The Brief

In a region packed with doughnut shops, Moonbridge Doughnut Studio in Long Beach stands out from the crowd with its eclectic designs, including edible berry crumb Labubus and a series inspired by author Roald Dahl.

I’ve had my eye on Moonbridge, which is on the corner of East Spring Street and Palo Verde Avenue, for more than six months — ever since images of its doughnuts inspired by the TV show Avatar: The Last Airbender popped up on my Instagram feed in February.

So I headed to the shop early Thursday morning to satisfy my hunger — and curiosity — and to see if the treats are worth the hype.

Co-owner Anabelle Brown told LAist the look and feel of Moonbridge are as if famed director Wes Anderson had a quirky little sister who went to art school and then opened up a doughnut shop.

For Roald Dahl week, the James and the Giant Peach doughnut featured a tiny peach plopped in the center and chocolate insect-shaped decorations to represent the main characters.

An “Ube Wan Cannoli” doughnut, with a chocolate-covered pretzel that looks like a lightsaber, combined tributes to the Star Wars movies and Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month.

And in an homage to Japanese filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki, the “Soots in Cahoots” doughnuts were covered in colorful stars and three soot sprites from his movie Spirited Away.

“We tried to not only be, like, aesthetically pleasing but really try to communicate our story,” Brown said, adding that the story of the shop is “very heartfelt for us.”

She noted that she and co-owner Kim Gros were intentional about opening the shop in Long Beach “because our stories connect so much in this area,” including other shops owned by Brown’s family.

Anabelle Brown, co-owner of Moonbridge Doughnut Studio in Long Beach.

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Makenna Sievertson

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LAist

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How Moonbridge came to be

Brown was approached by Gros a few years ago with her concept of opening an artisanal doughnut shop with quality coffee that could bring a lot of joy to customers, in part, by incorporating pop culture into the fare.

Brown, who has a background in baking and art, said she felt confident exploring ideas for new designs and flavors, but doughnuts were a new medium.

Brown, who is Cambodian American, comes from a long line of doughnut shop owners. Five of her relatives run shops in California and Arizona, including the Long Beach bakery Simone’s Donuts. The business’ namesake is Brown’s grandmother.

Co-owner Anabelle Brown grabs doughnuts for a pair of customers at Moonbridge Doughnut Studio in Long Beach.

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Makenna Sievertson

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LAist

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Doughnuts are a big part of the L.A. County landscape, which can be traced back to one man who came to California from Cambodia in 1975 and later bought a doughnut shop. He wound up sponsoring many Cambodians who came to the U.S. during a refugee wave in the late 1970s, and he taught them the doughnut biz.

Brown didn’t grow up working in her relatives’ shops. Her father took a different path. He became an architect.

But the “doughnut shop world,” as she put it, wasn’t completely foreign to her.

“This idea and this concept felt very accessible for me,” she said. “And it was just like, ‘OK, I just need to learn the way of, like, the doughnut shop.’”

Brown studied her family’s shops, something she called a “personal doughnut pilgrimage,” learning how to make the pastries all on her own.

Brown’s grandfather died while she and Gros were developing the concept of the shop, and Moonbridge became even more meaningful, she said.

Moonbridge, which officially opened in April 2024, is a “love letter” to the people who’ve come before, she said, while “trying to create a place that feels celebratory and joyful.”

Quirky creations

Moonbridge is best known for its creative pop culture themes, including a series of six doughnuts inspired by Mean Girls that launched Thursday. Some of the doughnuts are named after well-known quotes from the 2004 movie.

The “It’s October 3rd” doughnut is coated in malted strawberry milkshake icing, as is the “Get in Loser” option, which is also topped off with a tiny pink car.

As one Instagram user — @phoebe_eats — wrote in a comment: It's the collab "millennials all need to heal our heart."

I had to grab the “Burn Book” doughnut, a reference to a key plot point in the movie, made with salted malted vanilla icing and black-and-white letters that looked freshly affixed by Regina George, the queen mean girl herself.

The dough felt light and fluffy under all the icing, but it also wasn’t too sweet to discourage me from taking another bite.

“We still try to have certain flavors and items that feel nostalgic or classic, but just having our own Moonbridge twist to things,” Brown said.

Brown has taken songs or scenes from movies and TV shows and transformed them into doughnuts, including “Speed Demon” by Justin Bieber with a tiny car and the chocolate cake confession with Miss Trunchbull from the movie Matilda, which was coated in ganache.

Brown has a spreadsheet titled “reckless abandon mode” that includes all of Moonbridge’s new flavors, recipes and lineups, which she said helps keep her creative juices flowing.

