This site and associated Fan Club are dedicated to all things that relate to Britt’s Donuts – located at the Boardwalk in Carolina Beach, North Carolina. Information on how to join the Fan Club can be found on our Fan Club page. Britt’s Donuts merchandise, including the book, stickers and other items are available year-round from the Shop. You do not have to be a member of the Fan Club to make purchases.
The release of our book Britt’s Donuts – Forever Sweet coincided with opening day 2014. We had a HUGE book signing and launch sale. The weather wasn’t all that great but people were excited to get the first Britt’s donut of the season and a signed copy of the book. If you didn’t come to opening day, please stop by to say hello. Books are available all summer long inside Britt’s Donuts. Just ask!
News about the book and other events related to Britt’s Donuts will be posted on this site in the News section. Please visit regularly for more information.
The History
Some things should never change. Eating a hot, delicious, handmade donut at Britt’s is an experience that doesn’t need any embellishments. Started by the Britts and Wrights in 1939, the donut shop has long been the cornerstone of Carolina Beach’s boardwalk. People drive from all over the state just to eat the steaming hot – glazed delicacies. During the summer, the line to buy donuts snakes out the door and way down the boardwalk. The process of making the donuts is a time honored, tightly guarded secret. It is thought that the unique mix of ingredients for the glaze makes them so unbelievably good. While we can conjecture, the fact is that people who don’t even like donuts or sweets will gobble down six Britt’s donuts in a heartbeat. They are that good.
Mr. Britt sold the shop and the secret recipe for making the donuts in 1974 to long time employee Bobby Nivens. Since then, the Nivens family has cooked up and served hundreds of thousands (perhaps millions) of donuts to people from all over the world and have indeed made many people happy. Bobby Nivens and his family have operated Britt’s Donut Shop on the Boardwalk in Carolina Beach for right at 40 years. Nivens has always included his family in his business. His daughter Lynn grew up working behind the counter. Maxine, his wife, still serves up the donuts, milk and soft drinks to eager patrons all summer long and now his grand daughter Halyn helps out as well.
You can bet that swimming weather, warm breezes and bare feet are soon to appear when you can smell the aroma of donuts cooking at Britt’s. During the summer season, you can sit on one of the stools at the counter and hear people order their favorite treat. You can tell the ones who aren’t familiar with the drill. “Do you have anything besides glazed?” they say. Regulars tell the girl behind the counter… “I’ll have 1” or “Gimme a half dozen” or very often they’ll say “4 dozen, please”. There’s no asking for sprinkles or cream filled. And for goodness sakes, don’t forget to eat as many as you can in the summer because Britt’s Donuts is only open during the tourist season. After that, it is a long cold winter until you can have another one. Summer just isn’t summer without the sweet taste of a Britt’s donut.