University of Kansas - The Jayhawker Yearbook

“More than just another bakery, Joe ' s is a tradition It ' s late. You are exhausted from studying and really need a relaxing break. Your stomach is yearning for a late night snack. The solution: get a bunch of friends together and head to the perfect oasis Joe ' s Bakery. " Sometimes when I ' m studying late at night, I get an immense craving that only Joe ' s can satify, " Matt Paquette, Bolingbrook, 111., sophomore said. Joe ' s Bakery, located at 616 W. 9th St., opened 41 years ago and has been a popular place ever since. Joe Smith first started the bakery in 1952, and his son Ralph has owned the business for the last 13 years. During these past years, students most often get Joe ' s popular glazed doughnut. Many prefer to go during the baking hours from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m., when the doughnuts are fresh out of the oven. Joe ' s tries to always have hot doughnuts when customers come in at night. " When I walk into the store and see the baker take out a fresh, steaming hot tray of glazed doughnuts, I start to salivate with anticipation, " said Alex Buxton, Sacramento, Calif., sophomore. " They are the best tasting doughnuts I ' ve ever had. " Ralph Smith agrees that the hot doughnuts are what draws in the crowds. " What made Joe ' s the business that it is today are the hot, fresh doughnuts. " Because of these doughnuts, Joe ' s can get to be a very crowded place. Their busiest times are from 9 p.m. to midnight during the week- days, and after midnight on Fridays. The " What a great place the doughnuts, the people, the at- mosphere. God bless Joe ' s, " Brad Brooks, Hill City freshman. bakery also gets very busy when there are special events in Lawence. " On the days that football games are played, it gets very hectic around here, " Ralph said. " Everyone stops in to get their share of our doughnuts. " Many people like the fact that Joe ' s prices on doughnuts are relatively inexpensive. A dozen glazed doughnuts cost only $2.60. " It ' s great because the doughnuts are affordable for poor college students like me, but there ' s only one thing wrong with them, " Natosha Hailing, Fairway sophomore said. " They ' re so danger- ously addictive! " For many years, students have been addicted to Joe ' s doughnuts. New students arriving at KU for the first time had even heard of the bakery from either friends or family members that attended the university. Business is often done by word of mouth. " I heard about Joe ' s through my sister and my brother-in-law, who are both KU graduates. They told me it was one of the many traditions that I would encounter here, " Brad Brooks, Hill City freshman said. " And they were right because I absolutely love their doughnuts. " In addition to doughnuts, Joe ' s offers a variety of foods such as cookies, croissants and sandwiches, which are also popular items. For Brooks, Joe ' s is more than just a bakery. " What a great place, " he said, " the dough- nuts, the people, the atmosphere. God bless Joe ' s. " O Joe ' s Doughnuts ”