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For Lewis County donut lovers, getting the fluffy, fried pastries hot and fresh used to mean taking a trip up to Seattle’s Donut Factory or Dough Joy, or down to the world-famous Voodoo Doughnut or Pip’s Original Doughnuts & Chai in Portland.
Formerly an employee at local car dealerships and having previous experience in the restaurant industry, Centralia resident Steve Hubbard wanted to try out being his own boss.
Initially, he was considering making a food truck that focused on buffalo wings, but setting a food truck up for donuts was simpler, as keeping raw poultry out of his kitchen trailer means less health code requirements to worry about.
In researching for his menu, Hubbard discovered the region is a desert when it comes to hot, made-to-order mini-donuts, as he was forced to travel to both Seattle and Portland to try samples.
“There’s no (hot and fresh) options, even in Olympia or Tacoma,” Hubbard said.
In his eyes, the void was a business opportunity, and he committed to filling the (donut) hole in the fresh donut desert with Beatbox Donuts — a mobile business he now owns and runs frying up fresh, made-to-order mini-donuts with a variety of topping options.
“All of them are hot and fresh. I make them right when you order them,” he added.
The Chronicle visited Beatbox Donuts on Thursday, July 10, to try some of the sweet selections.
After purchasing a used mobile kitchen trailer he found in Oregon earlier this year, Hubbard began renovating it in order to bring it up to Washington state food truck code and even more stringent city codes.
“I had to change it to an all-electric truck, took out all the propane and all that stuff,” Hubbard said. “There’s so many different licenses you have to get. One hand doesn’t know what the other is doing, so that was fun along the way.”
Once he finished jumping through bureaucratic hoops and spending thousands of dollars modifying his mobile kitchen trailer, Hubbard finally opened up last month parked next to Big T BBQ, renting space in the parking lot of the Pearl Street Market located at 2312 N. Pearl St. in Centralia.
Initially, Hubbard tried opening Beatbox Donuts in Chehalis, but was shut down by city staff after being informed he didn’t have a special cottage license despite having a Chehalis business license, reseller’s permit and a food establishment license.
“I’m not a cottage. I’m a food truck,” Hubbard added.
Despite this setback, he quickly found a new home in Centralia thanks to Pearl Street Market owner Harnek “Nick” Dhudwal.
“He’s a super nice guy. Nick let me right in. My brother’s his maintenance guy, so I kind of had an in,” Hubbard said.
As for his menu, he took inspiration from both Voodoo Doughnut and Pip’s, along with creating other original menu items.
Aside from cake batter mini-donuts with no toppings or just with cinnamon sugar, Beatbox offers six different topping selections including:
• The “Slim Shady,” featuring marshmallow glaze and M&M’s Minis candy
• The “Bedrock,” featuring raspberry glaze and Fruity Pebbles cereal
• The “Chocolate Rocks,” featuring chocolate glaze and Cocoa Pebbles cereal
• The “Sandy,” featuring cinnamon sugar, honey and sea salt
• The “Sprinkles,” featuring white chocolate glaze and rainbow sprinkles
• The “ET Phone Home,” featuring chocolate glaze and Reese’s Pieces candy
Hubbard added some of the recipes were ideas from his family, including his 9-year-old granddaughter who helped come up with the “Chocolate Rocks” recipe.
“We came out here for like four and a half hours, and just made donuts together. She helped me make all the donuts that are on the (menu) pictures,” Hubbard said.
Mini-donuts can be ordered in batches of six, 12 and 24, and additional toppings include a strawberry glaze, Oreo cookies pieces, crushed Butterfinger candy and Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal.
Beatbox Donuts also features a variety of fruit smoothies made to order with add-ins including protein, hemp heart, flax and chia seed and greens powder.
Additionally, Hubbard has partnered with PepsiCo and will have a soda fountain as soon as he finishes hooking up water to the kitchen trailer. Currently he doesn’t sell coffee as he doesn’t want to encroach on the business of nearby local coffee stands.
And while he is currently open Monday through Saturday from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Pearl Street Market, he is open to catering for both public and private events being that his business is mobile.
“I tried to sign up for the (Southwest Washington) Fair, but there’s another mini-donut guy out there. He doesn’t have a truck or anything but he beat me to the fair,” said Hubbard. “But I got Antiquefest and I got the Hub City Car Show, I’ll be there … And we just did 100 donuts for a Fourth of July party.”
Being called Beatbox Donuts, the trailer also has a speaker system and DJ area, meaning the business can drop beats while serving up made-to-order mini-donuts.
To contact Hubbard about having Beatbox Donuts at an event or for more information, message him on Beatbox Donuts’ Facebook page at https://tinyurl.com/8z5tkm2h.
