Tampa's Little Donut House Celebrates New Lunch Menu, Remodel

TAMPA, FL – Don’t let the name fool you. Mini donuts aren’t the only items on the menu at the Little Donut House. 4048 W. Kennedy Blvd., Tampa.

When the restaurant opened in May 17, it featured mini donuts and coffee. Six months later, however, it added breakfast sandwiches and bagels.

Now the owners, Stephen and Katie Schab, are taking the next step. On Aug. 18, Little Donut House will add more than a dozen items to its menu including an array of gourmet mini sandwiches on bagels and croissants along with breakfast bowls and salads.

“Our unique mini creations replace the pastries you find at a traditional bakery and café, and people love it,” said Schab.

Diners can order Cali Turkey, Chipotle Chicken sandwiches made with hand-carved honey turkey, fire-grilled chicken breast, roasted red peppers, cranberry sauce, aged Swiss cheese, pretzel buns and more.

The café’s popular breakfast menu will also see some new additions. The current menu already includes center-cut bacon, smoked shoulder-cut ham, gouda cheese, avocado spread, butter croissant buns and New York bagels.

“Yes, we actually get our bagels from New York,” said Katie Schab. “Our bagels are made in New York and baked in our store. New York has the best bagels and we wanted to serve the best.”

New breakfast items include Norwegian smoked salmon, chorizo, breakfast bowls, parfaits, fruit bowls, and more.

The menu is not the only thing getting upgraded. The Schabs have added more than 20 feet of booth seating, couches, cozy chairs, fresh window decals, wall murals, larger-than-life photos, free Wi-Fi and a self-serve kiosk.

Online orders now have their own pick-up shelves to emphasize the café’s “No Line, No Waiting” convenience.

There is also a self-serve kiosk for added convenience.

The Schabs are even adding a smart phone app so customers can place orders on their phones.

“Bring a date, bring your family, come study/work or host a work meeting,” said Katie Schab. “We have an environment that everyone can enjoy.”

“Being a small family business is awesome because it gives us the opportunity to mold our concept based on customer feedback,” said Stephen Schab. “Our long-term goal is to have many Little Donut Houses across the country. But first we had to perfect our concept. This latest expansion will be the icing on the donut.

“Appealing to both the breakfast and lunch crowd furthers the stability of the business, making it ready for expansion,” Stephen Schab added.

With sales up 63 percent year and a growing list of partnership and franchise inquiries, Little Donut House is starting to evaluate locations like St. Pete, Wesley Chapel, Trinity and Brandon for its next stores.

“Successful expansion requires serious discipline and execution. Physically making a donut or sandwich is easy. Building and operating a café is extremely challenging,” said Stephen Schab. “The key to long-term and replicable success is robust customer-orientated processes and procedures and this is what we excel at.”

Join Little Donut House at its new menu launch party on Aug. 18 from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.

The party will include free photos by WildHearts Photo Booth Bus, raffles every hour, balloon twisting and face painting.

Little Donut House is open weekdays from 6:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. and weekends from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Call 813-769-9209.

Images via Little Donut House

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