Dunkin' Donuts
Leaves A Hole
leven o'clock Saturday
night isn't too late for Oak
Park resident Lisa
Shevin and friends to
grab a post-Sabbath
snack at the kosher
Dunkin' Donuts in South-
field.
But time is running
out.
The donut shop re-
cently changed ownership
and, on April 28, will dis-
continue its affiliation
with the Council of Or-
thodox Rabbis, which supervis-
es the kashrut of its kitchen.
Carlos and Priscila Velasquez,
who owned the shop since
the early 1980s, says it generat-
ed profits, but they want to fo-
cus energies on their new
concern, the nearby Red Balloon
Saloon.
"We don't have time to run the
restaurant and the donut shop,"
Ms. Velasquez says.
The Dunkin' Donuts, located
Another
suburban
kosher outpost
to disappear.
PHOTO BY B ILL GEM MELL
RUTH LITTMANN STAFF WRITER
at 28799 Northwestern High-
way, has offered kosher food
since the 1980s. The
changeover comes on the
heels of news that
Sara's Glatt Kosher
Deli — the only sit-
down kosher restau-
rant in the state — is up
for sale.
(Sperber's at the Jewish
Community Center is buf-
fet-style, while other kosher out-
posts primarily target carry-out
customers.)
The Velasquez couple have
sold their shop to Dunkin'
Donuts corporate offices, head-
quartered in Randolph, Mass. Of
nearly 3,000 franchised Dunkin'
Donut stores in the country, 11
are kosher. There are four in
New York, three in New Jersey,
two in Maryland and one in
Chicago.
Jennifer Rosenberg, a
spokesperson at corporate head-
quarters in Randolph, Mass.,
says franchisers have the choice
of operating their shops accord-
ing to the laws of kashrut. Do-
ing so, however, precludes
certain menu items, like egg
sandwiches with ham and ba-
con.
The Dunkin' Donuts on
Greenfield Road and Ten Mile
had been kosher for a while dur-
ing the early 1990s. Owner Sam
Warra says that a rabbi encour-
aged him to attract a kosher
clientele by kashering the
kitchen and hiring a mashgiach
(kashrut supervisor) for about
$60 a month.
"I liked the idea," says Mr.
Warra. "I went through with it
for about a year, but it didn't
The Dunkin' Donuts on Northwestern Highway is changing hands.
work out. We were selling
kosher (pareve) soups, but no
one was buying them. The cus-
tomers had gotten used to chick-
en and beef. We lost lunch
business."
Mr. Warra says some kosher
products, like shortening, cost 5
to 10 percent more than their
non-kosher counterparts.
"We don't have time
to run the restaurant
and the donut shop."
— Priscila Velasquez
Mr. Velasquez agrees that op-
erating a kosher donut store
costs more, but "it paid off," he
says.
The Velasquez couple, Ro-
man Catholic immigrants
from Chile, live in South-
field. In the 1980s, Jewish
friends in their largely Or-
thodox neighborhood said
they would patronize a
donut shop that sold kosher
food.
"The Jewish families
come in for lunch and din-
ner here," Ms. Velasquez
says. "Our location is good
and being kosher increased
our afternoon and nighttime
business."
Mr. Velasquez says 35
percent of his customers at the
Northwestern Dunkin' Donuts
are Jewish, and of those, an
"easy" 30 percent are Orthodox.
He says bulk sales to
temples and synagogues have
made up for the loss sustained
through higher kosher ingredi-
ent costs.
"I hate to drop the donut shop.
I swear, I hate to do it. The peo-
ple were polite and friendly.
They spoke to me in Hebrew all
the time because they thought I
was Jewish," he says.
Rabbi Joseph Krupnik, direc-
tor of kashrut for the Council of
Orthodox Rabbis, says the donut
shop will be missed. For some
Southfield Jews, a post-Pesach
tradition involved making a mad
dash for donuts on Northwest-
ern.
"I know the first chametz they
had after Passover was his,"
Rabbi Krupnik says.
Last Saturday night in the
Northwestern Dunkin' Donuts,
Lisa Shevin and her friends
called the news a shame. A lot of
Orthodox young people hang out
there for after-school snacks,
they say. Torah-observant orga-
nizations rely on the donuts as
kosher treats for parties and oth-
er functions.
"It's too bad," says Adina
Barth of Oak Park. "We don't
come here a lot, but it's nice to
have the option. There are not
that many options left." ❑
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