Alpha Donuts in Sunnyside has closed (Photo by Michael Dorgan)
July 5, 2023 By Michael Dorgan
And just like that, it was gone.
Having served the Sunnyside community for nearly 50 years, the old-school coffee shop Alpha Donuts closed its doors for good last week leaving patrons shocked and in disbelief.
The no-frills diner, located just a few feet from the Sunnyside Arch on Queens Boulevard and known for its donuts and greasy breakfasts, abruptly shuttered on Wednesday, June 28. Around 48 hours later its interior had been completely stripped and dumped.
The only remnant of the Sunnyside staple is its bright yellow and red exterior sign, while a notice attached to the diner’s front window reads: “Thank you for so many years of beautiful memories.”
The Sunnyside/Queens Post visited the location on Monday, July 3, and passersby could be seen gazing through the shop’s windows with astonishment and asking what had happened.
Cab drivers, who were known for parking in a line along Queens Boulevard and then frequenting the business, speculated that massive rent hikes had forced the business to shutter. The rumor was also rife on social media.
However, Patty Zorbas, 62, who owns Alpha Donuts, told the Sunnyside/Queens Post on July 5, that she was forced to close due to inflation and the potential costs of several upgrades needed to keep the business afloat — which she said she could not afford to carry out.
Alpha Donuts (Photo by Michael Dorgan)
She said that while her rent had increased, it was not the reason behind her decision to close.
Zorbas said equipment such as the grill as well as other items at the eatery needed to be replaced.
“I sat down and put down the numbers together, and with insurance, taxes and inflation, the amount of money I would have to spend was above my reach,” said Zorbas, who is originally from Greece and lives in Woodside.
“I’ve been crying for two weeks. I’ve been there for 32 years.”
She said she decided to close late Tuesday, June 27, and the following day she shut down Alpha Donuts and started stripping out all of the equipment and fittings.
Gone is the establishment’s unique S-shaped countertop that allowed workers to serve customers up close, and gone is the shop’s vintage, button-styled cash register.
“It was tough. I was exhausted both physically and mentally,” Zorbas said. “It’s life-changing and I’m trying to sort my mind. I’m very sad but that’s life.”
Zorbas said Alpha Donuts was established in 1975 under different ownership. Her husband and his brother took it over in the 1980s before she began running the business.
She first started working at Alpha Donuts in 1991 and typically worked 7 days a week, she said. She now plans to take a break for a month and will then start looking for a new job.
She said Alpha Donuts withstood snowstorms and hurricanes — its sign was ripped down during Hurricane Sandy in 2012 — but it was the pandemic that set it on a doomed path to closure. The lockdowns, Zorbas said, cut into the business’s bottom line leaving it unable to drum up the cash necessary for the upgrades.
“The pandemic started the problem, as we couldn’t serve for a year inside,” Zorbas said. “We never recovered.”
The inside of Alpha Donuts has been torn out (Photo by Michael Dorgan)
Patty Zorbas, owner of Alpha Donuts, pictured in 2013 (Photo provided by Sunnyside Shines)
Alpha Donuts was popular for its wide range of donuts which were on display on the left-hand side of the shop near the front door. Jelly, cream, lemon and blueberry were just some of the donuts available and a dozen could be nabbed for $14.
Hot and cold sandwiches, coffees as well as cold salad platters were also on the menu at reasonable prices, but Zorbas said the coffee shop’s best-seller was its full Irish breakfast which was added to the menu in the 1980s at the urging of a young Irish woman named Colette who was working there at the time.
Zorbas said the eatery had a certain charm that attracted local residents. In 2011 Robert De Niro shot a scene there for the movie “Being Flynn.” The movie was set in the late ’80s and Alpha Donuts was viewed as an ideal location for a coffee shop of that period.
The establishment was particularly popular with cab drivers down through the decades given it used to be open 24 hours a day before the pandemic, according to Pedro Luna, a cab driver who was a customer there for the last 10 years.
