Forget flowers, if you want a dozen anything, make it a dozen donuts. And there’re few better places to get them than Fray’s Donut House. Located in groovy, retro-buildings, complete with drive-thrus, Fray’s Donut House has three locations in the St. Pete area: 4900 Park Blvd; 5236 16th St. N; and 649 34th St N. Each location is open from 5:30am-12pm, Tuesday through Sunday. While each location has a different owner, most donut options are the same.

When buying Fray’s donuts, apply the same logic dieticians apply to salads: the more color and variety the better. Brim your box with popular items like the “cronut” (a croissant and donut combined) and the sausage-roll. Enjoy familiar favorites: eu claires, danishes, rolls, and every kind of crumbly-fritter, glazed-to-amaze, cream-filled, jelly-stuffed donut-divinities.

Note: the cronuts and sausage-rolls sell out very early in the morning, so act accordingly.

St. Pete’s delicious donut gem

I visit the Fray’s Donut House on 34th St., noting there’s a Dunkin Donuts directly across the street. “The Dunkin workers all come here to buy our donuts,” says Fray’s employee, Saliday. Fray’s donuts are cheaper and tastier, she says. But when comparing donuts, the proof is in the pudding, in this case, the dough. Fray’s makes their donuts in-house every day—there’s no offsite factory, and the task is an arduous labor of love and attention.

The owner of the  34th St, Fay’s is Sarim Phay, tasks himself to wake up at 10 PM each night to make fresh donuts until the shop opens at 5:30 AM the next morning. Sarim is Saliday’s father. Saliday works here with her father, her step mother, Vandavin Hing, and her fiancé, Menghour. Any donuts they don’t sell by the end of the day are charitably donated to the local church. Then the process of making these divine donuts begins all over again.