The first customer arrived at Sleeping Bird Doughnuts before 7 a.m., barely awake and ready for a treat. However, the shop, located at 4001 Concord Pike in Talleyville, wasn’t set to open until 8 a.m. When she pushed on the door, she found it locked.
Despite the early hour, a steady stream of customers soon began to form. Many chose to wait in their cars until just before opening time. By 10 minutes to 8, a line stretched down the side of the building, past Lucky’s Coffee Shop.
Among the eager customers was Krisinda Alberto, a teacher buying doughnuts for her colleagues. “Tradition is tradition,” she said with a laugh, referring to the back-to-school tradition of bringing doughnuts for teachers. At the front of the line was Mik Patel, who had returned for more of the shop’s brioche rings after sampling them the previous week.
The enthusiasm was justified. By late morning, Sleeping Bird had sold out of its daily batch of 739 doughnuts. This rapid sell-out has been a daily occurrence since the shop’s opening, reflecting an excitement that is unusual for a bakery just five days old.
Sleeping Bird Doughnuts started as a side venture before becoming a local sensation. Initially, Zach DeLong and Leigh Ann Tona, the husband-and-wife duo behind the bakery, sold a limited number of doughnuts at their nearby coffee shop, Sleeping Bird Coffee. Their doughnuts quickly garnered a devoted following.
DeLong and Tona met years ago while running separate food trucks—she sold sandwiches and he sold coffee. They later combined their talents, opening Sleeping Bird Coffee in Wilmington. When their regular pastry supplier closed during the COVID-19 pandemic, they began baking their own pastries, including doughnuts, which proved exceptionally popular.
Sleeping Bird Doughnuts officially opened on August 22 in a small space behind Lucky’s Coffee Shop. Since then, the shop has been bustling with activity.
The shop’s doughnuts, priced between $3 and $4 each, are made from sweet, buttery brioche dough—a Rhode Island specialty that is rare in Delaware. The doughnuts are meticulously made from scratch, requiring hours of resting, proofing, and careful preparation. Flavors change frequently, with recent offerings including brown butter and honey frosted rings, Boston creams covered in chocolate and vanilla cream, and even a nostalgic brown-butter doughnut filled with cinnamon roll frosting.
The demand for these doughnuts has been overwhelming. DeLong and Tona, along with their small team, work long hours—typically 13-hour days—to keep up. They begin each day at 4 a.m. to prepare for the day’s batch, which sells out within hours. Despite their efforts, the high demand has led to frequent sell-outs, often by mid-morning.
The couple is actively hiring to expand their team and increase production. They hope to add another shift and eventually reduce their working hours to 10 hours a day. For now, doughnut enthusiasts continue to line up early to ensure they get a taste of Sleeping Bird’s offerings, often making their early arrival worthwhile with a box of doughnuts for the office.
On a recent Thursday, a woman arrived just after the shop had sold out and was surprised to see the sign reading “SOLD OUT.” Despite missing out, she appreciated the strong community support for the bakery.
Sleeping Bird Doughnuts operates Thursday through Sunday, from 8 a.m. until the doughnuts are gone.