best donuts restaurant information established 1969 city grand marais minnesota website www.worldsbestdonutsmn.com world s best donuts is a doughnut shop and american restaurant in grand marais minnesota . it is located along the waterfront of lake superior . world s best donuts is an independent family owned business established in 1969 by merieta altrichter . the shop has been featured in minnesota monthly and the new york times both of which described the shop s donuts as living up to the business s name . 1 2 contents 1 history 2 awards and mentions 3 see also 4 references 5 further reading 6 external links history edit this section does not cite any sources . please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources . unsourced material may be challenged and removed . april 2014 learn how and when to remove this template message the donut business was started in 1969 by merieta altrichter as grand marais donuts . altrichter was also working a minimum wage day job paying 2 hour and made the doughnuts by hand as a way of supplementing her income . she would rise early in the morning make the doughnuts and leave a friend to sell them as she went to her job at a department store during the day . in the beginning the shop was called grand marais donuts and was based out of a small building that is now a part of the dockside fish market . the business began to grow and was relocated to joynes bargain barn . in 1975 altrichter was able to quit her day job and started working full time making and selling doughnuts in the summer . in 1977 the business was moved into its current location on wisconsin street and the name was changed to world s best donuts a nod to the rave reviews that customers from all over the country had been giving to altrichter s doughnuts for years . a decade later an oven was added and a new addition was built to allow for more seating . this new area constitutes the coffee room which is filled with red and white tables and booths each decorated with a manifold of photos featuring customers showing off the shop s branded coffee cup . over time altrichter s family grew and so did their involvement in the business . upon moving into their new location on wisconsin street altrichter s daughters sherrie and donnie began working at the shop . soon her son in law chet followed suit . as they grew up altrichter s granddaughters too helped out with the family business wiping down tables from the age of 4 or 5 . in 2002 at the age of 79 altrichter announced that she planned to retire and the shop would shut down . shocked and dismayed her granddaughters who were now grown up announced that if she was going to leave the business they would take it over . since then stacey and dee have taken charge of the business . in 2008 altrichter died but the business has continued to be a family affair with four generations still involved in the shop carrying on the legacy that altrichter left . awards and mentions edit in 1997 the new york times mentioned world s best donuts saying this really is the world s best donut . 2 in 2007 minnesota monthly mentioned world s best donuts saying the grand marais donut shop changed its name after customers kept telling them they had the best doughnuts in the world . they re probably right . 1 in 2012 npr mentioned world s best donuts in an article detailing some of best places in the country to get donuts in the summer . 3 in 2012 world s best donuts was awarded the trip advisor certificate of excellence as an outstanding hospitality business . 4 world s best donuts has also been featured in numerous national travel guide books including national geographic s the 100 best affordable vacations 5 lonely planet s usa s best trips 6 and roadfood the coast to coast guide to the best barbeque joints lobster shacks ice cream parlors highway diners and much much more . 7 see also edit list of doughnut shops references edit a b gihring tim . epicurean expedition . minnesota monthly . retrieved 8 april 2014 . a b hampl patricia . small is beautiful ; grand marais minn. . new york times . retrieved 8 april 2014 . wolf bonny . since when does summer taste like doughnuts . npr . retrieved 8 april 2014 . http www.tripadvisor.com restaurant review g60837 d1523664 reviews world s best donuts grand marais minnesota.html . missing or empty title help wooldridge jane 2011 . the 100 best affordable vacations . national geographic books . p. 88 . isbn 9781426207181 . benson sara 2010 . usa s best trips 99 themed itineraries across america . lonely planet . isbn 9781741797350 . stern jane and michael 2014 . roadfood the coast to coast guide to 900 of the best barbecue joints lobster shacks ice cream parlors highway diners and much much more . random house llc . isbn 9780770434533 . further reading edit national public radio tastes of minnesota a food lover s tour . minneapolis st. paul 25 weekend getaways in and around the twin cities star tribune external links edit http minnesotamunch.com tag skizzle retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title world % 27s best donuts & oldid 743567940 categories restaurants in minnesotacompanies based in minneapolisdoughnut shopshidden categories pages with citations lacking titlespages with citations having bare urlsarticles needing additional references from april 2014all articles needing additional referencesminnesota articles missing geocoordinate dataall articles needing coordinates navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read edit view history more search navigation main pagecontentsfeatured contentcurrent eventsrandom articledonate to wikipediawikipedia store interaction helpabout wikipediacommunity portalrecent changescontact page tools what links hererelated changesupload filespecial pagespermanent linkpage informationwikidata itemcite this page print export create a bookdownload as pdfprintable version languages add links this page was last modified on 10 october 2016 at 06 35 . text is available under the creative commons attribution sharealike license ; 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