What Happened on Sheridan Drive

On Friday evening, October 9, 2026, a car crashed into the front of Paula's Donuts at 2319 Sheridan Drive in Tonawanda. WGRZ reported that the car hit the shop after a multi-vehicle wreck. Crews closed Sheridan Drive eastbound between Logan and Gettysburg avenues while they worked the scene, and the crash damaged the front of the building.

Early reports didn't include details on injuries, what caused the wreck, or how long the Sheridan Drive shop might be affected. Those answers matter more than anything else in this story, and we'll leave them to the people who can confirm them. What we can tell you is why so many people across the 716 did a double take when they saw the name Paula's in a crash headline.

For a lot of folks around here, Paula's isn't just a place to grab breakfast. It's the kind of spot visitors remember long after they've gone home. One family who stopped in during a vacation wrote in a review that their kids asked to go back one last time before leaving town. That's the pull this place has. And the story of how it got there starts with one woman deciding she'd worked for other people long enough.

Paula's Leap at 40

Paula Huber knew the donut business long before her name went on a sign. According to WKBW, she owned a different donut franchise and worked in several bakeries before she started asking herself a simple question: why keep doing all that work for somebody else when she could be doing it for herself?

In 1996, at 40 years old, she changed careers and made the jump. The first Paula's Donuts opened on the corner of Kenmore and Englewood avenues. That building later became a CVS, but the business that started there never stopped growing.

Paula's own philosophy sits right on the shop's website: "If you love what you do, you will never work a day in your life." It's the kind of line you'd expect to find on a coffee mug, except the shop she built has been living it for 30 years.

Paula's has always called itself family owned and operated, and the family part is real. Paula's daughter, Christy Worthington, managed the Union Road shop in West Seneca, according to WKBW. When Larkin Development Group announced the Larkinville location, it talked about working with Paula and Chuck Huber "along with the rest of their family." And in 2019, when the New York State Senate honored the business, it was Chuck and Paula Huber who accepted the plaque.

The Smell That Meets You at the Door

Anyone who has walked into Paula's knows the first thing that gets you. One Buffalo writer described it as the warm, sweet smell of donuts fresh from the fryer drifting out of the kitchen to greet everyone who comes through the door. That same writer had just moved to Buffalo and said she lost count of how many times people told her to get to Paula's during her first month in town.

Behind that smell is a lot of old-fashioned work. Paula's donuts are hand cut and made fresh every day right on the premises. Every creation starts from one of two bases, yeast or cake dough. Yeast donuts get rolled out, shaped, and sent into the proofer to rise in the warmth for about 20 minutes before they ever hit the fryer.

Then there's the peanut stick. If you grew up around here, you probably don't need an explanation, but for everybody else, it's a cake donut bar completely coated in crushed, roasted peanuts. Roadfood called it a Western New York legend and joked that anybody who eats them regularly probably has a very messy car. WKBW reported that the peanut stick sits at the top of Paula's best-seller list.

Roadfood also fell for Paula's "angel cream," a light, fresh whipped filling that shows up in many of the filled donuts, and described the Sheridan Drive shop as bright, cheery, clean and big enough to feel like a donut superstore. And then there's the Texas Donut, Paula's enormous oversized creation that has become part of the shop's legend.

Christy Worthington once explained to WKBW what she thinks sets Paula's apart. "We don't cut corners," she said. As prices went up over the years, she explained, Paula's never shrank its donuts or skimped on the filling. They just absorbed it and kept going.

45,000 Cannoli Donuts in Five Days

If you want to understand what Paula's means to this area, look at March 2019.

That year, Paula's ran its Hospice week fundraiser with a cannoli donut, and Western New York lost its mind over it. Lines stretched out the door. According to WKBW, every cannoli donut was cut, powdered and filled by hand each day. Over five days, the crew made more than 45,000 of them. Most employees picked up extra shifts, and the team logged hundreds of hours of combined overtime.

