NORTH WALES — Imagine your average donut. Sugar, fat-filled, greasy, and dripping with glaze and sprinkles. Something that is so often seen as an American guilty pleasure has been completely re-imagined as part of Jarihanna Eustate’s new North Wales restaurant, Woah Nutrition, in the form of a protein donut.

After immigrating to the United States in 2013, Eustate has been a distributor for Herbalife Nutrition, a company that sells products such as protein powders and vitamin supplements. But she soon found out that their biggest seller, protein powder, wasn’t for everyone in its purest form.

“I really wanted to make [the powder] more accessible to consumers, you know,” Eustate said. “So I decided to make waffles and donuts with it, substituting the protein powder for the flour base.” And with each donut only containing 3 grams of sugar and 80 calories, while boasting 9 grams of protein and the same great donut taste and texture that you’re used to, they took off pretty quickly.

This unique idea began to spin off into a business, and she chose North Wales as its base.

“There was nothing else like it in the area, and yet all the other local businesses compliment it perfectly.” And they do indeed; Woah Nutrition is within walking distance to a yoga studio, an athletic footwear store, an organic vegan restaurant, a gym, and more.

Social media has also been a big help with the store’s growth, with over 80% of Woah’s customers finding out about the establishment through their handle @whoaanutrition on Instagram and Snapchat.

While other businesses, especially restaurants, have struggled through the pandemic, Woah Nutrition has only begun to operate during these times. Having opened its doors in October of 2020, Eustate, working alone during the week and with 2 staff members during the weekends, has had to take precautions very seriously, especially considering the small size of her establishment.

“We went from just take-out and delivery for a while to mostly in-person pick-ups,” she said. “But this virus is still just such a burden, so when we get out of it, we’ll really be able to see where we’ll be able to get to.”

With a menu changing bi-weekly, you’ll always have something new to try at Woah Nutrition. But the restaurant’s mainstays are items such as their protein waffles, their loaded teas, their shakes, and, of course, their donuts. Some flavors of donuts are Fruity Pebbles, Oreo, Coconut, Cinnamon Toast Crunch, and many more, but my personal favorite was the Oreo donut, specifically with the French Vanilla oil-based glaze.

One neat thing about Woah Nutrition is that if you’re a student of North Penn and are interested in checking them out, just show your school ID at checkout and receive 10% off!