This week I had the privilege of checking out a donut shop that has been on my wish list for a long time! And let me tell you, it didn’t disappoint! This place exudes the culture that Cleveland has become known for!  Even just walking up to the building, it was bursting with personality.  

My stop on the Gapstow Donut Tour took me to Brew Nuts in Cleveland, Ohio.  Founded in 2013 by John and Shelley Pippin, Brew Nuts’ goal is to make “Cleveland’s most unique and delicious donuts.” What makes the donuts so unique? THEY ARE MADE WITH CRAFT BEER! Their glazed donuts are made with Cleveland’s own Dortmunder (Thanks Great Lakes Brewing Company!) The donuts are bright and colorful, have a unique texture, and each one has its own story!

For instance, apparently, April 22-30, 2023 was “National Park Week” (I didn’t know!) and rather than just letting it go by unnoticed or just changing the name of some of their donuts, Brew Nuts made a whole line of National Park-inspired donuts!  Now, I visited a little late in the week so I didn’t get to see all of them, but the ones I did see didn’t disappoint!  The Cuyahoga Valley-inspired donut had a tiny little tree on it!  It was adorable.  

I also happened to stop at the perfect time because there wasn’t much foot traffic when I came in. This allowed me to talk a little bit with the employee behind the counter (shoutout to Joe!) who was able to take some time and explain the philosophy of Brew Nuts, what makes them special, which donuts to pick, and which ones to share (in other words, which ones to keep for myself!) 

I walked out with 6 MASSIVE donuts and a delicious blended iced coffee.  Here’s what I got:

 

• The Classic Glazed
• Cuyahoga Valley Espresso Frosted (with Oreo crumbs and a little tree!) VEGAN!
• Arches Red Rock Fry Cake (Red Velvet Old-Fashioned Style)
• Death Valley PB Graham Crumble (the bone didn’t scare me!)
• Maple Bacon (two of my favorite things!)
• Strawberry Sprinkle (They call it “The Homer”)

My favorite: This surprised me, but I really liked the Strawberry Sprinkle! The flavor went on for days (slight exaggeration) and kept me coming back for more.  

If you’ve not been here and live close by, it’s worth the trip!  I didn’t even mention that they occasionally have vegan donuts too! (Three of the twelve were vegan when I visited).  The selection changes weekly and the menu can be found on their social media!  

Now the tech stuff: As an eCommerce company specializing in Shopify design and development, we’re always interested to see which POS systems our local retailers choose to use.  In this case, Brew Nuts uses Toast.  Toast is a great POS system for small restaurants.  Unfortunately, it doesn’t integrate (well) with Shopify. It can, but it’d be utilizing their API and while there seems to be a few people attempting it, there doesn’t seem to be anyone doing it particularly well.  If you’re currently using Toast and are interested in checking out Shopify’s POS, check out this blog post where we compare the two! 

Next week, we’re headed down to North Carolina for our Donut Tour!  Stay tuned! 

- Shawn M. (Gapstow)