If you want a donut as Instagram-worthy as it is delicious, look no further than MaMa YaTai & Donut. This restaurant is introducing Fort Lauderdale to its unique take on Asian-style street foods and desserts.
From classic flavors like crunchy caramel and powdered sugar to exciting twists such as Vietnamese coffee and guava cheese, there is something to satisfy every donut lover. Mama’s specialty donuts, including the best-selling Mama Flan and Mama Crème Brûlée, are also featured.
Renowned as one of the most buzzworthy Japanese bakeries in the country, MaMa YaTai & Donut not only carries the largest variety of mochi donuts but also holds a name with great meaning. “YaTai” is the Japanese word for street food, but “MaMa” refers to co-owner Loc Nguyen’s mother, the inspiration behind the trending bakery.
“She is a fantastic baker,” said Ly Chau, Loc’s wife and co-owner of MaMa YaTai & Donut. “She had her own bakery business back in Vietnam, and it was always her dream to have a store in the US that was doing the things she wanted and had the things she missed from her hometown, but with a twist of Japanese style.”
MaMa YaTai & Donut has grown in popularity since it opened in late 2022. Since going viral on social media, the Japanese-themed store sometimes sees lines that stretch outside the establishment. “We never thought that it would take off this much. We were just doing donuts in the beginning, and then it blew up on social media and it continued to grow,” Chau said. “So now we’ve just been trying to add new items that we think people would love to try or haven’t tried before.”
In addition to the beloved mochi donuts, the MaMa YaTai & Donut menu features mouthwatering corndogs, indulgent Japanese cakes and more. The owners’ goal is to share the flavors of Asian-style desserts with the Fort Lauderdale community and at its other two locations in Davie and Deerfield. “Even though South Florida is like a melting pot,” Chau explained, “I feel like we’re still missing a lot of the Asian-bakery-dessert-style type of businesses, and that’s what we want to target at MaMa YaTai & Donut.”
