Fry Baby Donuts, widely known as Buffalo's first vegan donut shop, is shutting its doors for good after this weekend. Friday, Nov. 6 and Saturday, Nov. 7 mark the final two days customers can grab a box before the beloved shop closes permanently.
The shop was closed Thursday as it prepared for its last stretch of business, according to Step Out Buffalo. The outlet reports that the owner said Fry Baby could no longer survive in the current economic climate, and that she simply can't physically keep up with the demands of the work anymore.
It's not a pause or a hiatus this time. The owner is selling off the shop's equipment, and according to the same report, she says Fry Baby isn't coming back, not even years down the road.
A Buffalo Donut Staple Since 2017
Fry Baby first opened in Allentown back in 2017, carving out a niche as the city's go-to for vegan donuts that non-vegan customers loved just as much. The shop closed in 2022 when its Allentown building was slated for demolition, before quietly returning in Five Points, where it shared a storefront with Moneybags Dumplings.
Fans kept coming back for rotating flavors like bubblegum, key lime pie, and maple glaze, plus a new weekly “weirdo” flavor that kept regulars guessing. Step Out Buffalo notes the shop sold out frequently, a trend that showed up in earlier coverage of the business too.
A History of Sellouts and Surprise Comebacks
Fry Baby's path has never been a straight line. After abruptly closing its doors in October of a prior year, the shop made an equally abrupt return, according to Buffalo News, which at the time located the shop at 114 Elmwood Avenue.
Another stretch saw the shop resurface after a three-month break at 336 Elmwood Avenue, per WKBW. That station reported that by 10:30 a.m. that Friday, the shop had already sold out of donuts and was scrambling to make more, a snapshot of the kind of demand that followed Fry Baby through its various locations.
This weekend closes the book on that run for good. Customers hoping for one last taste of Fry Baby's donuts have just two days left to stop by before the equipment is sold and the ovens go cold for the final time.
