OLYMPIA, Wash. — It's Sunday morning, twenty minutes before Oly's Malasadas opens, and Michael Kosti is first in a line stretching back to the alleyway. Are the traditional Portuguese/ Hawaiian doughnuts really that good?
"I give them 10 out of10," Kosti laughed. "I would eat them every day of my life if I could."
You might think nothing good came out of the pandemic, but Kosti is among a whole bunch of people in the South Sound who definitely disagree. They're all willing to wait in lines outside the new Olympia business selling malasadas.
That's why weekend mornings have become manic for partners Oly Vidallon and Max Oca.
"The tricky part is how fast we can get them out," Oca said. "Because there's only two of us and our fryer can handle just nine malasadas at a time."
Hard to believe all this hustle and bustle was born on a lazy morning at the start of the pandemic.
"Like nothing was open," Vidallon said. " I couldn't even go to Target."
Vidallon and Oca realized if they wanted malasadas, they'd have to make 'em themselves.
"I never baked before," Oca said.
"I never baked before either," Vidallon said.
"We both really didn't know what we were doing," said Oca, "but we had a lot of time."
Vidallon documented their early malasada misadventures on Instagram. The business is mostly named for her. Her first name is Olivia. But it's also a nod to Olympia. The couple got better and soon people were literally knocking at their door.
"It kinda just snowballed," Oca said.
Vidallon's mom, sister and dad all joined the team and now those lazy days are a distant memory.
"It's basically pretty simple," said Oca. "You just gotta keep going until it's over. There's no stopping really. Just kind of have to keep pushing forward even when people are waiting and getting h'angry and stuff."
"The line gets longer because people drive by," said Vidallon, peeking out through the window at the waiting customers. "And they're like you know what? I'm gonna stand in that line."
Is spending that much of a Sunday morning in line worthwhile? Some answers don't need words. One little girl took a bite and nodded with appreciation at her father.
"Our biggest compliment is people that don't like sweets at all really enjoy these Malasadas," said Vidallon. "It's essentially just fried bread and it's just good."
Maybe too good. Oly's ran out of malasadas within 90 minutes. They gave free coffee to customers willing to wait for the next batch. But some things, like these malasadas, just aren't made to last.
Oly's Malasadas is open Friday, Saturday and Sunday mornings until they sell out. The big seller the Sunday we visited was the Gelato Sammie. 100% of the proceeds went to Maui Food Bank. Oly's raised $600 that weekend. They want to do something similar this weekend.
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