Pittsburgh not a doughnut city? Shops see a hole in that argument

Pittsburgh may not rank highly among the country’s top doughnut locales, but doughnut lovers in Western Pennsylvania still have plenty of places to sate their appetite.

BestPlaces.net ranked the top doughnut cities in the U.S. based on the number of doughnut shops per capita. By that measure, Pittsburgh ranked 68th. That’s below Philadelphia, Allentown, Harrisburg and Scranton-Wilkes Barre — the latter which cracked the Top 10.

New England dominated, with the top seven cities being located in Rhode Island, Massachusetts or Connecticut. Providence area took the crown, with a whopping 23.25 doughnut shops per 100,000 residents — or 373 doughnut shops total.

Greater Pittsburgh has 3.19 doughnut shops per 100,00 residents — or 74 doughnut shops total, BestPlaces reported. Some of the best were recently gathered into a Top 14 list by the website madeinpgh.com.

“I certainly think that Pittsburgh is a doughnut city,” said Andy Jarusinsky, owner of the Duck Donuts franchise in the South Hills. “There are a number of different mom-and-pop options, plus some of the more regional and national chains. There’s certainly room for expansion.”

We love serving the Pittsburgh community! Have you visited our location in Upper St. Clair? ? https://t.co/O9eqT4JQ8j

— Duck Donuts (@DuckDonuts) February 16, 2019

Jarusinsky opened the Duck Donuts store in June 2017 after learning about the chain from vacation time spent in the Outer Banks city of Duck, N.C.

Duck Donuts, which specializes in warm, made-to-order donuts, was founded by Mechanicsburg native Russell DiGilio. Inspired by donuts he enjoyed while vacationing in the Outer Banks, he opened the first store in Duck in 2006.

“We’ve got a great following,” Jarusinsky said. “We’re always getting requests for us to put new locations in the city here.”

Canton, Ohio-based Mary Ann Donuts saw enough potential in Pittsburgh that it decided to expand its wholesale operation into Western Pennsylvania last year.

The expansion into Pennsylvania included 20 Circle K stores in Pittsburgh, Sharpsburg, Aliquippa, Ambridge, Carmichaels, Connellsville, Uniontown and Washington, as well as Erie.