You'll often see lines of donut lovers waiting to get their hands on a bright yellow box of Lee's Donuts from its original Granville Island stand. While the beloved local brand has added satellite locations and pop-ups to its roster across Metro Vancouver, the donut shop now has another address in the city
Lee's Donuts recently launched its latest donut shop at a former Starbucks spot at 199 Water St in Gastown.
Located steps from the iconic Steam Clock, the new Lee's location is in "soft opening" mode, operating from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily Nov. 14-24, according to its Instagram account.
"The shelves will be stocked with all the classics from honey dip to Bavarian and jelly-filled," shared Lee's Donuts on its Instagram this summer, when the project first went public.
To get the Gastown area primed for the holey addition, Lee's ran a temporary pop-up shop nearby over the summer months.
While Lee's began in 1979 in Vancouver, ownership changed hands a few years back, and the current owners have certainly raised the profile of the donut shop and have since opened the business up to franchising. In 2019, Lee's shot into the spotlight when Vancouver-born actor Seth Rogen brought chef and food media personality David Chang to the Granville Island stand; the duo was filming Chang's Netflix series Ugly Delicious.
This spring, Lee's was named the number three spot for the best donuts in Canada by review and listings site Yelp. In a recent V.I.A. reader poll, Lee's took the top spot for the city's favourite donuts.
The Lee's Donuts in Gastown is one of two planned locations in the works; earlier this year a development in North Vancouver's Moodyville community confirmed Lee's was among the retail tenants for the mixed-use building.
V.I.A. has reached out to Lee's Donuts multiple times and has not received any response.
@leesdonuts.ca pretty nice right? #newlocation #leesdonuts #leesdonutsgastown #donutlovers ♬ Otra Vez - ProdMarvin
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