Images of Alpha Donuts shortly before it shuttered (Photos provided by Patty Zorbas)
“I’ve been coming here every morning, I got my green tea here, I hang out, I use the restroom also which is important,” Luna said. “So I had a place to go, that was very important for me.”
Luna said he feels that a massive part of the neighborhood has been lost following the closure, noting that Alpha Donuts also served as a vital meet-up place for senior citizens.
In 2011 Robert De Niro shot a scene there for the movie “Being Flynn.” (Photo ©Conor Greene, taken in 2011)
Luna said he had spoken to about 10 elderly patrons in the last few days and that they are devastated by the news.
“They are lonely souls, they are brokenhearted right now,” Luna said.
“They came here every day. They are lonely people … they live by themselves at home [and] this was their hangout to come and eat and meet the people.”
Luna said the patrons also helped make Alpha Donuts a Sunnyside mainstay.
“It was very unique in the way that people sat down,” Luna said. It was like a friendly kind of thing.”
And for Zorbas, it is the people too that she will miss most about Alpha Donuts.
“I love them and I’m going to miss them. It was a great, great, great experience.”
Many cab drivers would pull up outside Alpha Donuts along Queens Boulevard and frequent the premises (Photo by Michael Dorgan)
Images of Alpha Donuts shortly before it shuttered (Photos provided by Patty Zorbas)
Two balloons rest against the ceiling of Alpha Donuts (Photo by Michael Dorgan)
The inside of Alpha Donuts has been torn out (Photo by Michael Dorgan)
Alpha Donuts on Queens Boulevard in Sunnyside has closed for good (Photo by Michael Dorgan)
Alpha Donuts on Queens Boulevard in Sunnyside has closed for good (Photo by Michael Dorgan)
Alpha Donuts was close to the Sunnyside arch (Photo by Michael Dorgan)
Alpha Donuts (Photo by Michael Dorgan)
Alpha Donuts was close to the Sunnyside Arch (Photo by Michael Dorgan)
Alpha Donuts was located at 45-16 Queens Boulevard (Photo by Michael Dorgan)
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37 Comments
My uncontrollable diabetes thanks them.
The real GW thanks them for decades of serving Sunnyside.
OMG! I am so sad! My sister brought me there and the ownerWaitress and the cook were so friendly, so nice ! They had everything to your table in a minute or two! They were so on top of it! I’m sad .my sisters heartbroken
Soo Sad. I have been going to this place since my high school day, not lately, but so sad. The lady there was always so friendly. I wish she would let people know, definitely sure help would come in saving the shop, I have been here for over 40 years living in the neighborhood, is disheartening to see the changes going on.
Well I’m sorry a person lost their business, BUT I never liked them, and the place looked sad and dingy. Tried a Stael doughnut twice. Peter Pan in greenpoint is the Best.
I hope Brooklyn Bagels Cafe open their , NOW that would be the best, We need a GOOD Bagel shop in sunnyside. I travel out of sunnyside for these things all the time.
But sorry we all know the Rent and Costs are double and Triple for all of us.
Welcome back Comments
We will miss the small Irish, a staple. Most of all we will miss Patti and the other workers. Life isn’t fair and you deserved a better ending.
Patty I just read the news, I’m sorry Alpha donuts had to close when I lived in woodside for thirty and had to sell my building. I was heartbroken so I know how you are feeling. I remember coming in with my husband Stanley having coffee and a bit to eat it was great. I wish you the best of luck wherever life takes you .??????????♥️♥️♥️??????
I loved it here. If you bought 6 donuts they gave you 7.
I move to Sunnyside from Chicago in 1994, and moved on to Boston in 2012. Alpha Donuts was by far the best diner I’ve ever patronized. I don’t know if Tasso (sp?) was working there until the end, but it was nice being greeted with ‘Kalimera’ when I would come in.
Alpha Donuts has even achieved a certain amount of movie immortality. Robert de Niro was there for a scene used in the film “Being Flynn.”
It’s a shame why this and so many other food places have closed. Too bad nobody wanted to buy the business which is a neighborhood gem and savior for a lot of people who are alone. I’m sick of diners going out of business and seeing the worst looking apartment buildings going up. We need diners, coffee shops, hardware stores, etc. Not 50 floor story apartment buildings that are empty.