Then came the detail that says the most about this place. People who didn't even work at Paula's anymore started calling to ask if any of the shops needed help. Former employees came back to pitch in.

When it was over, Paula's had raised $61,278.95 for Hospice Buffalo. Paula gave the credit right back to the community. "People in Western New York are the most generous kind people around," she told WKBW.

The cannoli donut was only supposed to be around for a week. It got so popular that Paula's made it a regular menu item after Easter. The next year, a chocolate chip cookie dough donut raised more than $45,000 for Hospice Buffalo over six days. By 2021, WKBW reported that the annual "Raise the Dough" sale had raised more than $100,000 for Hospice and Palliative Care Buffalo over the years.

Hospice isn't the only cause, either. In August 2020, Paula's sold Thin Mint and Caramel Delite donuts and raised $19,000 for the Girl Scouts of Western New York.

What Happens at Closing Time

Not every good deed at Paula's comes with a special donut or a big fundraising total. Some of it happens quietly at the end of the day.

Christy Worthington told WKBW that the shops strip their cases every day and donate the leftover donuts to food banks, City Mission, and shelters serving veterans, women and children. Pretty much anytime someone asks for help, she said, Paula's tries to help where it can.

That kind of giving gets noticed. In 2019, State Senator Mike Ranzenhofer presented Paula's with a New York State Senate Empire Award, which recognizes businesses that create jobs, help spur economic growth and make real contributions to their communities. He praised Paula's for providing quality jobs and for giving back to the community in a lot of different ways.

The giving hasn't slowed down. Paula's set aside October 2026 for a breast cancer awareness fundraiser, donating half of all sales of its Dragon Fruit Refresher from October 1 through October 31 to Sweet Buffalo and Making Strides Against Breast Cancer of Buffalo.

From One Corner to Four Shops

That first shop on Kenmore and Englewood turned into a lot more. When Paula's opened its third location, in Southgate Plaza on Union Road in West Seneca, it was the brand's first shop in the Southtowns. Customers waited in long lines outside on opening day, and the crowds kept coming the next day too. According to WKBW, Paula had noticed how many Southtowns folks were already making the drive up to Tonawanda for her donuts, so she decided to bring the donuts to them.

Kelly Jaskowiak, a manager and baker who had worked at Paula's since day one, summed up that opening pretty well. "It's absolutely crazy, but exciting," she told WKBW.

Paula's made its move into the city of Buffalo in July 2021, opening at 872 Seneca Street on the corner of Seneca and Smith streets in Larkinville. The shop was supposed to open in the fall of 2020, but the pandemic pushed it back. When the location was first announced, Paula said the company had received numerous requests over the years to open a shop in the city.

Paula's now has four locations: Sheridan Drive in Tonawanda, Union Road in West Seneca, Transit Road in Williamsville, and Seneca Street in Buffalo. And in late 2025, when Famous Doughnuts announced it was retiring after 80 years in business, Dash's Market partnered with Paula's to help fill the gap on its shelves.

Pulling for Sheridan Drive

We don't know yet what the coming days hold for the Sheridan Drive shop. Damage to the front of a building can mean a lot of different things, and the people involved in Friday's wreck come first.

But if Paula's history tells us anything, it's that this crew knows how to show up. These are the folks who hand filled 45,000 cannoli donuts in five days. Their former employees called asking to come back and help. They've spent years sending leftover donuts to City Mission and local shelters at the end of every day.

Western New York has shown up for Paula's for 30 years, from the lines outside Southgate Plaza to the cannoli rush of 2019. Paula once said people here are the most generous around. Here's hoping the 716 proves her right one more time.

Keep an eye on Paula's Donuts on social media for updates on the Sheridan Drive shop. Paula's other shops on Union Road, Transit Road and Seneca Street weren't part of Friday's crash, and a peanut stick has never been a bad way to say you're in someone's corner.