How to taste it for yourself

Moonbridge Doughnut Studio

Where: 6344 E. Spring St., Long Beach

When: Seven days a week, 7 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Please note: The themed doughnuts are available on the counter starting at 9 a.m., but you can also pre-order to make sure you don’t miss out.

The shop shares its upcoming lineup on Instagram, including a KPop Demon Hunters theme in about two weeks and Twilight at the end of October, as well as The Grinch and Nightmare Before Christmas in December.

Moonbridge's "Coffee & Cigarettes" doughnut includes java chip icing and an Italian breadstick with "ash" made of Oreo cookie crumbs.

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Makenna Sievertson

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LAist

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This story first appeared on The LA Local.

Since 1977, Richard Santillan has been to every Opening Day game at Dodger Stadium. 

“The tradition goes from my father, to me, to my children and grandchildren. Some of my best memories are with my father and children here at Dodger Stadium,” Santillan told The LA Local, smiling under the shade of palm trees near the entrance to the ballpark Wednesday morning. He was there to protest the team less than 24 hours before Opening Day.

Santillan, like countless other loyal Dodgers fans, is grappling with his fan identity over the team’s decision to accept an invitation to the White House and owner Mark Walter’s ties to ICE detention facilities.

More than 30 people joined Santillan on Wednesday morning for a press conference held near 1000 Vin Scully Drive to convey a message directly to the team. 

“We are demanding the Dodgers stop participating in funding of inhumane treatment of families and do not go to the White House to celebrate with the criminal in chief,” Evelyn Escatiola told the crowd. “Together, we have the power to make a change.”

Escatiola, a former dean of East Los Angeles College and longtime community organizer, urged fans to flex their economic power by “letting the Dodgers know that we do not support repression.”

Jorge “Coqui” Rodriguez, a lifelong Dodgers fan, spoke to the crowd and called on Dodgers ownership to divest from immigration detention centers owned and operated by GEO Group and CoreCivic.

Jorge Coqui H Rodriguez speaks at a press conference outside Dodger Stadium on March 25, 2026, to demand the Dodgers not to visit the White House following their 2025 World Series win.

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J.W. Hendricks

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The LA Local

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In a phone interview a day before the protest, Rodriguez told The LA Local he did not want the Dodgers using his “cheve” or beer money to fund detention centers. 

“They can’t take our parking money, our cacahuate money, our cheve money, our Dodger Dog money and invest those funds into corporations that are imprisoning people. It’s wrong,” Rodriguez said. 

Rodriguez considers the Dodgers one of the most racially diverse teams and said the players need to support fans at a time when heightened immigration enforcement has become more common across L.A.

The team’s 2025’s visit to the White House drew ire from the largely Latino fan base, citing the Trump administration’s ongoing attacks on immigrants. 

In June, the team came under further scrutiny when rumors swirled online that federal immigration agents were using the stadium’s parking, which immigration authorities later denied in statements posted on social media accounts.

The team again came under fire after not releasing a statement on the impacts of ICE raids on its mostly Latino fan base at the height of immigration enforcement last summer. The team later agreed to invest $1 million to support families affected by immigration enforcement.

When he learned the Dodgers were pledging only $1 million to families in need, Rodriguez called the amount a  “slap in the face.” 

“These guys just bought the Lakers for billions of dollars and they give a million dollars to fight for legal services? That’s a joke,” Rodriguez said. “They need to have a moral backbone and not be investing in those companies.”

According to reporting from the Los Angeles Times, former Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershawsaid last week that he is looking forward to the trip.

“I went when President [Joe] Biden was in office. I’m going to go when President [Donald] Trump is in office,” Kershaw said. “To me, it’s just about getting to go to the White House. You don’t get that opportunity every day, so I’m excited to go.”

The Dodgers have yet to announce when their planned visit will take place. 

Santillan sometimes laments his decision to give up his season tickets in protest of the team. His connection to the stadium and the memories he has made there with family and friends will last a lifetime, he said. On Thursday, he will uphold his tradition and be there for the first pitch of the season, but with a heavy heart.

“It’s a family tradition, but the Dodgers have a lot of work to do,” he said.

A local favorite mom-and-pop bookshop in Eagle Rock is facing displacement due to a steep rent hike. The owners say theirs is just one of several small businesses along Eagle Rock Boulevard struggling to keep up with lease increases.

Over the past 19 years, many in the neighborhood have come to love READ Books for its eclectic collection of used titles and shop dog Florence.

Co-owner Jeremy Kaplan said it’s been a delight to grow with the community over the years.

“Like seeing kids come back in, who were in grade school and now they’re in college,” Kaplan said.

