JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Old Soul Donut Co. isn't your typical mom-and-pop donut shop.
Sure, the recently opened shop in North Jacksonville has traditional donuts, but it also serves up apple fritters as big as your hand, plate-sized cinnamon rolls and Texas-style kolaches, the latter inspired by owners Matt and Courtney Joseph's trips to the Lone Star State.
Located at 11230 New Berlin Road, Old Soul Donut Co. fills an old-fashioned doughnut shop hole in the area, Matt Joseph said. And it could be just the first of as many as five the couple plan to open in the Jacksonville area.
Kolaches — typically smoked sausage or ham and cheese wrapped in slightly sweet, pillowy yeast dough — are a breakfast mainstay in Texas. But not so in Northeast Florida.
Matt Joseph was introduced to kolaches during frequent visits to Breckenridge, Texas, where he discovered a local doughnut and kolache shop and befriended the owner. Over the years, the shop's owner taught Joseph how to make the doughnuts and kolaches now at the heart of Old Soul Donut Co.
And the restaurant's name? That comes from Courtney Joseph, a self-described "old soul."
"I love to can, garden and all things old-fashioned. Mostly, I’m just a Southern old-fashioned person so it just fits with the donut theme,” she said.
On the menu: doughnuts, kolaches and more
“Our signature item would be the apple fritter," said Matt Joseph, who also is co-owner of Southern Coast Seafood, in Arlington.
The Josephs also debuted a new doughnut unique to Jacksonville which is becoming a customer favorite.
“We’re calling it a Jax Cream. We’re putting a strawberry on top and it's filled with strawberry cream. It’s a Southern thing, not a Northern thing,” he said of their creation, which is similar to a Boston Cream doughnut.
- Cake and yeast doughnuts ($1.50)
- Cream or jelly-filled doughnuts ($2)
- Apple fritters, cinnamon rolls and bear claws ($3.50)
- Eclairs ($3)
- Kolaches and specialty pockets ($5)
- Breakfast biscuit sandwiches ($3-5)
- Breakfast croissants and pita sandwiches ($5.50-6.50)
Croissants and biscuits are baked in-house, Joseph said, while the pitas come from Village Bread & Bagel. The shop serves specialty coffee from Jacksonville-based Martin Coffee Co. as well as espresso drinks, tea and hot chocolate.
The shop is open from 6:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Saturday and closed on Sunday.
