Rudd said. “It’s [the shop] cozy, it’s friendly, it’s warm, we bake donuts fresh everyday. And whatever the customers want, we try to make it and satisfy the customer.”

Marie Rudd mentioned how her husband and grandfather were in the military, so they had to move around a lot. This moving around lead to  Marie and Michael making their way to DeBary.

“When I was younger, my grandmother used to make us donuts all the time,” Marie Rudd said. But when I got older, the military moved us so much. And when we came to DeBary, Florida, I retired from cosmetologists industry. We decided to go into the field and give it a try.”

Marie and Michael share the same thoughts of their shop; fresh quality donuts made everyday. Crazy or not, you name it, they try and make it.

“With our donuts, whatever you can think of, we can make,” Marie said.

The shop hosts as the home to some crazy donuts, like the maple bacon donut, pb&J donut, maple peanut butter donut, fruity pebble donut, and so much more. However, during my visit, a majority of these zany donuts were not ready yet until I was leaving, unfortunately.

Nonetheless, with such warming customer service, high-quality breakfast items, and some mediocre coffee, I will definitely be going to Donuts Galore more frequently. With a large variety to choose from in the donut, breakfast sandwich, and coffee areas, I recommend others to give them a try, too!