Columbus woman opens funnel cake shop with a twist despite losing wages in shutdown
Melita Jefferson turned her childhood love for funnel cakes into a business, pushing ahead to open a shop in Columbus while being furloughed during the federal government shutdown.
Jefferson opened Da Funnel Cake Factory on Nov. 8 at 1128 Fort Benning Rd.
Formerly a Jamaican restaurant, patrons might have to look for the “Yummy Fast Food” sign to find Da Funnel Cake Factory, as Jefferson waits for her new signage to arrive.
But once drivers pull up to the building, they won’t miss the colorful, fair-themed artwork on the windows ensuring they’ve come to right place.
Inside the shop, colorful walls and decor accompany a sweet, fruity aroma as Jefferson and her employees take orders at the counter for the variety of made-to-order funnel cakes. The treats are creating a buzz on Facebook and the increasingly hyper-local TikTok algorithm.
Despite the challenges in opening Da Funnel Cake Factory, Jefferson told the Ledger-Enquirer, the positive feedback from the community has been a humbling experience.
“To be sitting in such a great limelight right now is an honor,” she said. “I’m just so thankful. This is unreal to me.”
A childhood passion
Jefferson has loved funnel cakes since she was a little girl, she said.
Some of her treasured childhood memories stem from going to the fair with her family and eating funnel cake once a year.
Then Jefferson found out she could eat and sell funnel cakes year-round.
There was a food truck business, named Dusty Bob’s, that specialized in funnel cakes for sale. The owner, Don, was selling after 30 years of business.
“He sold it to me,” she said. “And I just took the opportunity and the honor to make it grow even more.”
Jefferson tweaked his original recipe a bit, she said, but the concept and recipes stayed much the same. However, it was her own creativity that expanded the menu past the classic funnel cakes with the powdered sugar on top.
“That’s the original,” she said. “That’s how it’s supposed to be, right? But, we just kind of took it with a twist.”
Da Funnel Cake Factory offers a variety of options with fresh fruit such as strawberries, peaches and bananas.
Jefferson said customers should also expect some seasonal options, such as a menu item titled “Christmas Trees,” during the holidays.
“We will definitely change it up throughout the seasons,” she said.
Each of the funnel cake varieties are named after Jefferson’s family.
The original funnel cake is named after her mother, Michelle. Her son, DJ, is her “crazy child,” Jefferson said, so he inspired the menu item named “DJ Madness.”
Her second son, Derrick, loves football, which inspired “Derrick’s TD.” Her daughter Sam is “wild,” Jefferson said, so “Sam’s Strawberry” was fitting.
Her youngest child, Shawn, is her baby boy, Jefferson said. His funnel cake is named “Shawn’s Birthday.”
The introverted kids weren’t fans of having their own menu items, Jefferson said, but her own extroverted personality influenced them.
“I’m very outgoing, loving,” she said. “That’s why I call all the people that come to the restaurant of the food truck, ‘cousins.’”
Along with funnel cakes, the menu features other fair-style foods such as deep-fried Snickers, deep-fried apple pie and deep-fried cheesecake.
Opening during the government shutdown
Jefferson was out driving for DoorDash when she saw the location on Fort Benning Road for lease.
She called and fell in love with the location from the moment she visited, Jefferson said.
“When I drive up and down Fort Benning Road, I see good people,” she said. “I see a great community that is trying. I see local restaurants that are doing great things. So, there’s a large amount of people driving up and down here that spend their hard-earned money on a lot of small businesses here.”
On the side of her restaurant, Jefferson has created a small food pantry for people to donate food or pick food up if they need it.
“It doesn’t matter if you’re homeless,” she said. “It doesn’t matter what your situation is, if you go over there you can get food. You can get items, no questions asked. And nobody’s watching.”
The lead-up to opening the Fort Benning location was challenging because of the government shutdown, Jefferson said.
She works as a civilian government employee, she said, and was furloughed during the shutdown. Jefferson was not getting paid while the government was shuttered.
“Our bills were not getting paid,” she said. “It was kind of hard to not pay my home bills and still try to open up a restaurant …. It was a moment of turning off my personal life to invest fully.”
Jefferson took out a hardship loan to get through the financial difficulties, she said. There were nights that she cried and second-guessed if she was doing the right thing.
“What did I do? I should have taken that money to pay my bills, but I invested in a restaurant,” she said. “So now that a lot of people are thankful and enjoying it, it makes it all worth it. I would not redo this any other way.”
Uplifting other small businesses
Jefferson is not only using the space to sell her own funnel cakes, but she’s also providing a platform for other small businesses to sell their food and products as well.
Christi Murrell was in the restaurant with a table set up selling a variety of cakes and desserts on Nov. 21.
Murrell previously owned a soul food restaurant, The StrawHat, which was on Buena Vista Road in 2018. She liked doing soul food, but has had a passion for sweets since she graduated from culinary school in 2014.
This was her first time selling cakes in Da Funnel Cake Factory, Murrell told the Ledger-Enquirer, and she was thankful for the opportunity.
“(Jefferson) is very open with the community and helping everybody,” Murrell said. “She says, ‘(There’s) enough room for everybody.’”
Anyone interested in purchasing a cake from Murrell may contact her on The StrawHat Facebook page.
“I’m a big supporter of helping other small businesses,” Jefferson said. “It’s never just about me. We’re a community. I understand what it’s like to start from the ground zero.”
There are a variety of vendors and food trucks that pass through Da Funnel Factory, she said, including USA Cajun Station and Flavors of Philly.
“This is family-owned and family-oriented,” Jefferson said. “When you come in the door, I want you to feel like you’re family. You’re a cousin, so just come and feel welcome.”
This story was originally published November 25, 2025 at 6:00 AM.
