Everybody loves a diamond in the rough. In this situation, the rough is the Pennsport area of Philadelphia, and the diamond is Federal Donuts. Federal Donuts is the underdog company that sells their gourmet donuts, fried chicken, and coffee. Sounds amazing, right? If you haven’t been there yet, then you’re missing something truly special. Federal Donuts is technically owned by five people, but Mr. Zahav himself, Michael Solomonov is the most well-known to all Philly foodies. The award for Most Creative goes to Zachary Engel (Chef de Cuisine / Donut-Maker-in-Chief), who invents all of the food and cooks it all. Their hours are 7am to whenever they run out. Talk about buzz! They Can’t keep any food in Federal Donuts, because the customers are buying them as fast as they make them. I spoke to 1/5 of the Federal Donuts dream team, Felicia D’Ambrosio, to pick her brain about what it really takes to build a Donut & Fried Chicken empire.

Josh: Felicia, how did you guys come up with the idea of Federal Donuts?

Felicia: Nobody really remembers actually. Philly had nowhere good to get amazing fried chicken and gourmet donuts… And they go together really well. Yeah, none of us remember where this idea came from.

Josh: Why Donuts and chicken?

Felicia: They go together, kind of like, chicken and waffles. We were shooting for something different, something for morning and for afternoon.

Josh: How has the positive reception affected you as a businessperson?

Felicia: We are so grateful to the press, bloggers, and tweeters. All of it had been good feedback, and we love it.

Josh: Whats the nicest surprise about owning a successful Philly business?

Felicia: Honestly, the love from all of our neighbors has been incredible. Pennsport is like this undiscovered territory, and everybody had been so supportive.

Josh: Tell me. What’s your favorite donut?

Felicia: Our new Chocolate Banana donut is my new fave.

Josh: When was the moment that you thought, “Wow, this worked”?

Felicia: It was pretty insane on our first day. We were not prepared for the amount of people, but it was awesome. We were not sleeping, figuring out all of the logistics. There’s a lot more than you think, that goes into running Federal Donuts. We saw the crowd, on the first day, and thought, “Whoa, people are really into this.”

So, we must all stop what we’re doing, and head to Federal Donuts! There is no way that I would ever lead you in the wrong direction. If you have a passion for deliciousness, and a love for a very inventive breakfast and/or lunch, then take my advice and run as fast as you can, towards Federal Donuts. Tell them Josh sent ya.

Federal Donuts
1219 South 2nd Street
Philadelphia, PA 19147
(267) 687-8258