Ocean Springs favorite TatoNut is back in business with a new look. What you need to know
An Ocean Springs favorite is back in business.
The TatoNut Donut Shop, which closed after the January death of patriarch David Mohler, has reopened on Government Street. Mohler inherited the business from his father in the 1980s and cooked up doughnuts from potato flour with wife Theresa by his side.
Now a third generation, daughter Katelyn, has taken over the business. TatoNut has been redesigned, with black-and-white family photos framed on one wall, a new display case and cherry-red chairs accenting a gray color scheme.
Counters with chairs line the front windows. Tuesday afternoon, a sign on the door said, “Sold out. Come see us again soon.” The shop is open from 6 a.m. to 5 p.m., Tuesday-Saturday.
Resident Carol Carpenter said she arrived at the shop at around 10:15 a.m. Tuesday to find that an enthusiastic crowd had scooped up all the doughnuts.
“I knew something was funny when a couple of parking places were open out front and there wasn’t a line around the corner to the post office,” she said. She wanted three dozen Persians, a roll with cinnamon, to share with neighbors and friends.
She loves TatoNut, she said, because, “It tastes great. It really does.”
She said her son, Matt Carpenter, and his friend, Jacob Latch, were honored to build the shop’s new table tops and display shelving.
At his wedding, Carpenter had a groom’s cake of 22 dozen TatoNut doughnuts and 22 doughnut holes, his mother said. There wasn’t one left.
Residents love not only the shop’s doughnuts but also the Mohlers, who have given much to the community.
Carpenter teared up when she talked about what the reopening means for her and others: “I’m just real thankful because they’re just a good, solid family. They believe in our community and support our community. It’s just real emotional because of all the family has been through.”
David Mohler died unexpectedly after coming down with COVID-19. He and his wife lost a young daughter, Sophia, to a rare brain cancer.
