Donuts Please, a gourmet donut shop that was heading into the Jefferson Square shopping center, is no longer opening in Austin due to a legal battle. Owners Angel and Arianna Salinas are currently looking for another project.

Donuts Please announced the non-opening via a heartbreaking Facebook post last week. The pair told Eater they were stymied by “a donut company that intends to grow nationally” that threatened to sue the couple. They “don’t have the capital to withstand the legal battle we’ve been faced with,” so they decided to quit. They weren’t able to name the opposing company because of legal reasons.

The Salinases traveled the country for three years researching donuts. The pair have a strong culinary resume: Arianna Salinas worked as the restaurant manager of Japanese restaurant Morimoto and hotel Wynn in Las Vegas, and they have also worked at Wolfgang Puck, José Andrés’s ThinkFoodGroup, and Austin’s Guy+Larry Restaurants (Red Ash, Salty Sow, T22, ATX Cocina, Roaring Fork).

They announced Donuts Please in September and planned to open in 2020. They told Eater that they plan to go back to the drawing board and save money for a new dream.

Sweet dream, bitter end. Thank you Austin, we are blown away by your support and empathy. We have been faced with a... Posted by Donuts Please on Thursday, November 21, 2019