Happy Coffee & Donuts

My boss brought in a bunch of donuts this morning and they were just nasty. No flavor but the sugar and oil and the apple fritter was crunchy — not tender in the middle and no apple inside either. I think that this is the first time, in an office of 25 that there has been over half dozen of them left, and nobody wants them.

New management here sucks. The man is rude, cheap when it comes to making breakfast sandwiches and doesn’t wash his hands. Watch em, he’ll handle money then make someone a sandwich.

Stop by yesterday morning for a quick donut and coffee. Parking was easy. I walked in and found that most of the donuts were gone! Luckily, I got my donut holes and coffee though! The coffee was good and hot, added the half and half and sugar and sat down. After I walked in a steady stream of customers kept coming in; 15 minutes later and all the donuts were gone. I can’t complain about anything. I overheard the owner say that they’d only been there for 4 months, and that they’re real business was the hot food (apparently they sell at over four farmers markets and provide catering as well). They’re working on getting a liquor license, too. I didn’t try the hot food, but I think I will sometime soon. So all in all a good donut run!

I hate to write a too-​critical review, but my hope is that through this review, the business can take stock of what needs to be improved, make changes, and pick up that money that they are leaving on the table.
With so many good coffee places within close proximity to Happy Coffee & Donuts, the only reason they really get business is that 1) they are on the southbound side of El Camino on the way to Hwy 92, and 2) they are unpopular enough to where there is always free parking outside, so a quick in and out is assured.
But even that is not enough in this day and age to excuse crappy coffee. I don’t remember the off-​brand coffee brand they carry, but it probably sits there for so long that it makes it really taste terrible. I would be happy to pay a bit more for better coffee, but more importantly, if they would just put a timer on their pots and change them periodically, almost any coffee would be much better.
As for the doughnuts, they are fine. Notice I did not say «outstanding». But, they are perfectly fine enough, with nothing outstanding that would piqué people’s interest. So, to sum up: bland coffee, bland doughnuts.
In my humble opinion, what they need to do is this:
1) A brand name coffee. Equator 72 degrees is EXCELLENT. But they could even sell Peets or Starbucks (and charge accordingly). Maybe have inexpensive coffee for people who don’t care about the brand, and a more expensive price for the brand name stuff. People who live near your location are relatively wealthy and want the better stuff.
2) Most importantly, only keep their coffee pots out there for «x» minutes (I don’t know what the optimum is).
3) They should have fat free, 2% and half & half plus all the sugars and sugar substitutes to cover every patron’s tastes (what a shame to lose a customer because they don’t have fat free milk).
4) They should bring in a few «fancy» style danish (apple, cheery) to spruce up their offerings
5) They should also bring in some savory morning tastes in addition to the doughnuts. Pre-​made ham and cheese croissants, plain croissants, bagels from House of Bagels, etc. Again, a shame to lose a customer because they need to buy a savory taste in addition to donuts.
6) More friendly service. The place is not busy. Get to know your customers, by NAME. You will be amazed at how people will come back because they have a relationship with you.
And most importantly, let people know you have made these changes through marketing. Parents from St. Matthews getting onto Hwy 92 are prime targets. Put flyers on cars at Mass. Or, take an ad out in the sunday bulletin. Host donuts after mass and let people know you are changing the business. So the above, and within a month you will increase your morning business by ten-​fold. I hope you do, because I would much rather support a local business instead of a national chain store like Starbucks or Noahs. But they will continue to get my business because they pay attention to what people want.

I had to pick up my little brother from St.Matts. Car broken down somewhere around 20^th avenue (which meant I had to walk all the way down to ninth). I had little or no money. I am sad. Suddenly I walk by Happy DOnuts.
I did not grow up with Happy DOnuts so I can’t realy compare it to the new location. However decorations and ambiance is very up to date. Now, my last experience there was over a month ago… I wonder how much could’ve changed?. I liked the idea of outdoor seating. THere was still another half hour to kill so I go in buy two donut holes. I felt poor purchasing only 30 cents worth of donuts but what could I do.
When I got to the outside table and sat down the kind asian lady had given me 6 donut holes. I turned around to give a sort of thankful glance but she was inside helping someone else. The inside is a little dark thats why I sat outside. I like the donuts btw.

I grew up on Happy Donuts (the Fashion Island days) and have been a loyal customer throughout the years but their new location is horrible. They took over Nick’s Deli and aside from the donut display, its very dark and dingy inside.
The employees here are not very happy despite the name of this place. I was greeted with a… wait, actually, I wasn’t greeted at all.
The donuts were definitely not made by a happy person either because my old fashioned glazed look more like a lumpy glazed donut and the other donuts I got were a bit oddly shaped as well.
Bah.