Jitters returns to downtown Sioux City

And not only fresh but healthful too.

Jitters gained recognition from a public health initiative and moved into a new downtown location, at 306 Virginia St., in December.

“We’re just thrilled to be back downtown,” owner Sarah Kragthorpe said. “We took our time to find the right space and could not be happier. It’s just wonderful.”

The new space allows for more events like Brekky at Jitters, held on the third Thursday of each month from 8:30-10 a.m. for members of Western Iowa Tech Community College’s Institute of Lifelong Learning.

You can have scrambled eggs, bacon, toast, sausage and fruit, plus coffee and the house specialty – two Sunshine doughnuts, baked on site. Then, lean back and listen to live music performed by Siouxland’s very own singer-songwriter Jack Langley.

“That was something we couldn’t do in the other space,” Kragthorpe said. “We have a lot more room here.”

Even though Jitters has been in business for more than 14 years, Kragthorpe said people are still surprised the restaurant serves food.

"Everyone thinks of Jitters as the place to pick up coffee and Sunshine doughnuts," Kragthorpe said, shaking her head. "But we've always served a full menu of breakfast foods in addition to wraps and salads at lunchtime."

Last month, Jitters was designated as the first Blue Zones restaurant in Sioux City.

"It's an honor to be named the city's first Blue Zones restaurant," she said. "I've always made good food using the freshest of ingredients. That coincides with the goals of Blue Zones."

A cornerstone in an initiative to make Iowa the healthiest state in the nation, the Blue Zones Project named Sioux City as one of the organization's demonstration sites in January 2013.

The goal of the local Blue Zones restaurant committee is to ensure that 25 percent of Sioux City's independent or locally owned restaurants are designated by 2015.

In order to meet this criterion, restaurants must offer at least three healthful main dishes on its menu; serve entrees on 10-inch plates and drinks in tall, narrow glasses; and train servers to promote half-sized portions of top-selling entrees.

Kragthorpe had new menus made to highlight more healthful foods.

Additionally Blue Zones recommends restaurants not serve bread or chips before meals unless requested. Owners should also leave salt shakers off tables and encourage to-go boxes when diners are unable to finish their meals.

"Personally, I've always tried to live a healthy lifestyle that included exercise and taking care of myself in addition to having a good diet," Kragthorpe said. "When you think of these things as life choices, it doesn't seem quite so daunting."

Sunshine doughnuts continue to delight

It’s been quite a winding career path for Kragthorpe, a former field hockey player at tiny Luther College in Decorah, Iowa. She earned a degree in public communication in 1985 and interned at KTIV Channel 4, intent on entering the broadcasting field.

The Sioux City native worked for an international bicycle manufacturer before returning to her roots to start Jitters. During her stint in the biking industry, she traveled the world, living and working in England for nearly a decade.

“I’ve never had a business course,” she said.

But she’s thankful each day for the ray of “Sunshine” that boosts her Jitters enterprise.

“We are really grateful this opportunity came along to bring back a well-known Siouxland favorite,” Kragthorpe said. “Thanks to Sunshine doughnuts, people have found us. They’ll drive 60 miles for a dozen doughnuts.”

Sunshine doughnuts, a staple made by the Sunshine Food Market before it closed, were last made in Sioux City’s Indian Hills SuperValue. The store closed a few years ago and the doughnut machine was sold at auction. But the buyer wasn’t using it.

Kragthorpe tracked down the machine and started leasing it in September 2009. What makes Sunshine doughnuts special is that they’re good, old-fashioned cake doughnuts, not your typical raised variety.

“People have enjoyed Sunshine doughnuts for three and four decades,” Kragthorpe said. “Part of it’s that nostalgia, the tradition. And part of it is the fact they’re really good doughnuts.”

Jitters has attracted business from all over Siouxland, but has always been located on the north side of town and started in 1999 at the Indian Hills Shopping Center.

In 2011, Kragthrope opened a second shop on Pearl Street, doubling its operation. However, the downtown expansion lasted only a year. Kragthorpe opted not to renew her lease due to rising costs of having two locations.

Two weeks after the Pearl Street shop closed, she said she was in her real estate agent's office looking for a new downtown space. Business was good in Leeds, but the atmosphere and central location of downtown Sioux City was a better fit for the doughnut shop.

The new Virginia Street location, across from the Promenade Cinema, provides quick access for downtown workers and shoppers. Plus, there’s free parking behind the shop.

The location's new decor matches that atmosphere. Kragthorpe traded in her retro booths for an open space filled with tables and comfortable seating.

"I wanted it to be fresh and new," she said.

The urban coffee shop features modern décor, paired with industrial cement floors and a muted color palette – courtesy of the previous tenant, Johnathan Blake Home Décor.

Compared to the Leeds location, the Virginia Street shop also has nearly twice the kitchen space, which means more homemade treats and a much larger open seating area. But she didn't ditch Jitters' signature eclectic decor, with a handful of antique pieces and most of the shop's furniture coming from secondhand finds.

What can she say is, she likes that one-of-kind feeling – and has plenty of Sunshine doughnuts to show for it.