Donuts have never really been Lewisburg’s most iconic breakfast item, until now. Thanks to the owners of The French Goat: Arthur Forgette and his partner, Debbie Porter, fried dough is becoming the sweet way to start the day with Retro Donuts and More. Maybe it’s their retro bright pink color scheme or wacky flavors, but tourists and locals alike can’t seem to get enough. Since their opening in August, Arthur and Debbie’s donut shop has created and is now maintaining a steady stream of loyal fans, thanks to quality ingredients and a menu that offers a large variety of breakfast bowls, sandwiches, soups, salads, and espressos. Their shop is located on Rt 219 S. in the Lewisburg/Fairlea neighborhood. Learn more about this new local favorite with our interview with Arthur:

What inspired you and Debbie to open a donut shop in town?

We have seen other cities have great donut shops and we thought Lewisburg was a great place to have one, and that it would be well received.

How did you come up with the name and vibe of the shop?

I have always been a big music fan since I was a kid and have always loved the classics. For the shop, we wanted to go for a retro kind of feel and the word “retro” kept jumping into my head. Also, we weren’t only going to be a donut shop and knew we would serve breakfast and lunch. We felt the name worked on many levels so we decided to call it Retro Donuts and More.

How has the local response been since your opening?

The local response has been great, I think this area of town needed something that wasn’t part of a fast food chain for breakfast and lunch, and of course everyone is loving the donuts.

When was the official opening date?

We officially opened on August 20, 2018. We were trying to keep it quiet but a few locals pushed it out on their Facebook pages and the word was spreading like wildfire.

Around how many donuts do you sell in a day/week?

We average somewhere between 600 and 1000 donuts per day. We sold almost 7000 each week for the first two weeks.

What would you say is the most popular donut?

I think the most popular is still a raised donut (a yeast donut) with glaze. That is a traditional glazed donut and what people want the most.

How many donut flavors do you offer? Do they always change? Are some flavors offered regularly?

We have our regular mix of donuts that we make every day. The more traditional types are Cinnamon Sugar, Boston Cream, Chocolate Sprinkles, Strawberry Sprinkles, and such. We also have some other great flavor combinations that could change daily. We generally have 12 to 15 different varieties of donuts each day. This will expand as time goes on and we get a feel for what the customer really loves.

Will you be offering French Goat food and Retro Donuts at Taste of our Town – TOOT?

We will be participating in TOOT this Saturday, Oct 13 with both Retro Donuts and More, and The French Goat. We will have some very delicious offerings.

What are some popular Retro Donut menu items besides donuts?

For breakfast the bowls are very popular and the Harvest Bowl seems to be the favorite which has baby kale, barley, quinoa, avocado, fresh tomato relish all topped with a sunny side up egg. For lunch the Retro Burger is the big hit. It is a quarter pound burger with lettuce tomato and spicy mayonnaise on our famous donut bun. We fry a donut and rather than glaze it or fill it with anything we slice it in half and use it as the bun for some of our breakfast and lunch sandwiches. It is very fresh and light when you have it on a sandwich.

Cinnamon, salted caramel, maple bacon, glazed, old-fashioned, cream-filled, …. a variety of donuts, at this very moment, lie behind the glass counter just begging to be eaten. Grab yours, the shop is open every day from 6am-3pm. They are located at 116 Quarry Village Road, near CVS and Greenbrier Motors. Stay updated with their latest creations on fb and insta @retrodonutsandmore. For more information, call 681-318-3585 and see the full menu at retrodonutsandmore.com. 

– HashtagWV #106. October 2018.