But the building where Kaplan and wife Debbie rent was recently sold, and the rent increased by more than 130% to $2,805 a month, Kaplan said. He told LAist it was an increase his small business simply could not absorb.

Kaplan said he originally was given 30 days notice of the rent increase. After some research, assistance from Councilmember Ysabel Jurado’s office and some pro-bono legal help, Kaplan said he pushed back and got the 90-day notice he’s afforded by state law.

California Senate Bill 1103 requires landlords to give businesses with five or less employees 90 days’ notice for rent increases exceeding 10%, among other protections.

Systems Real Estate, the property management company, did not immediately respond to LAist’s request for comment.

What can small businesses do? 

Nadia Segura, directing attorney of the Small Business Program at pro bono legal aid non-profit Bet Tzedek said California law does not currently allow for rent control for commercial tenancies.

Outside of the protections under SB 1103, Segura said small businesses like READ Books don’t have much other recourse. And even then, commercial landlords are not required to inform their tenants of their protections under the law.

“There’s still a lot of people that don’t know about SB 1103. And then it’s very sad that they tell them they have these rent increases and within a month they have to leave,” Segura said.

She said her group is seeing steep rent hikes like this for commercial tenants across the city.

“We are seeing this even more with the World Cup coming up, the Olympics coming up. And I will say it was very sad to see that also after the wildfires,” Segura said.

Part of Bet Tzedek’s ongoing work is to advocate for small businesses, working with landlords who are increasing rents to see if they are willing to give business owners longer leases that lock in rents.

What’s next 

After READ Books posted about their situation on social media, commenters chimed in to express their outrage and love for the little shop.

While he looks for a new spot, Kaplan says he’s forming a coalition of local businesses and activist groups to see what can be done to help other small businesses facing similar displacement. He wants to address the displacement issue for businesses like his, which have made Eagle Rock the distinctive neighborhood that it is today.

Owl Talk, a longtime Eagle Rock staple selling clothing and accessories in a unit in the same building as READ Books, is facing a “more than double” rent increase, according to a post on their Instagram account.

Kaplan said he’s been in touch with the office of state Assemblywoman Jessica Caloza and wants to explore the possibility of introducing legislation to set up protections for small businesses like his, including rent-control measures or a vacancy tax for landlords. Kaplan said he also reached out to the office of state Sen. Maria Durazo.

By his count, Kaplan said there are about a dozen businesses within surrounding blocks that are at risk of closing their doors or have shuttered due to rent increases or other struggles.

When READ Books was founded during the Great Recession, Kaplan said he knew it was a longshot to open a bookstore at the same time so many were struggling to stay in business.

“It was kind of interesting to be doing something that neighborhoods needed. That was important to me growing up, that was important to my children, that was important to my wife growing up,” Kaplan said.

“And then somebody comes in and says, ‘We’re gonna over double your rent.”

Topline:

Frozen budget: Most of the city’s Bureau of Street Lighting budget comes from an assessment that people who own property illuminated by lights pay on their county property tax bill. The amount people pay depends on the kind of property they own and how much they benefit from lighting. A typical single-family home currently pays $53 annually, and in total, the assessments bring in about $45 million annually for the city to repair and maintain streetlights. Changing the amount the Bureau of Street Lighting gets from the assessment requires a vote among property owners who benefit from the lights.

Ballots: L.A. City Council’s vote gives city staff the green light to prepare and send out those ballots. Miguel Sangalang, who oversees the bureau, said at a committee meeting earlier this month that he expects to send out ballots by April 17. Notices about the ballots will be sent out prior to the ballots themselves.

Near unanimous vote: L.A. City Councilmember Monica Rodriguez was the only “No” vote Tuesday, saying she wanted to see a more current strategic plan for the bureau. Sangalang said the bureau developed a plan in 2022 that lays out how money will be spent. Councilmember Imelda Padilla was absent for the vote.

Vote count: Votes will be weighted according to the assessment amount. Basically, the more you’re asked to pay yearly to maintain streetlights, the more your vote will count. Ballots received before June 2 will be tabulated by the L.A. City Clerk.

How much more money: According to a report, the amount needed in assessments from property owners to meet the repair and maintenance needs of the city’s streetlighting in the next fiscal year is nearly $112 million.

Use of the money: Sangalang said at a March 11 committee meeting that the extra funds would be used to double the number of staff to handle repairs and procure solar streetlights, which don’t face the threat of copper wire theft. That would all potentially reduce the time it takes to repair simple fixes down to a week. Currently, city residents wait for months to see broken streetlights repaired. The assessment would come with a three-year auditing mechanism.