Milwaukee City Wire

In the midst of the pandemic, one Wisconsin business owner has traded in his fine dining restaurant for an eclectic donut shop.

Jackie Woods, an experienced chef with over 18 years in the fine dining business, recently made the shift to baking when he founded Donut Monster, a breakfast restaurant specializing in 15 different donut flavors that utilize locally-sourced ingredients. Despite having no experience making donuts, Woods has used his background working in some of the best restaurants in Milwaukee, Chicago and Napa Valley to make his business a success. 

“My wife was eight months pregnant," Woods said, according to TMJ 4. "I went out to get her donuts, she didn’t finish them and threw them out, I thought to myself that I can beat that, I could do better than that.”  

Originating as a pop-up donut shop, Donut Monster has become a phenomenon in Wisconsin, quickly gaining popularity and oftentimes seeing lines that wrap around the block, according to TMJ 4. Most recently, Woods has opened a second location, with two stores now located in Whitefish Bay at 5169 N Elkhart Ave., and in Milwaukee at 316 N. Milwaukee St.

"The lines would be around the block at the store," Woods continued. "I think the most cars that I counted was like 55 cars. I would see the lines and say this is crazy, I can't believe you all showed up for this."

Donut Monsters specializes not just in donuts but in breakfast sandwiches and coffees as well. Woods also hopes to expand the shop's selling potential with online ordering that will be made available soon. Currently, Woods found that the most popular donut flavor has been the sprinkle donut, which has been a huge success with children that enter the store, with cinnamon toast and brown butter following close behind.