Wynwood is a unique community filled with culture, art, music and food. It is home to many independent restaurants that serve flavorful foods. Inside this magical and artsy place is Miami’s first artisanal donut shop, The Salty Donut.
Although still fairly new to the city, it attracts locals and tourists from around the world to try one-of-a-kind, flavorful donuts. It has a whopping 189,000 followers on Instagram and is one of the most recognized and busiest shops in this vibrant neighborhood. It has perhaps become Miami’s favorite hot spot for donuts.
It all started back in 2014 when founders Amanda Pizarro and Andy Rodriguez spent an entire year trying to come up with the perfect recipe, flavors and concept development for their own doughnut pop-up shop in Miami. Later in 2015, it became a reality. They started their extensive journey in a 1950s Aljoa camper parked on the side of the street in Wynwood. Pizarro and Rodriguez planned to initially open where their current store is located, but the building was not ready until a year later. Once it was, they moved into their permanent store at 50 NW 23rd St.
The Salty Donut’s regional manager, Kaitlyn Woods, was a part of this epic journey alongside the founders. She has been there since the very beginning, helping the company evolve. The growth in such a short amount of time is impressive and Salty Donut is on its way to opening a third store in Dallas. (A second store is located in South Miami at 6022 So. Dixie Hwy.) They are the perfect example of how success is shown through customers’ loyalty and social media engagement.
The Salty Donut puts a twist on your typical donut flavors, which sparks people’s curiosity. They specialize in making handcrafted specialty donuts of distinct flavors you normally can’t find in large chains such as Dunkin’ Donuts and Krispy Kreme. The most popular and best-selling donuts are the white chocolate tres leches, guava and cheese, hazelnut chocolate and maple bacon.
These scrumptious donuts take a long time to make. In fact, the dough needs to sit for at least 24 hours before the bakers can begin rolling it out. These yeast-raised donuts are based on a special 24-hour brioche recipe that makes them perfectly buttery, crazily flavorful and fluffy. The pastry chefs come into work at midnight to start preparing the dough a day in advance. It can take up to five people to make a single donut.
An important factor that has played into The Salty Donut’s success is social media. The social media coordinator, Kaela Renée Roffman, does an excellent job of creating a dialogue between the brand and its followers.
The company does not spend a dime on traditional marketing. Everything is controlled and publicized through Instagram: @thesaltydonut.
The team is composed of young members who understand the digital age. Contact is very direct with the consumer.
The Salty Donut is one-of-a-kind in many aspects. The everyday goal is to not only keep customers satisfied with their high-quality donuts and coffee, but to also make sure they are seeing everything through a human, rather than a business, perspective.
The shop provides customers with free wifi, impeccable customer service and even high-quality, hand-picked furniture, such as communal wooden tables imported from Colombia.
Throughout the past few years, The Salty Donut has reached many of its goals and gained respect from many publications. It has been featured in Thrillist, Business Insider, Zagat, Forbes 30-under-30 (Class of 2018), The Food Network, The Cooking Channel, The Travel Channel, The Today Show, Insider Food and many more publications.
The Salty Donut is described by many as one of Miami’s treasures. It has helped transform Wynwood and opened the way to other artisanal, unprecedented mixtures of food.
