Freddies Doughnuts (on Main Street at Michigan) was a longstanding tradition, and a rite of passage in Buffalo for years and years. It was sad when the day came that it was closed. It was even sadder when they demolished the building, which is still a a vacant lot today. Why do we demolish these buildings before we have figured out what the next best use for the land will be? (Park Lane Restaurant for example).
Well, we might have lost the Freddies building but it turns out that we didn’t lose the Freddies Doughnuts. A young entrepreneur by the name of Fred “Freddie” Frandina is bringing back the iconic Buffalo food favorite. But instead of opening a brick and mortar, he’s doing it on bike, Friday and Saturday mornings on Hertel and on Elmwood.
For those who might be a bit skeptical that this entrepreneurial effort won’t be able to recreate the famed doughnuts, it turns out that the “start-up” purchased the rights to the original Freddies Doughnuts, and yes, these are your favorite doughnuts. The only trick is that you’ll have to track them down to get them. That might not be such a bad thing after all, as you can walk or bike around in search of the doughnuts while burning some calories at the same time. Or you can simply #FindFreddie, or seek the business out on Facebook to pinpoint the current location.
Update:
Freddy believes in the City of Buffalo, its history, and its current revitalization. He wanted to take this opportunity to re-birth the Buffalo icon, Freddies Doughnuts. His modern, fresh approach to marketing is not always readily understood by everyone, but once they see that the customer is honored by having the store ‘bike’ to them, then they understand the concept. The starting location of each sale day will vary, and will always be outside, where he positively interacts with his valued customers.
The doughnuts are all hand-made, and use fresh ingredients. For instance, a blueberry pancake doughnut uses real blueberries, not flavoring. They are quality products, and are made just an hour or two before they are boxed and out for sale. Each bike ride sale day, the doughnut variety will vary. Sometimes there will be old classics, and sometimes there will be new flavors. The ideas are always ‘now’.”
Freddie’s Doughnuts will expand, if the demand is there. Judging by Day 1, opening day, the demand is there, as the doughnuts were sold out within 1/2 hour.
The distinct Freddies Doughnuts will be doled out to Buffalonians by bike, starting the weekend of April 22.