Arrestingly Good Five-O Donut Company

At 15, Christine Nordstrom won a cookie-decorating contest, earning her enrollment in a selective culinary vocational program in Ohio. Competitive baking earned her a scholarship to Johnson & Wales University in Rhode Island. She’s baked with famous chefs, owned her own bakeries, and helped newbie bakers start their businesses.

So it might come as a surprise that this veteran scratch baker had never made a single donut until she opened Five-O Donut Company. Instead, her motivation came from a love of the fried dough—a love that had taken her on donut expeditions across the U.S.—and a push from local friends and Instagram influencers Eric and Kelsea Koenreich.

“Kelsea said, ‘I think you should open a donut shop’ and my response was, ‘Do you have any idea how much work donuts are?’” says Nordstrom.

Unable to ignore her next challenge to fulfill the niche, Nordstrom assessed her risks, closed two of her small cafés and signed a lease for her first donut shop. Apart from a major financial hiccup, it took Nordstrom six months, as well as blood, sweat, and tears and some help from friends, to open the doors at her Ringling location.

Nordstrom enlisted an Ohio-based family-friend for a crash course in donut making. Once she had the basics down she put her spin on the finicky pastry, which she says is akin to bagels in that they both vary regionally.

“It’s the altitude, water, and the humidity,” she says. “That is why not a lot of people do yeast donuts in Florida.”

It takes up to three hours to make a 50-pound round of yeast dough, which produces about 40 dozen donuts. Five-O churns out three to four times that amount of donuts every day. The process involves proofing, fermenting, rolling, and cutting the dough, then proofing it again, frying it, and letting it cool for finishing.

“Everything must be perfect,” she says. “There are so many times you can screw everything up.”

Five-O Donut Company—whose name, slogan, and décor are nods to law enforcement—has had short-order success as a local favorite and a destination donut shop. And just 18 months after her starting the Ringling shop, Nordstrom has already expanded, opening a South Trail shop in Buccaneer Plaza.

“I have a work ethic; I have a business sense; I have experience; and I have failed before,” she says.

Nordstrom says a strong social media presence and connections with customers and purveyors have been key to her forward motion. She has plans to open more locations—locally and nationally—in the not-so-distant future.

But Five-O’s popularity wouldn’t exist without Nordstrom’s creations, which are as amazing to look at as they are to eat. Her goal is to satisfy customers who want basics like yeast-dough glazed, cake, or croissant donuts, but also to wow those craving something outlandish, like the “Cookie Monster”—a yeast donut filled with housemade blue buttercream icing, sprinkled with cookie dough bites and crushed Oreos and topped with cookie butter.

“Donuts give me an avenue to pursue all things ridiculous,” says Nordstrom.

Customers also go nuts for trendy cereal-topped donuts like the “Cookie Crisp Caper”—a Funfetti-frosting-filled yeast pocket topped with vanilla icing and Cookie Crisp cereal.

“We have just found that people want that crazy stuff,” she says.

All of the donuts are made, proofed, and fried at the Ringling location, and then some are taken to the South Trail location for finishing.

Five-O honors the seasons, as well, with donuts like pumpkin pie cheesecake, peppermint hot chocolate, candy cane, and even one that looks like a melting snowman. And albeit rare in the donut realm, they even have options to satiate gluten- and/or dairy-free customers.

For those seeking a wet accompaniment for their donut, Five-O has that covered too, offering locally roasted brewed coffee, as well as fresh cold brew and local Daikin Dairy milk. Nordstrom says she is experimenting with infused milks and other fun drink options.

“We say we offer donuts and dranks,” she chuckles.

Pre-orders are encouraged for larger orders, and the Five-O team can even churn out custom donuts for special events. The website is undergoing improvements for customer interaction and orders so Five-O’s Facebook and Instagram pages are currently the best resources for flavor releases and sell-out information.

“We have so many that come in and say, ‘This tastes just like when I was a kid,’ and that is a huge part of it: nostalgia,” says Nordstrom. “It’s connecting with memories of when you were a kid.”

> Downtown location: 2241 Ringling Blvd, just west of Lime Avenue

> South Trail Location: 7119 S Tamiami Trail, in Buccaneer Plaza; 941-960-1370; fiveodonutco.com