Donuts return to the menu at Newton Maid-Rite after 3 years

NEWTON, Iowa — After a three-year hiatus, donuts are back on the menu at the Newton Maid-Rite.

The manager of the downtown Newton restaurant decided to take the breakfast food off the menu in 2021, but last June the establishment changed management.

Lori Ganoe is now the new manager after working there for around 40 years. Her goal was to bring back the donuts. To help restore the beloved menu item, she recruited a former Newton Maid-Rite employee, Jane McDermott, who’s worked at the restaurant on and off since she was a teenager.

After months of working to get the necessary equipment and ingredients, they were ready to bring them back to the menu starting April 1st.

Since then, they have sold out every day. During their first week, they sold around 1,200 donuts and would run out every morning by 8:00 a.m. Now, two weeks later, they’re selling around 200 donuts a day and run out around 10:00 a.m.

While the restaurant doesn’t officially open until 7:00 a.m., McDermott and Ganoe start making donuts at 5:00 a.m. because customers are lining up early.

Ganoe said that people typically start coming through the drive-thru at around 6:30 a.m., but it’s not uncommon to see customers as early as 6:00 a.m. She said even though they’re not open yet, they still sell donuts early so people can have the breakfast item before work or school.

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