I fought Dunkin’ but ran out of dough

RWF

12 months ago

Hi. I’m Jerry.

It’s 1984, and it’s three in the morning. Burlington is sleeping, but the lights are on at my Donuts ‘n More, and the place smells delicious. I’m baking coffee rolls and fritters for Eastern Airlines. The goodies have to be at Logan for the first flight at 5 a.m. They’re still hot when I package them for the airport.

Donuts ‘n More seen from the Dunkin’ parking lot.

I started working at Mister Donut at 14 years old. When it went out of business, I reopened it and called it Donuts ‘n More.

This is absolutely a team effort. My family is here all the time. My contractor friends of mine come in at 5 a.m. and open the store for me, make sure the donuts are done. Friends run the cash register. It’s a community thing. I’ve never seen anything like it. People come out of the woodwork to help. Surprises the hell out of me. And I give back. I donate donuts and coffee to Burlington Pop Warner and the Ice Palace.

The bowling alley across the street gives me free bowling in exchange for food. A friend of mine, the manager, Billy Pascoe at the Bowl-A-Way Lanes — he puts in 20 frames for us, and we cover the food for them.

Don’t confuse me with the Jerry Ellis up the street at Building 19 ½, like the mailman did. He saw my name and automatically sent their mail down here to me. I called the other Jerry Ellis at Building 19 and we had a good laugh.

Don’t ask how — because the answer is very long and complicated — but somehow my Donuts ‘n More is operating right next to the Dunkin’ Donuts on Cambridge Street. Dunks has a bigger dining area and bigger parking lot and drive-through, but I’ve got a whole dream team of Burlington townies.

R.I.P. to both Jerry Ellises. The Building 19 Jerry Ellis died in 2017. Burlington’s Jerry Ellis died May 17, 2025. This article is based on his chat with Burlington Retro years ago. Looking back on his donut shop, he said, “It couldn’t be duplicated today. Too many restrictions on packing, labeling ingredients and so on. I didn’t even have a basement or a real storage room. This place was built on a slab foundation.” He opened shops in Ipswich ad Wilmington, but those towns didn’t have the local spirit of Burlington. Alas, Donuts ‘n More eventually lost out to Dunkin’ and became Donuts No More — literally. Some wise guy added a letter “o” to the sign after the place folded in 1988.