Mucci's Italian is discontinuing its popular weekend doughnut service and fans are devastated.
The St. Paul pizza-and-pasta spot made the announcement last week, so this past weekend people came out in droves, waiting outside in a subzero windchill to get a sugary breakfast pastry before they were all gone. Some people reported waits of up to an hour to get their treats.
"Holy Doughnuts, Bruce! We opened our doors at 8 am to a line of 10,000 people who camped out for hours in the cold! Thank you all so much for the support!" Mucci's wrote on Instagram with a photo of a restaurant packed with people in winter hats.
"This is not an exaggeration," one commenter wrote. "We were happy to wait in the cold. Mucci's forever!!! #stillhere"
Here's how Mucci's doughnut fans spent their weekend mornings:
"Bidding a bittersweet farewell to the #bestdonuts I've ever had," user @verbalmugging wrote. "If you want to celebrate the last two weekends of @muccisitalian spectacular donuts, get there early! 10 to 8 and the line was 30 deep. By the time we got our donuts there wasn't even standing room in the restaurant!"
"There are very few things I would wait outside in -4 degree weather for, but @muccisitalian doughscuits are one of them. But they burned too bright for this world," said @minneats.
Mucci's will serve its last "doughscuit," filled, and classic doughnuts on Sunday (786 Randolph Av., St. Paul, 651-330-2245, muccisitalian.com).
The announcement from the restaurant on both Instagram and Twitter was met with a chorus of "Nooooo!" by users who have come to love the labor-intensive doughnuts.
Owner Tim Niver said on Twitter that ending doughnut service was a "quality of life decision" for co-owner and chef Chris Uhrich. "We're all bummed," Niver wrote. "It's been very rewarding but we've decided it was the right time to stop."
But there's still hope. The Mucci's Instagram announcement said they might bring them back someday, filling the holes in our collective hearts — and doughnuts.
