The Brief

At the turn of the 21st century, L.A. was the donut capital of the world, with more donut shops per capita than any other city.

Even now, if you take a stroll, there’s a good chance you’ll pass a small mom-and-pop on many street corners.

But how did donuts become such an integral part of L.A.’s urban landscape?

Well, what if I told you that many current donut shops in L.A. and Orange County can be traced back to just one man.

The man, the myth, the Donut King

Ted Ngoy in "The Donut King" documentary.

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Courtesy Greenwich Entertainment

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In 1975, Ted Ngoy found himself in Camp Pendleton, California, after boarding the last passenger plane out of Cambodia to escape the Khmer Rouge.

Ngoy was part of the first wave of Cambodian refugees to come to the United States as their homeland fell into civil war and genocide.

In Southern California, Ngoy worked three jobs to earn money. One of them was at a gas station that just so happened to be attached to a donut shop.

One night, a co-worker offered Ngoy a donut. He took one bite of the fluffy fried dough and his American Dream was cemented.

As the story goes, Ngoy walked right into the donut shop and asked to buy the place. He was promptly laughed at and told to get a job at Winchell’s — which he did.

“Winchell's had this incredible manager training program, and you could go in, learn to bake donuts, learn the very basics, and within about three, six months, you would be handed the keys to your donut shop,” Alice Gu told guest host Austin Cross on LAist’s live public affairs program AirTalk with Larry Mantle. Gu is the filmmaker behind the documentary, The Donut King, which tells the story of Ngoy.

Gu said Ngoy soon became the manager of a Winchell’s in Newport Beach, but he still wasn’t satisfied.

After saving enough money, he eventually went back to the shop where it all began and made good on his original offer. A year later he bought another shop, and then another one.

“It's the complete embodiment of the American spirit and the American dream,” said Gu. “Within three years of landing in California he became a millionaire.”

A castle on every corner

He wanted to share that wealth with his community.

Ngoy wound up sponsoring many Cambodians who came to the United States during the second refugee wave in the late 70s, and he taught them what he knew: donuts.

“He accumulated all these donut shops, but then he would lease them back to them, so they had a chance at the American Dream themselves,” Gu said.

What started out as helping relatives and close friends became an entire niche industry for the Cambodian community.

“So every single donut shop is connected through six degrees of separation to Ted Ngoy,” Gu said.

Ted Ngoy making donuts in "The Donut King" documentary.

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Courtesy Greenwich Entertainment

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A family affair

A cousin of Ngoy started the company B&H that supplied the flour, sugar, and other goods to the donut shops. Another launched a company to manufacture the iconic pink boxes that Ngoy popularized, said Gu.

Why pink boxes? They were 10 cents cheaper than the standard white ones.

“It really became a complete industry within the Cambodian American community,” Gu said. “At his peak, [Ngoy] estimated that he was worth about 20 million. That's actually closer to a hundred million dollars in today's money.”

The king and all his 'donut kids'

“Ted Ngoy was a celebrity,” said Phung Huynh, an artist and educator in Los Angeles. “He was really a superstar for us, seeing somebody who escaped the genocide and was able to make it.”

Huynh heard about Ted Ngoy all the way in Michigan, where her family landed in 1978 after her father fled the Khmer Rouge by riding a bicycle across the border to Vietnam.

“Like many Cambodian refugees, we all wanted to go to California,” said Huynh. “You hear about Ted Ngoy, you hear about all the refugee communities from Cambodia and Vietnam going to California.”

Michelle Sou in a silkscreened portrait on a donut box by artist Phung Huynh.

In 1981, Huynh and her family moved to L.A.

Many in her immediate family became garment workers, but their lives were still inextricably linked to donuts.

“It was very common for a lot of aunties and uncles and family friends to either work in a donut shop or lease a donut shop. That was just like really a part of the culture,” said Huynh.

Ratana Kim in a silkscreened portrait on a pink donut box by artist Phung Huynh.

Now Huynh focuses her art that speaks to second and third generation Cambodian Americans, the self-anointed “donut kids” whose parents operated the stores. She paints portraits of Cambodian refugees on the pink donut boxes that have defined so many of their lives.

