Federal Donuts will be officially opening its doors on campus on Monday, March 10.
The store, located at 3428 Sansom St., held a preview event on Wednesday, inviting student leaders and the press to sample the restaurant’s offerings, said Felicia D’Ambrosio, one of the partners for Federal Donuts.
She said this preview would account for the restaurant’s official opening during spring break. The restaurant originally planned to open in mid-February, but was unable to because city inspections were delayed by snow.
Like its other locations, Federal Donuts West will have “fancy” and “hot fresh” donuts, cold and drip-brewed coffee and five new flavors of fried chicken specific to this shop.To make the previous “and drip..” part less confusing, I changed around the order of this list.
“Fancy” donuts, which are covered in a glaze and toppings, will be $2 each or $20 for a dozen.
Two new fancy donut flavors debuting at the new location are Marshmallow Marshmallow and Chocolate Covered Strawberry. Marshmallow Marshmallow is a donut covered in marshmallow glaze and topped with burnt mini marshmallows. Chocolate Covered Strawberry is drenched in a strawberry glaze and topped with a ring of chocolate glaze. Four other flavors, yet to be determined, will join these two at this location.
The “hot fresh” donuts are fried to order and rolled in a dusting of seasoned sugars. The two newest flavors at the Penn location are Chocolate Peanut Butter, a dense chocolate donut infused with peanut butter flavor rolled in sugar, and Orange Dream, which is meant to taste like a orange creamsicle. The hot fresh donuts are $1.25 each or $11 for a dozen.
Federal Donuts’ twice-fried chicken come in dry seasoning rubs and glazes that are all-new to this location. The fried chicken seasonings consist of Furikake, a combination of seaweed and toasted sesame seed, Buffalo Ranch and Moussa, which is a mixture of falafel spices including cumin, coriander, parsley and saffron.
The featured fried chicken glazes are pad thai, an intensely tangy sauce with hints of roasted chili and topped with peanuts, and sweet soy garlic, which is flavored with sherry and also covered in bits of garlic.
Customers can order half a chicken for $9, which comes with a split breast, thigh and drumstick, or a whole chicken for $17.
Federal Donuts West will be open seven days a week from 7 a.m. until sell out or 7 p.m., whichever comes first. The restaurant will serve fried chicken starting at 11 a.m.
The only seating in the shop is stools along a counter in the middle of the space, framed by eclectic lighting from overhead.
D’Ambrosio explained thatadded “that” a store in West Philadelphia was the next logical move in Federal Donuts’ expansion across the city. The first Federal Donuts opened in South Philadelphia in 2011 and a second location opened in Center City at 16th and Sansom streets in October of 2012.
She noticed the chain has been popular with Penn students at other locations and explained the move was made in part so that Federal Donuts could be closer to students.
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