What on God’s earth has happened to Sunnyside Post? Ever since a new owner took over there are hardly any new articles and many of them are copied and pasted from other sources (i.e., AM NY). And most articles under Sunnyside Post tab just bring you to the QNS tab. Why do they have to ruin everything?
If this isn’t a sign that the Sunnyside we all knew and love is gone, I can’t think of it.
Everything is changing and different and not for the better. Even sunnysidepost.
Omg so Sad I went there from SideTracks my grilled cheese and tomato. Even still went for Irish breakfast. Also vert friendly. So sad staff so nice especially the lady
I have always had a crush on Patty Zorbas.
We are going to miss Alpha Donut a lot
Yeah, I was shocked when I walked by and saw it was gutted. They had the best marble crullers. And good egg sandwiches. And the owner was so nice. They will be missed.
Anyone know where they sourced their donuts from? Someplace in Bronx if I recall.
I am so upset. Patty was a terrific person and so was her staff. I was a customer there for over twenty years. Alpha Donuts was a source of both terrific food and laughs and will be sorely missed.
Gm So sad thank you for the memories..
Very sad to see this. Alpha Donts was a Sunnyside original.
Nooooooooooooo
Our go to place for a grilled cheese sandwich after a night out at The Fields in the early 80’s. Got us sobered up enough to go home to our parents. It survived everything, even fires to its neighbors but lockdowns that actually accomplished nothing destroyed a neighborhood staple. Hopefully it’s not turned into something not in keeping with the middle class values of the neighborhood. One sex shop is one too many.
Oh how I remember hanging out at The Fields back in the 80s!! Thanks for the happy memories.
Sex shops are essential for people who do it. Maybe you have no use. Tired of you
Fridged people. Maybe you need some! nobody forces anyone to shop anywhere.
That place was sad and dingy, Time for something new.
That’s horrible! If that woman couldn’t run the business properly she should have tried to get help. Sunnyside lost an institution. She should be ashamed of herself. I’m sure a nail salon or Colombian restaurant will open up. That’s the future of this neighborhood. Sad.
Please don’t be so judgmental, it’s easy to tell people what they should do, she did her math and it didn’t work for her! Thanks for the memories
She was in business for 50 years!! The pandemic made her close for over a year. There wasn’t enough room outside to serve customers.
What help could she have gotten? This stooped city is too busy placing refugees in hotels and other shelters. Our homeless citizens (children) are forced to live in the streets because they just aren’t important enough for Adams to care about!!
Hey Jim, it has nothing to do with not being able to run a business. Obviously she knew how to run her store, she was there for years. Lots of businesses closed after covid. She simply couldn’t recoup her loses.
This is devastating. Is there any way to maybe get a GoFundMe going? The community would absolutely come together to save this community staple. I’ve been here numerous times, even with my ex when we first started dating and before we had our daughter and no matter what I was going through I always came here for a comforting couple of donuts. One of the men behind the counter even cupped my face in his hands and called me his little chocolate. Everyone here is lovely, I want so badly for them to reopen. Thank you for the memories although I wish it wasn’t goodbye.
What do u mean is there anyway to start a go fund me page? Go to gofundme.com and start it.
The Sunnyside post finally covered this . I guess there is only so much garbage you can print about Julie won , Tiffany Caban and the other miscreants who are ruining morale . Very sad about closing
Another massage parlor perhaps ?
hah, i know right? like anyone wants to hear constantly about progressive socialists and their destruction of queens.
This is so sad! love their donuts. Now where will i go for good donuts?
there are no other donut shops around. Dunkin isnt real donuts by any sense of the word. i think the closest now is the Donut Plant, but who in their right mind would pay $10 for a single donut? the only other option, and really, by far the best option, Peter Pan Donuts. you have to take the B24 bus down Greenpoint to Manhattan Ave into Brooklyn. it’s right below Sunnyside so a bike would likely be a better way to get there.
go to Peter Pan in greenpoint, BEST ones ever!!!