‘Everyone went crazy’ for this Boise doughnut shop. Now, it plans to expand in Nampa
Rumors spread online months ago that Boise doughnut shop DK Donuts was closing its store on the corner of 13th and State streets, much to the chagrin of its patrons.
Well, the store isn’t closing.
And the owner plans to open another doughnut shop, called Long Donuts, in downtown Nampa.
Owner Angkearot Long was visiting family in Cambodia, where he’s originally from, when the rumors began to spread in April, he told the Idaho Statesman. Long learned how to make doughnuts in Long Beach, California, before opening DK Donuts at 1300 W. State St. on Valentine’s Day in 2004.
“Everyone went crazy on social media,” Long said Wednesday by phone. “The news came out the opposite way we wanted. But things have settled down now.”
The new shop in Nampa will be located at 200 12th Ave. S., kitty-corner to Hong Kong Restaurant and just a few steps away from the Nampa Public Library. It’s slated to open in September or October, he said. The store was first reported by BoiseDev.
Long said the business is in the process of submitting plans to the city to remodel the space.
DK Donuts is also planning some upgrades to its State Street building, including to the roof, parking lot, HVAC system and some of the interior. Long said the landlord has agreed to extend the lease for another 10 years. So don’t fret, doughnut fans. DK Donuts is here to stay in downtown Boise.
“We’re not closing,” Long said. “We’re happy that everything is working out well.”
Long previously opened two other DK Donuts stores in the Treasure Valley, but he sold both years ago and the shops have since been renamed: Goatstar Donuts & Coffee in Meridian and My Donuts in Eagle.
The DK Donuts shop on State Street serves bacon-maple bars, apple fritters, kolaches, coffee and a slew of other doughnut types. Long said many of its regular customers are students at nearby Boise High School. Some come nearly every day, he added.
The store garnered national attention in 2018 when John Calipari, head coach of the Kentucky men’s basketball team at the time, raved about it on social media, comparing DK Donuts to Memphis’ 57-year-old doughnut shop, Gibson’s.
“These donuts are crazy!” Calipari wrote. Then, he went back for more.
Had to go back to DK's after mass. Wanted to confirm that the donuts are that good. Confirmed!! I was wrong about their hours. They’re open 4 a.m. to 9 p.m. With Angkearot Long. pic.twitter.com/Twwcwdefpp
— John Calipari (@CoachCalArk) March 15, 2018
DK Donuts was also named in the lede of a “modern love” story published in The New York Times in 2023. It begins:
“I was sitting at DK Donuts in Boise, Idaho, on a dreary November day, talking by phone to my therapist in London, where my husband was, and where I should have been too, if I hadn’t fallen in love with another man and upended our world.”
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