The best donut shop in SC is a combo store with a gas station, Yelp says. Here’s why
Yelp’s Elite Squad has selected a small shop adjacent to a gas station in Gaffney as South Carolina’s best donut shop for 2024.
Sunny’s Donuts is owned by Andrew Poeng, whose recipes were honed and perfected by his dad, Sunny Poeng. Sunny and his wife Lang are Cambodian refugees who narrowly survived the torture of Khmer Rouge.
They made it to the United States in 1981 and ultimately moved their family of three children, including middle son Andrew, to Ukiah, California, to run a donut shop, according to a 2013 story in The Greenville News.
When a car rammed into the shop about 20 years ago they moved to Kings Mountain, North Carolina and opened Sunny’s Quick Stop in Gaffney.
Andrew Poeng convinced his father to reopen the donut business, using $4,500 winnings from two lottery tickets the store sold. His father taught him to make the recipes that made the Ukiah shop so popular.
Yelp singled out some particular flavors — maple cinnamon, maple bacon, chocolate old-fashioneds and buttermilk bars. Sunny’s also makes fritters that are “fantastic and huge.” Pro tip: call ahead to order if you want some.
Linda S. of Yelp Elites said, “I just love this quaint little donut shop next to a gas station. The service is amazing, always friendly and kind. And the donuts are the best!”
The Yelp Elite Squad is selected among reviewers who offer “well-written reviews, high quality photos, a detailed personal profile, and a history of playing well with others,” the website said.
