Within weeks, Dinkytown crawlers craving a midnight doughnut won’t have to stagger far to pick up fresh pastries.
Sssdude-Nutz doughnut shop in Dinkytown will stay open as late as 3 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays when its new hours go into effect next week, joining the ranks of other popular late-night neighborhood destinations.
Owner and University of Minnesota alumnus Bradley Taylor said he wanted to share the shop’s fun atmosphere late at night with extended weekend hours.
“We’re not like a cookie-cutter Dinkytown place,” Taylor said. “It’s just a really fun, inviting place.”
The later hours won’t bring much change in the way the store currently runs. Taylor said he is keeping the same daytime hours while simply adding a later shift, starting at 9 p.m. and ending around 3 a.m.
Minneapolis businesses hoping for a license for late hours have to get City Council approval, said Linda Roberts, assistant manager of the city’s Licenses and Consumer Services.
“The applicant’s business and security plans are reviewed with Minneapolis Police Department representatives,” she said. Currently, nine Dinkytown businesses have extended hours licenses.
First-year student Miguel Octavio said he’s enjoyed Sssdude-Nutz each time he’s paid the pastry shop a visit.
“I would love it if Sssdude-Nutz did stay open later,” he said. “My friends and I would definitely go on spontaneous late-night trips there if given the opportunity.”
Biology first-year student Kaylee Yager said she prefers the doughnut shop in the morning and saves late-night outings for Mesa Pizza or Qdoba.
Nathan Coles, manager of Mesa Pizza in Dinkytown, said he doesn’t feel threatened by surrounding businesses’ late-night hours.
Despite new restaurants like Sssdude-Nutz and Andrea Pizza moving into the area, Coles said he hasn’t seen a decline in patronage.
“We certainly welcome more nightlife around here,” Coles said. “The more cool businesses, the better.”
Taylor and his wife, Ashley Peterson — both University of Minnesota graduates — opened Sssdude-Nutz in September of last year.
“This actually happened by accident,” Taylor said. “I didn’t want to open a doughnut shop.”
Taylor, who was studying to be a nurse at the time, said he grew tired of sub-par doughnuts from shops in the area and started making his own.
Positive reviews from friends and buzz about the doughnuts led him to move baking from a temporary gig to a full-time job.
After extensive networking with business owners in Dinkytown and selling doughnuts at preliminary pop-up shops, Taylor and his then-fiancee opened Sssdude-Nutz on 14th Avenue Southeast.
Currently, Taylor said he and another employee make about 200 doughnuts on a busy day.
Sssdude-Nutz opens at 7:30 a.m. during the week and closes once all the doughnuts sell out, typically around 3:30 p.m.
He said the store’s success has pushed the Sssdude-Nutz kitchen to its doughnut-baking limit — no matter how many employees are working.
