South Florida’s beloved Dandee Donut Factory has just opened its first doughnut shop in nearly 20 years — this one to offer 24-hour service — and more locations are on the way.
But this sleek, 94-seat Dandee Donut Factory at 3101 N. State Road 7 in Margate, is unlike Dandee’s 30-year-old flagships in Pompano Beach and Deerfield Beach. The new location, which opened on Tuesday, boasts a drive-thru and upgraded menu inside a boxy, modern white-and-gray storefront along State Road 7, about one mile south of Seminole Casino Coconut Creek. Inside, the restaurant features a 10-seat circular island counter, booth seating and bright orange tables.
The new Dandee, which will be open 6 a.m.-9 p.m. daily before expanding to 24 hours in four to six-months, comes from Massachusetts partner-owners David Zion and David Groom. Zion and Groom bought the Pompano and Deerfield Beach locations from Dandee’s original owner in 2014, and soon after opened a Dandee Donuts outpost in Marblehead, Mass., in 2015, according to property records. (Dandee Donuts in Hollywood, which opened in 2001, is no longer affiliated with these locations.)
But the Margate shop, with its slick redesign, will become a template for future Dandee Donuts franchises, according to manager Evan Martin.
Martin, 31, who worked at the Pompano shop for eight months before opening the Margate outpost, says Dandee’s new owners grew excited after noticing the Pompano flagship’s heavy morning foot traffic. Lines stretched out the doors between 6 a.m. and noon each day, he says.
“We’ve been open forever, but Dandee Pompano has been breaking record sales for the past year,” Martin says. “Basically the only questions we’ve been getting other than, ‘When does Margate open?’ are, ‘Will it be 24 hours?’ People hear our name and think how old-fashioned we are, how we’re nostalgia for people who want a diner doughnut shop. The owners wanted more of them.”
New to Dandee’s Margate menu, Martin says, are new grab-and-go breakfast items designed for its drive-thru, which should open in two weeks, Martin says. They include Dandee’s Famous Lox and Bagel Sandwich, a Vegan Breakfast Sandwich and Dandee’s Breakfast Sandwich, filled with eggs, cheese, bacon and sausage on a grilled doughnut bun.
“We sold like 50 Dandee Breakfast Sandwiches on the first day,” says Martin, adding that Dandee’s top-selling doughnuts remain its Dandee Donut and Sour Cream Glazed flavors. The shop currently offers 50 different doughnuts, including Cherry Crunch, Strawberry Dip, Chocolate Butternut and Cinnamon Crullers.
Dandee Donuts is located at 3101 N. State Road 7, in Margate. Hours are 6 a.m.-9 p.m. daily. Call 754-444-3157 or go to DandeeDonuts.com.