Well Known Minnesota Donut Shop Gets A Whole New Makeover!

So I grew up in Eagan technically on the Burnsville side of Eagan. Sometimes after getting back from church or before my family heads out to our Wisconsin cabin, my dad would always have us stop at this local donut shop that was near the beginning of our neighborhood.

And I know everyone says this about their local bakery and donuts, but man these donuts were to die for! I swear they were so good and they just had this one shop. If this happens to sound familiar, you may know where this is going, but if you don’t, the local Burnsville Donut Shop is none other than Donut Star. Donut Star is located near the intersection of Cliff Road and River Hills Drive, in the same strip mall shop as the iconic mom & pop restaurant J’s Restaurant (which I also loved going to growing up).

Now, like most of you, my life continued, my parents moved out of my childhood home, and I soon went to college, forgetting about my childhood neighborhood/area.

Peter Sebastian, co-owner of Estelle and Mario’s in St. Paul, who has a similar story had not given much thought to the Donut Star in decades. However, while he was looking for his next venture, noticed a listing for Donut Star and his nostalgia came back to him. Now Sebastian is the 6^th owner of Donut Star.

However, like myself, even though Sebastian loves the nostalgia and memories the bakery brought him, he knew that the outdated style wasn’t going to cut it; He wanted to give Donut Star the makeover it deserves.

In an article from Bring Me The News, Sebastian shares that the “nostalgia for people is really cool…People had sort of maybe just kind of forgotten about it a little bit.” Sebastian continues to say that “it had been around 50 years and that’s how it felt…it definitely felt its age.”

Donut Star opened in 1973, originally as the Dutch Treat, but became Donut Star by the early 1980s.

So last fall Sebastian started renovating the place, and now shares with Bring Me The News that “when you walk in it feels a little more high-end, but still casual.”

Bring Me The News also notes that because Sebastian is a father, he wanted it to be welcoming towards kids too:

While aiming to be “a little bit indestructible," the small details aren’t lost for the youngest customers — a kid’s coloring area, for example, features custom coloring pages with designs matching a hand-painted mural in the shop. “It has become a fun community gathering place and that’s something we’re really proud of,” Sebastian said.

And while looks are one thing, it’s not all, and Sebastian knows that. That is why Donut Star has pastry chef Emily Poole, who is bringing entirely scratch-made, raised dough to the job.

“Our old-fashioned is the best,” jokes Sebastian. “I will put it up against anybody’s — we will take all challengers,” Sebastian shares with Bring Me The News.

While the old fashioned staples are constantly stocked, Donut Star of course offers specials. “Made-from-scratch, hand-pipe French Crullers are sold on Fridays, and bear claws can be found in the case on Saturdays” explains Bring Me The News.

Donut Star is Opened Wednesday through Sunday from 6 a.m. until 2 p.m.

So like me, make time to stop by the newly-styled shop in Burnsville and have a donut or two!

All information is credited to bringmethenews.com.