Chelsea Self / Post Independent
When Aaron and Anne Badolato moved from the Denver area to Glenwood Springs, the financial planner and registered nurse realized something was missing.
“‘There are no doughnut shops,’” Anne Badolato recalled her husband saying. “So, that’s how it began.”
In 2014, Aaron and Anne Badolato opened Sweet Coloradough at 2430 S. Glen Ave. in Glenwood Springs.
Additionally, this past weekend, Sweet Coloradough celebrated its Rifle location’s grand opening.
Located at 234 Railroad Ave., Sweet Coloradough’s Rifle shop serves handcrafted doughnuts, coffee and breakfast burritos between 7 a.m. and 1 p.m. exclusively on Fridays and Saturdays.
“That hopefully will increase,” Anne Badolato said. “We like to start slow to see how everything goes and see what the response is.”
According to Badolato, during Sweet Coloradough’s busier stretches, the mom and pop doughnut shop sometimes prepares between 2,000 and 10,000 donuts daily.
When over 40,000 people viewed Sweet Coloradough’s Facebook post promoting its grand opening in Rifle, Badolato, admitted being a little concerned.
“I was like, ‘Oh, my god,’” Anne Badolato laughed.
Luckily, not everyone showed up at once Friday morning.
Instead, consistent crowds throughout Friday and Saturday made for an opening weekend Badolato described as going “very smoothly.”
“It never felt really super crowded in there,” Anne Badolato said. “Everyone was so happy for us to be there and so nice.”
At Sweet Coloradough in Rifle, customers may choose from an assortment of sweet treats ranging from traditional, lightly sweetened cake doughnuts to eight-hour fritters and 11-layer “croughnuts” known for their crispy, flakey croissant texture.
“When we’re doing our cake donuts, we’re literally making the cake batter that you’d make a cake out of,” Anne Badolato said. “The yeast doughnuts, I call those my ‘pillows of love.’ They are so soft and the dough is fabulous.”
Located in the heart of Rifle, Anne Badolato said she was looking forward to watching Sweet Coloradough grow even more in the local community.
Additionally, with the exception of being closed on Tuesdays, Sweet Coloradough’s Glenwood Springs location remains open between 6 a.m. and 2 p.m. daily.