When you walk into Utah-based donut shop The Other Side Donuts, you will feel like you are in a colorful rainbow dream world of positivity, fluffy clouds and sprinkles tossed in for good measure. Sequins adorn the walls, and strings of flowers hang from the ceiling.
The donut case looks like a veritable jewelry counter of sweetness designed by Katy Perry in 2010 and a little Lisa Frank in 1985 thrown in for good measure. Bright blues, reds, greens, nuts, glazed fruit, marshmallows and toasted sugar are all mouth-wateringly on display.
The staff is as warm and welcoming as the decor. They will delightedly talk about favorite flavors and which ones they helped create, and you will invariably end up with more donuts than you intended out of sheer temptation and excellent customer service.
If you wandered in, you might think this is just another ’grammable donut shop. In that case, you might be surprised to learn that the clean-cut, friendly staff are mostly formerly unhoused members of our community who are transitioning into permanent housing through The Other Side Village. Literally, they are coming out on the other side of homelessness into a supportive community. The Other Side Donuts is a social enterprise designed to give the “villagers” a place to earn money, contribute to their community, develop a support system, build self-reliance and regain a sense of dignity.
What is a Social Enterprise? Social Enterprises are businesses that do good while making money—it’s built into how they operate. At The Other Side Village, they’ll serve three key purposes: Provide funds to run The Villages generating income to help sustain the operations, provide jobs by offering meaningful, paid work that fits the skills and abilities of residents and by bringing people together through strengthening connections between the Village and the surrounding.
Nicholas Smith, the general manager of The Other Side Donuts, explains, “What makes this place unique is that the people working here have committed to change. They want to improve their lives and situation and have the community to do so here.”
Nicholas knows what his staff has been challenged with: making a big life change. He went through the sister program at The Other Side Academy, which helped him journey from a life of addiction, crime and incarceration to being a leader at the academy and now helping develop The Other Side Donuts.
Nicholas also explained that one of the goals was to help the employees who may not have job skills, have physical or mental limitations, or may need extra training to have a place where they are offered support but also held accountable by their peers. “It’s amazing to see how people start to change and grow and how they will own their opportunities. Especially when they know that it is their peers that they are letting down if they don’t keep their commitments,” he adds.
Sweet dreams of change paired with sweet donuts make for a magical combination. And the donuts are very, very good. The menu is divided into several sections (based on the price and complexity of the donut itself): the classics, the daydreams, the sweet dreams and the cloud nines.
The donut shop opened with its core recipes, but the team constantly comes up with new and seasonal ideas. While you can order online for pickup, it is better to go in and see what new and exciting concoctions they have
in the case.
The Classic Donuts are $2 each, and you will find your perfectly glazed donut along with the Utah favorite, a maple bar, and a few extra fun ones tossed in for good measure. The Miss Trunchbull’s chocolate cake donut is dipped in chocolate glaze and covered in mini chocolate chips, a winky nod to the movie Matilda. The Galaxy glaze has a galactic swirl of semi-tart vanilla icing, edible shimmering stars and berry crystals.
The next step up is the Daydream Donuts, which are $2.50 each, and the step up in flavor and creativity is worth more than just two quarters. The grown-up PB&J is a double-filled donut that combines whipped peanut butter, very comfy peanuts on top and fresh jam. You will absolutely want to eat this with a glass of milk. Speaking of milk, the milk and cereal donut is dipped in a milk frosting and topped with cereal for a delightful crunch.
The Sweet Dreams Donuts sell for $4 each and are the stuff that dreams are made of. Flo Rida key lime pie, a s’more donut complete with toasted marshmallow on top, and a creme brulee donut make the list. The Blockbuster is one of the most popular Donuts here. A donut with a Plugra butter glaze and red button popcorn on the top, served in a mini popcorn bucket, complete with a cola soda candy to the side.
And finally, the creme de la creme, the Cloud Nine Donuts, our visionary. At $6.50 each, they are each splurge-worthy and unique. Take the beehive donut filled with lemon curd, a spicy honey glaze topped with fluffy honey meringue toasted and a white chocolate honeycomb. It is both whimsical and a nod to Utah, of course. My favorite donut of the lot (and I tried about 10 of them) was the strawberry habanero donut. It was sweet with a strawberry glaze but with that habanero kick. It is surprisingly spicy without being too in your face about it.
The Other Side Donuts offers catering, pickups, and a donut wall for events and they have regular in-house events. The next time you’re craving a sweet treat, pick a place where every bite makes a difference in someone’s life.
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