For the past few years Yummy Donut Palace served the community as the finest boba and breakfast establishment in town.
Yummy Donut Palace endured a fire early December, causing its doors to remain closed as the business rebuilt with hopes of reopening in May.
Patrons of all ages and backgrounds love the shop for its cozy décor, early hours, delicious food and the woman who runs it all.
Owner Akara Thap is always seen with a smile on her face even when there is a line outside the door. Though it can be inconvenient to stand 10 minutes for your taro milk tea boba and glazed donuts, the wait is worthwhile to know that your money is going to the right place.
Operating hours are from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m., which is earlier than most other places in town, making it a convenient spot for high school students or retired people looking for an early breakfast.
The array of choices at Yummy Donut Palace is also unique. A delicious combination of boba, breakfast sandwiches, coffee, donuts and much more can be found all in one place. The juxtaposition of the boba and donuts is something many people in Edwardsville weren’t aware they were missing out on.
The Palace bakes fresh donuts daily, always ensuring a fresh fluffy flavor. Unlike other chains like Dunkin’ Donuts, near the end of a business day donuts are given freely to patrons who were lucky to be craving a pastry at 1:45 p.m.
Yummy Donut Palace is the only place in Edwardsville to find delectable boba and donuts for an affordable price. Tastea, a previous boba competitor, permanently shut its doors last November. And four months ago, Spoonful opened but it and Tastea were nowhere near comparable to the Palace.
The wait time for Tastea for one drink with no other customers present took anywhere from 10-20 minutes for overpriced, mediocre boba which is presumably why it is now permanently closed.
Spoonful has more redeeming qualities, like its eccentric treats, customizable sweetness levels and a short wait time. There is one glaring issue — the price. One milk tea runs roughly $6.40 pre-tax for the only size offered.
A large at Yummy Donut Palace is $5.99 and medium $4.99 pre-tax. For high quality service and boba, the price is fair.
For now, the community supplements their boba cravings via other restaurants, but there is no doubt that there will be intense excitement for the reopening of Yummy Donut Palace.