PENN STATION — A donut shop tucked away inside a car wash next to the West Side Highway is heading to one of the busiest parts in the city.
Underwest Donuts — which set up shop inside the Westside Highway Car Wash between West 46th and West 47th streets less than two years ago — will open a donut and coffee kiosk at 2 Penn Plaza in November, manager Orlee Winer said.
The 150-square-foot outpost will serve Underwest’s “classic” donuts, with flavors ranging from dark chocolate and maple waffle to halva and vanilla-lavender from a to-go window at street level under the Madison Square Garden awning, Winer said.
“The landlord approached us to see if we were interested in opening up shop… and we jumped on it,” Winer said. “We really thought it was a great opportunity.”
She and her husband Scott Levine, who was the sous chef at TriBeCa restaurant Chanterelle before it closed, opened the original Underwest outpost at the end of 2014, she said.
“My father owns the car wash, and he always had this vacant space,” Winer said.
When her father heard Levine was looking to open his own business, he offered to rent him the space, she said.
“[Levine] thought it made sense to do something breakfast-related, like donuts, for the crowd that goes through the car wash,” Winer said.
She and Levine plan to introduce new flavors like a banana-milk donut at the Penn Plaza outpost, she said.
“Banana bread is a popular to-go for morning, and since we’re going to be very busy during the morning hour, we thought it was a great addition to the menu,” Winer said.
While serving donuts inside a car wash is part of Underwest’s appeal, Winer thinks people will be excited about the new kiosk, which Grub Street included in its fall restaurant roundup.
“It’s definitely an effort for people to come to us, so the fact that we’ll be in a much more centrally located area, people can get their donut fix much easier,” she said.
“We’re excited, because we’ll be introducing donuts to people who don’t know much about us.”