“I think when you go to a donut shop, you see happy people greeting you with these donuts but behind the counter is this really complicated history of genocide, of war, of the younger generation finding their place and sometimes being very disconnected and reconnected with their history,” she said.

It’s donuts all the way down

If you’re wondering which shop you can find the Donut King behind the counter now, you’ll be looking for a while.

Gu said after making his fortune, Ngoy developed a gambling problem and lost every penny — and every one of his shops.

“One by one, he literally bet the shops, and one by one, he lost all of his donut shops. It really was quite Shakespearean, or Icarus, if you will,” Gu said.

He now lives in Cambodia, retired from the donut shop business.

But his legacy continues as second and third generation “donut kids” continue to propel their family businesses into the 21st century.

For example, you can visit DK Donuts in Santa Monica, ran by Ngoy’s niece Mayly Tao for some four decades. Now, she operates Donut Princess LA, where the menu includes more trendy flavors and vibrant decorations, but Ngoy’s story can still be tasted in every bite.

After Jackie and Shadow, the famous bald eagle couple in Big Bear, lost their eggs last month, fans are holding out hope that they’ll lay a second round of eggs this season.

Bald eagles generally have one clutch — the group of eggs laid in each nesting attempt — per season. But a replacement clutch is possible if the eggs don’t make it through the early incubation process, according to Friends of Big Bear Valley.

The nonprofit runs a popular YouTube livestream of the nest and Jackie and Shadow.

In January, nest watchers were saddened to see the eggs were breached by ravens. But because the eggs were lost so early in the season, Jenny Voisard, the organization’s media manager, told LAist they’re hopeful there’s still time for another clutch.

Jackie is typically fertile and able to lay eggs January through April each year, according to the organization. Several years ago, Jackie laid a second clutch after the eggs were broken or breached by ravens.

Voisard said that while there’s no guarantees in nature, people are hopeful this isn’t the end of Big Bear’s nesting season.

“Chicks are always welcome and we love them so much, but we love Jackie and Shadow,” she said. “We're going to remain optimistic.”

What happened to the eggs?

Jackie laid the first egg of the season on Jan. 23 and the second egg on Jan. 26 as thousands of fans watched online.

By Jan. 30, viewers noticed that Jackie and Shadow had left their nest unattended for hours at a time.

Friends of Big Bear Valley wondered if the eagles were practicing delayed incubation, and whether a third egg was on the way for the third season in a row, according to Voisard. The Big Bear bald eagles have practiced delayed incubation in previous seasons, which is when they don’t incubate full time until the last egg is laid, usually three days apart.

Jackie with the first and second egg of the season in January.

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Friends of Big Bear Valley

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YouTube

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But that wasn’t the case this time.

“When the raven was able to get so close, we had suspicions,” Voisard said. “Earlier in the day, we were examining and rewinding and looking at one of the eggs because it wasn't looking right to us.”

The organization zoomed in with the livestream camera and confirmed an egg was cracked. A raven came back to the nest again later that day and breached both eggs.

“The fact that the egg was broken could have signaled to the raven to come,” Voisard said.

More bald eagles have been seen in the Big Bear area, and the animals’ territorial activity could have also contributed to Jackie and Shadow’s time away from their nest, according to the organization.

When Friends of Big Bear Valley announced the loss of the eggs on its Facebook page, which has more than 1 million followers, fans flooded the comments to share their sadness about the situation.

“My heart hurts for Jackie and Shadow,” a Facebook user wrote in a comment. “Do Eagles have feelings? Are they sad? Are they grieving? Are the[y] angry at the ravens?”

Voisard stressed that the ravens didn’t do anything wrong, nor did Jackie and Shadow. It’s just part of nature, she said.

Another Facebook comment asked why Friends of Big Bear Valley didn’t move the livestream camera around to try and scare the raven off.

While the organization understands the instinct to want to help the eagles, Voisard said humans are not allowed to intervene during nesting season.

What about past seasons?

A second clutch is possible if the eggs don’t make it through the early incubation process.

In 2021, Jackie laid the first egg on Jan. 6. It was destroyed by a raven the next day, according to organization records. Jackie laid the second egg Jan. 9 that year, and the third on Jan. 13. Both were broken or eaten by ravens.

