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The bakers at Old Town Donuts keep the case stocked 24-hours-a-day, seven days-a-week. | ANDY PAULISSEN
[ S T. L O U I S S TA N D A R D S ]
If It Ain’t Broke Old Town Donuts became a key part of north-county life by never changing what makes it great Written by
CHERYL BAEHR
A
s a young kid growing up in north St. Louis County, Brad Donovan never expected to win the stepdad lottery and wind up related to the owner of Old Town Donuts. The shop held such a special place in his heart, starting with his and his mother’s tradition of going there every Sunday after mass at Our Lady of Fatima, where she was the music director. His favorite was the classic glazed — something
he’d get much more acquainted with after his mom tied the knot with the shop’s proprietor. “Never in a million years did I think she would marry the owner,” Donovan laughs. “They met through Rotary club and got married when I was seventeen. That’s when I started working there, and I think it speaks to the institution that we are — that we’re a family place. People tell us similar stories all the time about coming here when they were little kids with their grandparents. We all have those memories.” A Florissant institution since 1968, Old Town Donuts is indeed animated with the memories Donovan hears every day from longtime customers who come in to grab a cup of coffee and what many say is the best doughnut in the St. Louis area. Granted, not everyone can say that they are the stepson of owner Keith Took, but family relation isn’t a requirement to feel special at this northcounty mainstay. Every last person who stops in has some type of connection to the place, many of which stretch back to the old days
Old Town Donuts has been using the same recipes since it opened in 1968. | ANDY PAULISSEN when the original owner, Steve Burns, first set up shop. Part of the reason for that connection, Donovan believes, is how little has changed since 1968. Even after Took bought the shop in 1985, the place remained exactly the same as it was under Burns. There’s been little in terms of aes-
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thetic updating; the cream-andblack checkered oor may be a little more worn than it was in the ’60s, and the simple diner tables may have been replaced over the years, but the case, Formica counter and framed awards dotting the walls do not simply evoke an old-
MAY 26-JUNE 1, 2021
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