A new donut shop has drawn a following in North Augusta.
Tucked away in a shopping center on Knox Avenue, EnDonuts opened on March 8 and has since found a growing daily crowd of sweet-toothed customers.
The shop has a colorful array of classic pastry offerings, such as red velvet or blueberry cake donuts, yeast donuts with glaze or sprinkles, bear claws, chocolate long johns, cinnamon rolls and apple fritters.
Customers can get a hot or iced coffee with their donut, including Vietnamese iced coffee, or any one of its sweet beverage selection, like iced cookies and cream or blended smoothies.
There are also plenty of flavorful choices if one prefers tea: Thai, fruit (ranging from apple to passion fruit, kiwi to watermelon) or milk (be it coconut, brown sugar, taro or honeydew).
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All the selections have proven popular, said owner Tina Kea, though its claim to local fame so far has been the mochi donut, or “mochinut,” a Japanese-inspired, sticky-sweet ring made from glutinous rice.
Though the sweet treats are the primary draw, the menu also boasts savory breakfast options, from smoked sausage with jalapeno cheddar, to a Texas koloches — a Czech-inspired pig-in-a-blanket pastry.
Kea, an immigrant from Cambodia, was a stay-at-home mom with a penchant for baking when she was encouraged by a friend in Tennessee who opened a donut shop.
“That made me want to do it,” said Kea. “So I went there to work with them.”
Kea and her family now live in Grovetown, commuting to North Augusta every morning in time to open at 7 a.m. and attract customers as far as Columbia looking for mochi donuts and boba tea.
EnDonuts is located at 1692 Knox Ave. in North Augusta.
Skyler Q. Andrews is a staff reporter for The Augusta Press. Reach him at skyler@theaugustapress.com.