But about a month later, Jackie had a second clutch of eggs.

She laid the first egg on Feb. 8, 2021 and the second three days later. One chick didn’t survive the hatching process, while the other egg wasn’t viable after more than 50 days of incubation.

In 2023, Jackie laid two eggs in mid-January that were both breached by ravens on March 7, according to organization records.

Voisard said Friends of Big Bear Valley volunteers were curious as to whether the eagle couple would lay another clutch that year. They came to believe later that it was too late in the season.

Looking ahead

The eagles have withdrawn from incubation and have been spending more time away from the nest, according to the nonprofit.

Voisard said the withdrawal was a “really good thing” that may open the door to more eggs.

For Jackie’s hormones to reset, the bald eagle duo need to go back to bonding and working on their nest, which Friends of Big Bear Valley refers to as the birds' “nestorations.” It typically includes deliveries of sticks and fluff to furnish their long-time nest, which is toward the top of a Jeffrey pine tree overlooking Big Bear Lake.

Big Bear's resident bald eagle couple, Jackie and Shadow, in their nest overlooking Big Bear Lake on Saturday.

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Friends of Big Bear Valley

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YouTube

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The duo did some of that work Sunday, which the organization said is a hopeful sign bonding and nesting behaviors may be returning. Shadow, or the “Stickman,” as some fans call him, has brought at least three new sticks to the nest since the eggs were lost, according to organization records.

Jackie and Shadow have also been heard mating in the area, according to Friends of Big Bear Valley.

This story was originally published by Boyle Heights Beat on Feb. 9, 2026.

East Los Angeles residents will soon have a chance to share their ideas on local government at a series of community forums, nearly a year after a report concluded that becoming a city wasn’t financially feasible.

The first of six East L.A. Community Forums will be held on Feb. 21 at Salazar Park in East L.A. Residents can attend in person or virtually to weigh in on whether a Municipal Advisory Council (MAC) or similar advisory body could benefit the unincorporated community.

How East L.A. is governed and what could change

Because East L.A. is not an incorporated city, it falls under direct oversight of L.A. County. That means decisions about services and developments are handled by county officials – in this case by Supervisor Hilda Solis, who represents the area and more than 2 million constituents.

If established, a MAC would be led by citizens and directly advise the county Board of Supervisors on issues unique to East LA.

MACs don’t have the power to make laws, authorize budgets or direct county operations but can, however, provide a structure for public input and give stakeholders a direct line of communication to county leadership. Some residents argue that the current governance structure does not adequately serve the community of nearly 120,000 and that an alternative form of representation could help address local needs.

Although the 2025 report detailed the fiscal challenges for incorporation, several East L.A. residents and stakeholders agreed that the push for the study was less about cityhood and more about financial transparency for East L.A.

Who is leading the outreach?

The forums are being led by the Los Angeles Economic Equity Accelerator and Fellowship (LEEAF) program through California State University, Los Angeles, at the direction of the county CEO’s office. According to a spokesperson, the outreach is expected to conclude in the spring with a report submitted to the Board of Supervisors by the end of July 2026.

LEEAF has conducted several analyses on the economics of unincorporated East L.A., its most recent being an assessment of how ICE raids impacted businesses in the area.

The forums are free and will focus on small, group conversations to allow all attendees to speak and share insight. Meetings will run for approximately 90 minutes and have a place for children ages 5-12 to play.

How to attend

Interested in making your voice heard at one of the forums? See a complete list of the meetings below. While RSVPs are suggested, they are not required.

• Feb. 21 at 2 p.m. at Salazar Park, 3864 Whittier Boulevard. Register here
• Feb. 26 at 5 p.m. at East LA Library, 4837 East 3rd Street. Register here
• Feb. 28 at 2 p.m. at City Terrace Park, 1126 North Hazard Avenue. Register here
• March 4 at 5:30 p.m. at East LA Service Center, 133 North Sunol Drive. Register here
• March 5 at 5:30 (Virtual meeting on Zoom) Register here
• March 7 at 2 p.m. at Saybrook Park, 6250 Northside Drive. Register here