EVERETT, Wash. — We found people lined up at 10 in the morning on a snowy day in Everett at this food truck. We asked what they were here for, and they all said the same thing. “Malasadas.”
It's been like this ever since Alice Tum launched Goodbelly in 2022,
making malasadas in her Everett-area food truck and making people happy.
“We have been blowing up and it's crazy,” she said. “We open at 11 and we have people lining up at 10 o'clock waiting for us. And we sell out every day we are open.”
Malasadas are fried pastries that are popular in Hawaii. Alice got her hands on some when she was on vacation in Hawaii, from Leonard’s Bakery (a place famous for malasadas) and she was hooked.
“It was fresh and hot and I instantly fell in love,” she said.
This entrepreneur sells 90 dozen on a busy day, fluffy and fried fresh every morning. The filling is homemade, some flavors have a tropical twist, like ube, guava, and lilikoi cheesecake. Bavarian crème and ube are her two most popular filling flavors she said.
Malasadas came from Portugal to Hawaii — and Alice came from Cambodia to America alone at 19. That's her on the Goodbelly logo her turquoise truck sports, wearing a traditional Cambodian dress and earpiece, and throwing a shaka. The truck is a delicious mashup of cultures.
“I think making people happy has to be my absolute favorite part of doing this,” Tum said. “Seeing people coming to our food truck, receiving a pink box, they take a bite and they smile, and tell me that they love them.”
As folks in line walk back to their cars, pink boxes in hand, they do smile. And some of them wipe sugar and filling off of their faces — eating a filled malasada is a pleasure that requires a napkin.
This parking lot in Everett may not be paradise. But thanks to Tum and her malasadas, you can taste Hawaii here no matter how cold it is outside. If you get in line early.
Goodbelly locations and hours vary, check their website!
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