Britt's Donuts - Carolina Beach, North Carolina

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Britt’s Donuts is located on the Boardwalk at Carolina Beach in North Carolina. A local, seasonal favorite since 1939, Britt’s serves only one kind of doughnut – glazed. It’s not uncommon for the line to wrap around the block, but numerous online reviewers confirm it’s “worth the wait.” The restaurant accepts cash only.

Photo by: Christina Beauchamp

History

Harvey Britt opened Britt’s Donuts on the Carolina Beach Boardwalk in 1939. Britt moved the business to its present location at 11 Boardwalk, on the other side of the promenade from its original location, in 1969. It is the oldest continuously operating business on the Boardwalk.

Britt, who is deceased, sold the business in 1974 to former employee Bobby Nivens and his wife, Maxine. The Nivens and other family members continue to operate the shop today. Britt’s celebrated its 75th year of operation in 2014.

The doughnut recipe, passed down from Britt to the Nivens family, remains a tightly guarded secret. Nivens told The Wilmington Star News in 2014 that the secret ingredient is “loving care.” The only known ingredients are Pillsbury bleached all-purpose flour, granulated sugar and vegetable oil. With no reason to change a winning formula or method of production, the Nivens still use the original 1939 fryer.

Britt opened a second Britt’s Donuts in the nearby town of Wilmington, North Carolina in 1939 which he operated for 17 years before closing the shop in 1956.

Accolades

Britt’s was voted America’s #2 Favorite Independent Small-town Doughnut Shop in 2008 by MSN City Guides.
In 2013, USA Today named the boardwalk food at Carolina Beach the 8th-best in the country, specifically highlighting the doughnuts at Britt’s.
Our State featured Britt’s in a 2014 article on coastal doughnuts, naming Britt’s and Duck Donuts as the two best in North Carolina.
In July 2015, Garden and Gun spotlighted the doughnuts at Britt’s as one of the South’s top five summer sweet spots.

Shop details

Britt’s Donuts is open seven days a week during tourist season, usually from late March to early September. Store hours are 8:30 a.m. to 10:00 p.m.

Each doughnut is made by hand to order, so visitors are guaranteed a hot, fresh doughnut every time. Customers enter the open-air store front through raised garage doors. About a dozen stools provide seating at a lunch counter, but most patrons take their donuts to go.

Interior windows provide a glimpse into the kitchen, where staff in white aprons float raw, flour-white doughnuts in a vat of hot oil. After a few minutes in the fryer, the doughnuts, now crispy and golden, are pulled by hand from the fryer using wooden dowels, and then dipped in glaze. As soon as they’re cool enough to handle, they’re wrapped and handed over to customers.

Menu

Britt’s offers a simple menu of four items: glazed doughnuts, soft drinks, coffee and milk. Tax is included, and there are no free refills. Their menu, in 2015:

Doughnuts          $1.00 each
                               $5.50 half
                                $8.00 dozen

Coffee $1.00 and $1.25

Milk $1.25

Drinks $1.25 and $1.50

Links

http://www.brittsdonutsfanclub.com/

https://www.facebook.com/Britts-Donut-Shop-189424071099111/timeline/

http://www.yelp.com/biz/britts-donuts-carolina-beach

http://www.carolinabeach.net/britts1.html

@BrittsDonuts

Sources

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g49004-d665293-Reviews-Britt_s_Donut_Shop-Carolina_Beach_North_Carolina.html