![]() ![]() We wanted a fried chicken sandwich that was crunchy but not greasy so we came up with a secret crust recipe that we are so proud of.” “I grew up eating my grandmother’s fried chicken-hers was the best. “Everything stems from something and these inspirations, or seeds, helped get my creative juices going,” he says. Wil credits his grandmother with inspiring him to develop the Super Crunch chicken sandwich. “We make thoughtful fast food-we treat our cheeseburger and our bacon and egg sandwich the same way we would treat a steak or lobster.” We have doubled our Super Crunch (chicken sandwich) sales,” quips Wil. “Our double cheeseburgers are best sellers and then thanks to the Popeye debacle (when fast food chain ran out of inventory after two weeks of serving their chicken sandwich in August). But on weekends when people are more likely to visit later in the day, the Hero staff ends up frying and glazing throughout the day.īesides the doughnuts that made them famous, the restaurant also serves breakfast and lunch sandwiches on buns made with the same brioche dough-a yeast bread made with eggs and butter. Most doughnuts are glazed before the shop opens so they are ready for hungry customers. (the staff takes turns with this early shift), they are pulled out of refrigeration so they can rise, and then are fried and glazed and ready for the first customers by 7 a.m. The staff then cut out the doughnuts and let them rest again. Dough is made a day or two in advance and then is given time to allow the magical process of fermentation to occur. Making doughnuts is a three-day process when it’s done Hero-style. “We maxed out, literally as much as we could do in our space,” he says. This past June, Wil says they sold nearly 2,800 doughnuts on National Doughnut Day-their record so far. In fact, National Doughnut Day, the first Friday of June, is a holiday that honors the sacrifices made by Salvation Army volunteers and soldiers. They were so easy to make because you just drop them in hot oil.” ![]() “During World War I, the Salvation Army volunteers served U.S. “Doughnuts are an all-American pastry,” he says. They wanted something short for branding and something that wasn’t hard to pronounce, and as they researched the story behind ring-shaped pieces of sweet fried dough, Wil says he was surprised to learn that doughnuts have a patriotic history, which also supports the hero theme. On a subway-tiled wall inside the Central Avenue restaurant, a blue neon sign glows, “Everybody needs a hero” as a reminder to the owners and customers alike of the name Wil and co-owner Jason Wallis chose after sifting through a long list of possibilities. “We love making people happy and our customers are heroes when they share our doughnuts with others.” “You’re the hero when you bring a box of doughnuts to work or school,” Wil says. But ever the gentleman, he deflects the glory of the operation and spreads it around to others. Even though he’s the brains and brawn behind Hero Doughnuts, Wil Drake wears an apron, not a cape, to work every morning. ![]()
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