Hole Lotta Doughnuts, located on King Street, has a new owner.
Allexia Brewer is the current owner of Ambrosia Kaféneio, mother of three daughters, self-proclaimed leader and third-generation Greek immigrant.
On Dec. 21, Ambrosia Kaféneio, a cafe that serves authentic Greek food, announced on Facebook that they were the new owners of Hole Lotta Doughnuts. The business has had a location in Boone since 2020.
Brewer has owned Ambrosia Kaféneio, once called High Country Greek, since 2018. She said she was looking to expand and was approached by a realtor. When she was offered Hole Lotta Doughnuts, she declined.
“I’m not in the doughnut business,” Brewer said.
A few months later, however, she visited the Hole Lotta Doughnuts location in West Jefferson.
(Leah Matney)
“I fell in love with it. My jaw dropped. Doughnuts are desserts, I do all the dessert baking at Ambrosia, it’s still a pastry, it’s a dessert, why the heck not? And that’s how it was born,” Brewer said.
Brewer said she was impressed with how Boone’s community supported her first restaurant, High Country Greek, despite the fact that it was “tucked away” on Bamboo Road. She said Hole Lotta Doughnuts is her first venture on King Street, located between Wild Craft Eatery and Sabeing.
“Being on King Street is a little bit of a shift because it’s focused on the tourists, the students and the App State community, but what we’ve noticed is that it’s the same type of vibe,” Brewer said. “Families come in here and people are looking for community events.”
She said sororities have reached out to her for events, book clubs have asked to hold meetings there and she has seen many children come in.
She said she wants to create a kids’ corner in Hole Lotta Doughnuts.
“All of these things kind of build bridges to the community and being centrally located on King Street, I think is a really good way to do that,” Brewer said.
Brewer has involved her family in her businesses, saying that her mother, three daughters and husband all found a place in her endeavors.
“I mean it’s a family affair, it’s a lot of moving pieces, so they all help,” she said.
Brewer said when her mother first heard about her venture into the restaurant business, she was worried; her mother’s father was a business owner.
“For the immigrant families that came here and opened businesses, it was tough,” Brewer said. “I think my mom was a little bit worried, but I think she’s seen the impact in this community with what we’ve done. They’re thrilled about this.”
Her oldest daughter, Adaira, coaches for the Watauga Swim Team, while also helping with day-to-day tasks in her mother’s business. She is excited to see how busy it gets during game days and peak season in Boone.
“My favorite part is seeing them grow and be successful,” Adaira Brewer said.
Her middle daughter, Genna, is a nursing student at Caldwell County Community College and Technical Institute. While she has taken a step back recently due to it being her last semester, she’s in charge of hiring, food orders and coffee orders.
“I didn’t think I’d be in such a big role that I’m in now,” Genna Brewer said.
Genna Brewer said one of her favorite things about her job is getting to know people on her staff from App State and watching where they work and move to after graduation.
Allexia Brewer talks of plans for her business endeavors. Before she owned any restaurants, she wrote a book called, “Monadiki: The Goddess of Fierce Leadership.” Before the book, she taught leadership skills to women and taught at leadership workshops.
She said while she has always been a leader, it’s evident it can be scary for others to do the same.
“It’s just a story about leadership and empowerment, it doesn’t really matter who is reading it,” Allexia Brewer said. “I mean a grandmother could read it and take away a lot, a little girl can read it, and moms can read it to their daughters.”
She has written a second book, “Monadiki and the Leopard League,” and is planning on writing a third.
When it comes to her businesses, she said that she’d love to add a Hole Lotta Doughnuts location in Blowing Rock. Her West Jefferson location has a full bakery, so she plans on expanding the menu more there, even to involve Greek street food. She talked of plans to do events at the Boone location, and one that is already in the works for March 3, Greeks on King.
“We’re going to have some Greek Food, we’re going to have some Greek desserts, Greek coffee, Greek music and we’re going to have a live Athena and Zeus walking around in costume for the kids,” Allexia Brewer said. “Bringing that kind of culture here, I think is really, really important.”
