Have A Sunny Day With The Best Donuts in South Carolina

Tasty Tuesday – Checking out the Best Restaurant in each of the 46 South Carolina Counties and my quest to find 100 Best Dishes in South Carolina While Alive or Before You Die, Whichever Comes First.

Here it is, my inaugural South Carolina blog.

County Cherokee County

The Restaurant; Sunny’s Donuts

720 South Granard Street, Gaffney SC

Hours 5:30 a.m. -7:00 p.m.

CLOSED Sunday’s

“Have A Sunny Day”…

This is the goodbye that you will hear as you depart. The owners and bakers love their craft doughnuts and it shows through their friendly and caring attitude.   It is no coincidence that a visit to Sunny’s is like visiting L.A. and finding that funky Mom-and-Pop donut shop that might haunt you forever.

Plus, there is this “thing that they do.”

In 2015, Scoutology.com chose Sunny’s Donuts as The Best Doughnuts in The South Carolina Donut Brawl.   In 2016 Sunny’s Donuts made The Charleston Food Blogger’s 46 County List.

Sunny’s Donut business in Gaffney, SC is home to the Best Donuts in South Carolina.

So, thanks to my friend Lamar for this quest, these delicious donuts, this photo, and turning me on to the place!

Left: Apple and Peach (seasonal) Fritters, Top middle: Maple Bacon.

The Best Donuts in South Carolina! Special thanks to my friend Lamar L. for this introduction and photo!

Sunny’s donuts is a find, a treasure.  Located inside of a gas station in Gaffney South Carolina population 12,736.   With my visit, I was lucky to meet the friendly Sunny and Lang Poeng.

The Poeng’s told me a bit about their donut business and shared that to be near family, they relocated from California to North Carolina (just across the Carolina border) via Connecticut and set up their gas station business in Gaffney, South Carolina. Their American story began after they fled the Khmer Rouge Genocide in Cambodia.   Sunny said that the donut business is a hard life of very early hours every day except Sunday’s and yet, they love it!

While they were speaking, I was able to check out the menu, which reads like a donut addicts dream. But, it is the visual that gave me that “kid in a candy store” feeling.

Visiting Sunny’s Before Christmas, there were gift packs. One for you, One for me.

Visiting Sunny’s just before Christmas, I found extra goodies and gift packs. I realized that they also made croissants and croissant breakfast sandwiches.  They also sell locally roasted coffee. Right on!

Sunny’s Donuts in Gaffney SC is connected to the family gas station business.

I am a self-admitted snob when it comes to doughnuts and neighborhood bakeries. I would say that my neighborhood bakery in Appleton, Wisconsin has the best doughnuts that I have ever eaten in the world, that is until I was introduced to Sunny’s. Now, I had to question my loyalty because of that thing.

This “thing that they do,” put them over the top, and I have to say that they rank WAY up there with the best of the best.

“That thing that they do.” You are able to choose your own filling. Sunny’s donuts

They can fill your donut with the filling of your choice. WHAT? They showed me the machine that does this sorcery.   After choosing your filling,  it is injected with “14” (?ozs.) Mr. Poeng told me that many people choose an amount of “10” and some people go as high as “18.”   For choice, there is only one for me, cream. However, one can customize with; custard, strawberry, lemon, peanut butter, and cream cheese.

With this visit,  I was able to try the chocolate bar filled with cream, …

Sunny’s Chocolate Chip Bar with my chosen cream filling. Outta this world!

the blueberry old fashioned cake donut, the apple, and peach fritter.

Sunny’s blueberry old fashioned cake donut (below.)

Although the Poeng’s informed me that the Bear Claw is their Number one seller, I have been told that that maple-bacon is to die for. I regret that I was unable to taste the maple bacon and will have to go back earlier in the day, and here is why.

This is why you should visit Sunny’s earlier in the day..empty shelves!

Yes, they were that good. Pillowy soft, flavorful, just the right amount of frosting and/or glaze.

MEGastars-4.5 *****

Note,  I would have given them a 5 star but I did not find anywhere for friends to sit and enjoy the donuts.

 

MEGatips–

1. Get there early. I went on a whim in the late afternoon and many varieties had already been snapped up.
2. I notice that their gas station (attached) has had a $200,000 lottery winner.   Buy a ticket!
3. Buy a quart of milk at the gas station!
4. When you leave, listen for the greeting “have a sunny day.”
5. And, yes, this will make my “100” list.

____________________________________________________________________________________________

This MEGabites and MEGastars description is found at the bottom of each South Carolina post. If you are new to my 100 Dishes South Carolina escapade, this may be helpful information.  You are able to link to my Facebook page, Pinterest, and Instagram. 

ABOUT:

To my knowledge, there is not a formal South Carolina “100 list.” So, this is my quest and I will do it the Meg way. As a separate quest, I am following the “46 County List” loosely. Maybe the food will make it on my list and maybe it won’t. [1]

I am going to have some food fun while making my way like Ms. Pacman, in yet another state that I call home, visiting places that vary from the Mom and Pop diners to the white cloth James Beard recipients. A quest to find tasty dishes and highlight folks who are dedicated to local food with pride and a bunch of South Carolina style. Follow along on “Tasty Tuesday’s” as I take a culinary trip across scenic and historical South Carolina. *I select stops based on convenience of location and they are in no particular order.

I use a 5 MEGastar system.  For the most part, I am traveling a distance to try these dishes and these places get one shot at how I view the food and experience.   I will not be taking an average of three visit experiences and I factor this in when I give my star rating. That said, I’m very easy to please, I can overlook quite a bit and have worked in the foodservice industry.  I am not a *paid* food critic, just Meg, a curious traveler, with an interest in trying different foods and sharing my two cents on the experience.  I try to follow my own star system so that I may be fair to the wonderful dishes on this list.

• *meh food. Just wasn’t good. Maybe the food came from a can? or,  the place was not one that I would want to send someone to show pride in South Carolina.   This has happened to me a few times and is always a difficult write for me.
• ** passable – the food was “ok” but the place was not “ok” or vice versa.
• *** good but not outstanding or unique.
• **** Very tasty dish AND meets one of the definitions set forth by Meg. Local food and/or truly highlights South Carolina Pride.
• ***** I actually died, went to heaven and came back when I ate the dish. And/Or, something is very unique, something you cannot get anywhere else.