It’s Not a Donut is located at 3012 Boardwalk (Glenwood Ave). Neapolitan graffa is one of the pillars of Neapolitan street food and one of the most appreciated desserts of Neapolitan cuisine. They were prepared mainly for the Carnival period, but today you can always taste them at every corner of the city.

The origin of the Neapolitan “graffa” (the current one in which potatoes are also used) dates back to around 1830, shortly after the birth of the famous “zeppole di San Giuseppe“, a cake typical of Father’s Day.

Although graffe are one of the most appreciated desserts of the Campania cuisine, it seems that the origin is however Austro-German. In fact, the term “graffa” derives from “krapfen”. The story goes that the name derives from a Viennese confectioner,”Cecilia Krapf”, who invented the recipe of this famous dessert back in the 17th century, and then only after, around the 18th century arrived in Italy during the Austrian domination.

A native of Naples, Le Graffe however has its ancestors placed in Austria. Starting from the etymology, that is from the origin of the word itself, the term “graffa” derives from the Austrian word “krapfen,” probably because the early doughnuts were invented by mistake by the cook Cecilia Krapf. At the end of the seventeenth century krapfen was essentially small fried dough stuffed with jam. However, during the Austrian domination in Italy, krapfen spread throughout the peninsula reaching as far as Naples. The Neapolitans who fell in love with this wonderfully sinful dessert welcomed it as their own and even ventured to make their own versions with very specific characteristics, calling it precisely Graffa, Italianizing the word ‘krapfen.’

Their grand opening will take place over Memorial Day Weekend. You can visit them on Facebook here> ( It’s Not a Donut | Facebook