Photo:  World's Best Donuts

By Jessie Slater of KJBR-TV - August 2, 2019

If you visit Grand Marais there is a good chance you’ll notice a crowd at the corner of Wisconsin St. and Broadway Ave.

That’s where tourist and locals alike flock hoping to take a bite of the worlds best donuts.

The donut shop with the customer-named title has been in the hands of the same family for 5 generations.

For those who run the shop, it’s about much more than making the perfect sweet treat.

In a small, red-and-white shop along the waterfront of Lake Superior, you’ll find the “World’s Best Donuts.”

“We built the business. It was nothing like it is today. It was mom and me and the girls worked there,” says Sherrie Lindskog, a second-generation shop worker.

Dating back to 1969, the donut shop has changed hands over the years but one thing remains steady.
Current owner and third-generation worker, Dee Brazell says, “It’s always been in the family.”

Founded by Merieta Altrichte, the business is now in its fifth generation of family workers.

Lindskog says, “She always said the most important thing is to make sure they get a good donut and they’ll come back […] 5th Generation knows that the donuts have to be good.”

Feeding the town breakfast and snacks all day means losing a few hours of sleep for the current shop owner.  Brazell says, “We’re here by 2:30 in the morning and we start our first batches of yeast dough. And then we make our cake donuts and we get all our orders for the stations.”

While their delicious donuts are sold out of the small-shop, you can also find them around town.

“I’m pretty sure we discovered the donuts at the grocery store. We’ve been back pretty much every year since,” says Gary Temte.

The Tempte family, Gary and his wife along with 10 kids come back for the donuts each year while on vacation from the Twin Cities, totaling 37-years.

“We send them Christmas cards every year, those are posted up in the shop. We’ve just become kind of family to them,” says Temte.

This year, was bitter-sweet. “We just lost our two youngest children in a car crash about a month ago. So there are good memories of that are we’re trying to make new memories.”

Making memories, donuts, and lasting impressions while continuing their legacy as the best in the world.

Lindskog says “It’s been such an emotional teary part of our life that we have just loved. I’ve always said we’ve worked hard but it’s been a wonderful experience for us and we hope we’re doing that for our customers.”

For more on the history of the donut shop click here

To read the original story and watch a video report, follow this link to the KJBR-TV website.  https://kbjr6.com/news/top-stories/2019/08/01/worlds-best-donuts-celebrates-5-generations-of-family-...