Thousands Indulge on Malasadas on Fat Tuesday

KAPAHULU (KHNL) - Fat Tuesday means one thing in Hawaii -- Malasada Day. And that means a busy day for Leonard's Bakery.

"tiring," said Darlene Young, manager at the Kapahulu location. "But yet it's great to see all the happy faces coming in. Gotta have their malasadas."

"They're tasty, they're fresh, they're warm right out of the oven," said Bob Allen. "and I figure I take it to the office, and I'll get some points for it."

The lines are long, but worth it for these dedicated doughnut lovers waiting to indulge in these tantalizing treats. Some have come a long way.

"It's the first morning we've been in Hawaii, and we wanted to have some fresh malasada," said Mark Kobayashi, visiting from California.

"My dad lived here for about eight years, and so he told us about malasadas," said Kayla Mogil, visiting from Seattle. "We tried them for the first time last year, and we want more."

Leonard's founders came up with the idea of malasada day several years ago.

"The reason they ate all the malasadas was it used to be cooked in animal fat," said Young. So with the animal fat, they could pig out or eat a lot of meat to substitute before they went into the lent."

And now everyone knows on the day the rules go out the window, malasadas have to be on the menu. But that doesn't mean they'll come off the menu on Wednesday.

"We're coming back tomorrow too," said Mogil.

Leonard's doesn't keep count of how many malasadas they make on Fat Tuesday. They say, it's a number they'd rather not know, but guess it's in the thousands.

They say they make about triple the amount they do on any other day.