Joliet's Donut Den: Paczki Day Marks Busiest Day Of Year

JOLIET, IL —Joliet's Donut Den was quite the busy place Friday morning. More than a dozen regulars gravitated to their favorite table for coffee, doughnuts and conversation. Donut Den also sold more than 500 apple fritters for Fritter Friday. But everybody's focused on Tuesday.

This Tuesday, Feb. 25, marks Paczki Day, and that's easily the busiest day of the year, said Donut Den owner Bruce Aronson.

On Friday, paczki boxes decorated from the front counter, and a sign displayed on the wall proclaims: Donut Den's Countdown to Paczki Day: 5 Days.

Donut Den is at 3043 Theodore St.

"Last year, the first paczki went in the fryer at 10 a.m. on Monday, and the fryer was turned off at 2 p.m. Tuesday, 28 hours later," Aronson told Joliet Patch during Friday morning's interview.

On Friday, Donut Den had tear sheets available on the main counter for customers to place their Paczki Day orders ahead of time. Donut Den requires people to order at least a dozen paczki.

And there's plenty of options: strawberry, cherry, apple, lemon, apricot, cheese, blueberry, French silk, custard and fresh strawberry.

So how many paczki does Donut Den typically sell for the one-day food craze?

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"Well over 10,000 paczki," Aronson told Patch. "Every year, it's been more. When we write out our schedule, everybody gets a start time, but nobody's got a go home time."

For some restaurants, particularly pizza parlors, Super Bowl Sunday marks their busiest day of the year.

But at Donut Den, Aronson seemed pretty confident it will be Paczki Day once again.

"Unfortunately, we won't be answering the phone at all on Tuesday," he told Patch. "We're just too busy, but we will have paczki in the store for walk-ins."

Here's a list of Donut Den's featured doughnut every day of the week.

• Monday is cherry amaretto.
• Tuesday is German chocolate.
• Wednesday is peanut butter and jelly.
• Thursday is strawberry cheese cake.
• Friday is fritter Friday.
• Saturday is the maple bacon frosted donut; a long john with a slice of bacon on top.
• Sunday is donut holes.

Donut Den had been in business about five years before Aronson became the owner in 2009.

"It really took off after I bought it," he said. "When I bought the place, it was me and four part-time employees. Now, we have 17 employees and a couple more away in college."

As for the customer base, "It's the same faces every day. We're pulling from Plainfield and people from Naperville come, and all around Minooka," he said. "I don't really have any secrets. I make a good product, and it's reasonably priced. Obviously, the weekend is way busier than during the week."

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Donut Den is open 4 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday-Saturday and 5 a.m. to 1 p.m. Sunday.

Aronson said he's been branching out in recent years, adding more sweet rolls and pastries to the menu.

As for Paczki Day, Aronson's already thinking the challenges of accommodating the plethora of walk-up customers. Without a doubt, he predicted, there will be a long line of customers stretched outside Donut Den all along the sidewalk.

"Every year, it's been more," he said. "I don't know what to do."

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