Quality Donuts isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.
Two months ago the restaurant was forced out of it’s longtime location at the corner of Westchester Avenue and Crosby Avenue in Pelham Bay after 30 years in business.
Today, ‘Quality Grill & Gyro’ has opened on 1805 Edison Avenue diagonally across the street.
The new location is less than half the size of the old restaurant, but the atmosphere remained the same on a recent Tuesday afternoon visit – crowded and cheery.
Managers and workers say the place has been busy since it opened three weeks ago.
Breakfast is still served all day, but changes have definitely been made; gyro’s are now on the menu, and there are fewer baked goods available.
George Katsmanis, owner of Quality, says he is making the best out of his new situation, and business is going well.
“It’s not like it used to be, but it’s still good,” said Katsmanis. “It’s a great location…and a much better landlord,” he continued with a laugh.
The infamous donuts that were so well known and loved at the old location are now being baked down the road at Pelham Delite on Crosby Avenue, a popular bakery that Katsmanis purchased in October.
The donuts used to be baked fresh at Quality, but faced with new space limitations, Katsmanis and his team bring a small assortment of donuts from the bakery to be sold at the new restaurant.
The selection including jelly, vanilla sprinkle, cinnamon sprinkle, chocolate, and coconut donut line will be expanding in the coming months to include more options.
“In time there will be more flavors,” said Katsmanis, but right now his greatest challenge is building his business all over again.
The Bronx Times compared Quality’s donuts with its main competitor – Dunkin Donuts – to decide which dessert gives you more bang for your buck.
We purchased jelly donuts from each shop and compared them on price, size and taste.
Here’s our findings: the Quality donut will cost you 6 cents more, $1.25 vs, $1.19, however it was substanially larger and had more jelly filling then the Dunkin Donuts version – and the Quality donut was definitely tastier, according to our expert (and sweettooth) taste testers.
