Vice Donuts Is Parking Its Truck, Opening Storefront In Massapequa

MASSAPEQUA, NY — After years of serving hot, fresh donuts and coffee, Gina and Joe O'Brien are parking the Vice Donuts truck and opening a storefront in Massapequa.

The new Vice Donuts and Coffee will be located at 917 N Broadway in Massapequa, at the site of a former donut shop. There's not set date yet for when the store will open, but Gina O'Brien said they're aiming to get it open this winter.

Currently, Vice Donuts operates out of a truck that goes to a different location each day. They post their location for the day online, and sell donuts and coffee there until they run out.

O'Brien said there were many reasons the couple decided to swap the truck for a brick-and-mortar storefront. They've been doing increased business lately, but her husband Joe is less available. He joined the Fire Department of New York in March and has been stretched thin between that and the truck.

"Once he started the FDNY, we lost our ability to be consistent with the truck," O'Brien said. "When we saw the space, we figured it was a sign to be able to have more consistent hours."

O'Brien also said that running the truck was becoming expensive. Running the truck's engine and their generator all day put a lot of strain on the vehicle, and they were spending a lot of money just to keep the truck running.

They are still operating the truck while the storefront gets set up. But once that's done, O'Brien said they plan to just keep the truck for special events — things like parties, weddings and festivals.

Moving to the storefront will allow Vice Donuts to expand its offerings, O'Brien said. Vice is known for vegan and gluten-free donuts, and having a storefront will allow them to expand those offerings. This will also allow Vice to offer gluten-free options for all of its standard menu.

"Our whole menu is non-GMO, no high-fructose corn syrup and no artificial colors," O'Brien said. "We're going to be able to expand more for those options for the donut toppings."

In addition to the donuts, Vice will have a full espresso bar with coffee from Port Jefferson's Southdown Coffee.

The new storefront will take some inspiration from the truck. There is no sit-down dining at the restaurant. Instead, everything will be done through a take-out window. O'Brien said they got the idea from places like Ralph's Italian Ices.

"We'd like to get a few locations going like Ralph's does," she said.