I grew up in Carolina Beach, North Carolina, just a few blocks from Britt’s Donut’s, then owned by its founder and later, about the time I joined the Navy, by one of his employees who bought it from him. It has moved only once that I’m aware of, a few meters away from its original location to the other side of the same pedestrian walkway commonly referred to as the “boardwalk” though it’s actually paved with concrete.

Back in the 1990s I went there with a girlfriend, a Duke student, who’d never been there before and thought she’d only eat one. We each ate a couple and we bought a dozen to take back with us. We went walking along the strand and she asked to hold the bag of donuts and ate a few more as we walked. Finally I decided I was ready for another as well and asked for the bag back. It was empty.

So we went back for more. A week or so later I got a call from my brother Mark who said he’d just been to Britt’s and that Bobby (the owner, whom you’ll see interviewed in the clip below) had told him I’d been buy with a slender young lady who had devoured at least 15 donuts.

You can click here for a similar report from WWAY-TV in Wilmington, where I used to work. (Unfortunately they don’t seem to permit embedding.) That one includes a comment from someone now living in Australia who pronounces the donuts the best in the world.

As I recall, Britt’s is normally open 7 days from Memorial Day through Labor Day and on weekends roughly from sometime in March through the end of September.

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