Support for LAist comes from
Local and national news, NPR, things to do, food recommendations and guides to Los Angeles, Orange County and the Inland Empire
Stay Connected
Listen

Share This

Food

These Are The Most Wild Donuts In Los Angeles

Erick Galindo eating a donut with colorful captain crunch cereal on it, outside the Voodoo Donuts in Universal City.
WILD podcast host Erick Galindo eats a donut outside Voodoo Donuts in Universal City.
(
Megan Tan
/
LAist
)

Congress has cut federal funding for public media — a $3.4 million loss for LAist. We count on readers like you to protect our nonprofit newsroom. Become a monthly member and sustain local journalism.

I have a confession to make: When it comes to donuts, I am a man of simple pleasures.

Most of my favorite donut shops in Los Angeles are owned by Cambodian immigrants. The kind of places known for their iconic pink boxes, hard stirring straws, strong coffee, and those big glass sugar pourers. And my favorite donuts are on the smaller side — raised style and covered in powdered sugar. But every once in a while, I will indulge in some of the more creative fried dough cakes.

Erick Galindo's podcast takes you through those moments big and small that transform us forever.

In episode two of WILD: I Think I’m Falling in Love, we visit Voodoo Donuts in Universal City, as well as the original shop in Portland. If the name is not a dead give away, Voodoo Donuts is not your typical donut shop. It’s like a donut theme park where every fried creation feels like you’re riding a roller coaster of flavors. But even for someone like me, Voodoo has one of my favorite donuts of all time: the peanut butter and jelly donut.

Support for LAist comes from

Listen to the episode

Listen 28:28
Mount Rushmore, Part 1: Erick is excited about a trip to Mt. Rushmore, until the party crasher arrives.

Like Voodoo, all the places on this list have a unique aspect about them that pushes me out of my donut comfort zone and into eating something wild — like a donut stuffed to the gills with strawberries or one with a unibrow. They are also some of the most iconic L.A. joints.

Randy’s Donuts

The exterior of the legendary Randy's Donuts in Inglewood, instantly recognizable by the ginormous donut erected on the rooftop.
You know you're at Randy's long before you actually arrive, thanks to the instantly recognizable landmark donut.
(
Randy’s Donuts
)

There are few donut shops connected to a place’s identity like Randy’s Donuts. It’s our Eiffel Tower. If you see a giant Randy’s donut on the top of a shop, you know you’re in Los Angeles. The spot most people think about is Randy’s Inglewood location. Here’s what the Los Angeles Conservancy says about the building: “Randy’s Donuts is an unquestionable icon of 1950s Los Angeles for obvious reasons: it is a typical mid-century drive-up restaurant with a giant donut on its roof.”

It’s where Tony Stark is eating in Iron Man 2 and it’s featured in at least a dozen other films, including two of my favorites: Dope and Blood In, Blood Out. The best part of Randy's these days is that it's not just in the in Wood anymore; it’s everywhere. From the South Bay to Southeast L.A. to the Westside to the San Gabriel Valley, to places as far as the Inland Empire, San Diego, Las Vegas, Asia, and even Paris. But so iconic is the original building at West Manchester in Inglewood that if I saw a Randy’s Donut shop with the Eiffel Tower in the background, I’d still feel like I was home.

Support for LAist comes from

Besides the nostalgia factor, Randy’s has so many kinds of donuts from the classic ones like sugar to wilder ones like a matcha tea glaze. It’s also the only place I’ll have a bear claw or an apple fritter. But my favorite when I want to experiment at Randy’s is the red velvet with ganache.

Multiple locations

The Donut Hole

The wildest donuts at The Donut Hole are the two giant ones you drive through to get your order.

The Donut Hole also has a walk-up window if you don’t have a car, but it’s entirely a takeout donut shop inside a building shaped like a giant donut, which means you drive through the middle of the donut hole like it’s some delicious tunnel. I’d argue this San Gabriel Valley shop is as iconic as Randy’s giant donut rooftop. It definitely doesn’t get the same hype but it’s got the goods, including a cute-looking rainbow donut that comes with blue sky-colored frosting, whipped cream clouds, and a candy rainbow bridge over the hole.

15300 Amar Road, La Puente, CA 91744

Support for LAist comes from

The Donut Man

Donut Man, Donut Man, Donut Man. Contraband. Contraband. Contraband. You got to imagine that in Childish Gambino’s voice from his hit song “This Is America.” That’s because The Donut Man's fruit-covered, richly glazed donuts sometimes hit like a sick one. The decked-out strawberry donut in particular is worth what can sometimes be a very long line to get your hit. Bonus point if you visit in the summer and score one of their heavenly peach donuts.

915 E. Route 66, Glendora, CA 91741
&
317 S. Broadway, Los Angeles, CA, 90013 (Inside of Grand Central Market)

Donas

Donas used to be within walking distance from my house and it was my gateway into wild donut experimentation. It was the first time I tried things like chicharron or bionicos or mazapan dust on a donut. They even have a buttercream donut inspired by Frida Kahlo called the Fridona.

Support for LAist comes from

Donas is smaller and newer than a lot of the shops on this list, but it’s a Southeast L.A. gem that has gone viral multiple times. It’s brought droves of people from all over the country to SELA for a shot at posting one of Donas' creative creations on social media.

15729 Downey Ave., Paramount, CA 90723
&
14117 Hubbard St., Sylmar, CA 91342

How do I find the WILD podcast?

It's now available from LAist Studios. Check it out wherever you get your get podcasts! Or listen to the second episode on the player above.

About this season
  • Season Two of LAist Studios' WILD podcast is out now. We recommend you listen to Episode 2 as an accompaniment to this essay. The second season is a nine-part serialized fiction rom-com for your ears. It centers a couple from Southeast L.A., who embark on a road trip adventure across America. Will their relationship survive the trip? Find out on WILD Season 2: I Think I'm Falling In Love, co-hosted by Erick Galindo and Megan Tan, and starring Melinna Bobadilla, Gabrielle Ruiz, and Atsuko Okatsuka.

As Editor-in-Chief of our newsroom, I’m extremely proud of the work our top-notch journalists are doing here at LAist. We’re doing more hard-hitting watchdog journalism than ever before — powerful reporting on the economy, elections, climate and the homelessness crisis that is making a difference in your lives. At the same time, it’s never been more difficult to maintain a paywall-free, independent news source that informs, inspires, and engages everyone.

Simply put, we cannot do this essential work without your help. Federal funding for public media has been clawed back by Congress and that means LAist has lost $3.4 million in federal funding over the next two years. So we’re asking for your help. LAist has been there for you and we’re asking you to be here for us.

We rely on donations from readers like you to stay independent, which keeps our nonprofit newsroom strong and accountable to you.

No matter where you stand on the political spectrum, press freedom is at the core of keeping our nation free and fair. And as the landscape of free press changes, LAist will remain a voice you know and trust, but the amount of reader support we receive will help determine how strong of a newsroom we are going forward to cover the important news from our community.

Please take action today to support your trusted source for local news with a donation that makes sense for your budget.

Thank you for your generous support and believing in independent news.

Chip in now to fund your local journalism
A row of graphics payment types: Visa, MasterCard, Apple Pay and PayPal, and  below a lock with Secure Payment text to the right
(
LAist
)

Trending on LAist