The latest edition of Ye Olde Donut Shoppe opened Memorial Day, this time on Neil Street in Champaign.
The compact storefront is located at 1401 South Neil Street, in front of the Homewood Suites. This is in the same strip mall as Espresso Royale, locally owned fast casual Mexican joint Cactus Grill and a Subway franchise.
The shop is laser-focused on donuts, and boasts a wide variety, from classic glazed to filled to “artisan” editions. It also sells drip coffee (only) from Columbia Street Roastery.
Ye Olde Donut Shoppe has a long history in Champaign and Urbana, with multiple different storefronts over many years (we last remember the one at Green and First, where Maize is now).
For several years, Ye Olde Donuts has been supplying other retailers (such as Art Mart) with its wares and is a regular at Urbana’s Market at the Square.
Prices range from $1.35 per donut up to $2.75 apiece. They include classic glazed to apple fritters to long johns and many more flavors, which vary.
The store is open daily from 6 am to 1 pm. There is also a drive-thru available. Inside the store there is limited seating — mostly high-top tables — with room for about 15.
The folks behind Ye Olde Donut Shoppe took to Facebook on Monday to tell some of the history behind the brand.
“Ye Olde was founded in 1956 and we are only the 3rd owner. The original owner passed away several years ago after he sold to his long time cook who eventually sold to us. This very important second owner (Jose Rodriguez) sold to us and is still with us today and training us daily with his years of knowledge. We have one long time cook (Alex Hernandez) that after cooking literally tens of thousands of donuts still strives daily to produce the best possible donut and is disappointed when his is efforts does not produce 100 percent perfect results. This kind of legacy and level of skill and dedication is hard to find in a day of corporate factory produced items at franchise stores. We make our own icing in a floor mixer, just like they did in the 50’s (our chocolate is real fudge, the maple is real maple) and make the donuts by hand with no “robot donut” equipment.”
What is your favorite donut in Champaign-Urbana? Join the conversation in our Facebook group.
