Columbus Classics: Buckeye Donuts near Ohio State 'open always, closed never'
Editor's Note: This is the seventh in a series highlighting Columbus classic businesses.
Buckeye Donuts has been making hand-cut, fresh doughnuts for 54 years at its spot across from the Ohio State University campus.
Founded in 1969 by Greek immigrants Jimmy Barouxis and his son George Barouxis, along with their partner, George Sauter, the business is now owned and operated by the third generation in the Barouxis family.
Jimmy Barouxis, who was named after his grandfather, took over the doughnut shop at 1998 N. High St. in 2001.
“I had no intention of being sucked into the business,” he said. “I kept out of it. When I was 13, actually, my grandpa would bring me in on Saturdays and Sundays. I would sweep and mop the shop for some money. I made $5 if I would sweep and mop the whole doughnut shop. The second year, I would get $8 per day. It was about two hours of work. I’d get my eight bucks and go to the comic store and buy comics every weekend or go to the arcade. I did that a couple years.”
He officially joined the business in 1995.
“I got a finance degree,” Barouxis said. “I have a real estate operation, but Buckeye Donuts is in my blood.”
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In the late 1970s, he said, his late father and grandpa didn’t like being part of what was called the Jolly Roger franchise. (It later became known as Jolly Pirate.)
“The fees were high, so they wanted to get out of the franchise,” Barouxis said. “My dad had a brilliant idea. He came up with the name Buckeye Donuts. What else would you call it? It has been that ever since. I think it was 1979.”
He said the great location near the Ohio State campus in Columbus' University District has contributed to the shop's overall success.
“And just a love of the game, a love for the business, hard, hard work,” Barouxis said. “It’s not an easy thing running a 24-hour business.”
He said the hand-cut doughnuts also set it apart.
“A lot of the chains mass-produce in a factory, freeze, ship them out then thaw,” he said. “We make everything in-house for peak freshness.”
Barouxis said the best-selling variety in a doughnut shop is always the glazed.
“But the ones that will bring people in the door – the more popular ones, unique to us – are the buckeye (peanut butter and chocolate) doughnuts," he said. "Obviously, the chocolate, the maple bacon is popular and the apple fritter.”
He said loyal customers drive out of their way to purchase an apple fritter.
“They will come from Westerville, Worthington,” Barouxis said. “A lot of people from Clintonville will come through here. We have people who will come in every week to get a couple apple fritters.
"A lot of alumni come through here. It’s a multigenerational business. We always have the students cycling through the university. We see a lot of people coming and going.”
In addition to the doughnuts, Barouxis said, he added a Greek menu in 2002 that includes a variety of gyros and salads.
Barouxis, 46, said a few of the menu items are based on his thinking like a 21-year-old.
“That (age) is a lot of our audience on weekdays,” he said. “I wanted a hot breakfast sandwich, inexpensive. I wanted a doughnut place. I added breakfast in 2006. The breakfast menu literally doubled our business. The Greek menu added 30% or so to the business. It was a no-brainer to do some Greek foods here.”
Jason Knox, who transferred to Ohio State last year, said friends had brought him to the shop on his first day on campus.
“It’s just really good food,” he said during a Jan. 6 visit. “It’s something you can eat every day. It’s easy. I get the breakfast sandwich, sausage, egg and cheese. I like the red velvet (doughnut) the most. The doughnuts are fresh. I like you can come here at 12 in the morning or 2 in the afternoon and get the same food.”
A recent Google review by Joshua Fields said, ”Buckeye Donuts is a campus staple, serving quality for a good breakfast spot and a late night beacon for many students. Their wide variety of donuts are worth trying (buttermilk, buckeye donut, fritter, and red velvet). With friendly service and good prices, it’s a worthy pit stop I would recommend to anybody.”
Another review by Will Eaton called the shop “a campus institution.”
“The donuts are good (obviously), but I think that the breakfast sandwiches are the best thing on the entire menu. Their hours cannot be beat, and the staff is always friendly. 5/5,” Eaton wrote.
Buckeye Donuts cook Bryan Thomas said it’s a fun environment to work in.
“We like all the customers,” he said.
Barouxis’s brother, George, who works there as a cook, said, “Everyone we work with we like. We know customers by name. They are like, ‘Hey, how are ya doing?’ The pay is good, too.”
Jimmy Barouxis said he has met a lot of great people through the business.
Before social media, he said, customers would frequent the shop to socialize.
“We have multiple regulars,” Barouxis said. “They know us by name, and we know them by name. Part of our appeal and part of what makes us unique is that we just don’t close. 'Open always, closed never' is our slogan. People love it.”
Read more of ThisWeek reporter Marla K. Kuhlman's "Iconic" business stories from Gahanna, Westerville and Worthington.
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This article originally appeared on ThisWeek: Buckeye Donuts near Ohio State began as part of franchise in 1969
