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Best Doughnuts in L.A.
What's the one holiday that can bridge all divides, bring together all Americans regardless of race, color, gender, age or favorite college football team? National Doughnut Day. Celebrated the first Friday of June, it's a great excuse to treat friends, co-workers and most importantly yourself to a few dozen doughnuts. (Heck, who's counting?)
The perfect marriage of starch, sugar and fat, the doughnut is the quintessential working man's snack. Perhaps that's why nearly every doughnut shop in the city -- Krispy Kreme, Magee's, Spudnuts, Winchell's, Yum Yum or any of the thousands of strip mall vendors -- offers a passable version. As long as they're not horribly stale, I'm happy to eat these miraculous deep-fried concoctions anytime, anywhere. But as a self-proclaimed doughnut aficionado I do have a few favorites. (I still weep for the demise of Frittelli's.)
And you can help humanity while you're fattening yourself. BakeMark will make a donation to the Salvation Army for each doughnut sold on June 5, 2009 at participating shops. Randy's Donuts is on the list.
Among the celebrity fans of this modest 35-year-old shop was Elvis, who used to send his bodyguard to purchase jelly doughnuts. But Donut Man is famous for its seasonal strawberry doughnut. Offered from February through the fall, it features probably half a basket of strawberries coated in pie glaze and heaped into a plain raised doughnut that's been sliced open. What most people don't know is that for a few weeks each summer, owner Jim Nakano also makes a peach version of this doughnut.
For years this Westwood doughnut shop has been feeding hungry UCLA students, but it's more than your average purveyor of fried balls of sweetened dough. In addition to all the standard raised and cake doughnuts, they have unique flavor combos like peanut butter-filled banana doughnuts topped with chocolate chips and a cheese-filled doughnut topped with blueberry glaze.
This stand in the Farmer's Market at Third and Fairfax makes doughnuts that are definitely better than your average doughnut. Bob's treats -- from the cinnamon crumb to the chocolate sprinkle to the apple fritter to the colorful and kooky donuts decorated like dinosaurs, pumpkins and kittens -- are a bit pricey compared to most doughnut shops, but what else would you expect from a tourist mecca like The Grove?
With its gargantuan rooftop doughnut, Randy's is probably the most iconic and most photographed doughnut shop in all of Los Angeles (if not the world). Fortunately, they also make a point of frying up terrific doughnuts. Built in 1952, this humble, LAX-adjacent drive-through is open 24 hours-a-day, 7 days-a-week. We highly recommend the cinnamon crumb.
If you like Googie architecture and doughnuts, the Donut Hole has it all. You can't miss it. As you approach the drive-in, you'll see two mammoth chocolate doughnuts in a baker's box. There are two kinds of jelly doughnuts here, raspberry and lemon, both glazed. And the place is open 24 hours a day, so if the craving hits, you know where to go.
On Wednesday nights, pastry chef Mariah Swan whips up a variety of doughnuts you can mix and match. The menu changes about once a month, but among the goodies you might find: a creme brulee-filled doughnut with a crispy, caramelized sugar exterior; a blackberry white-chocolate glazed doughnut made with real blackberries. All the doughnuts are fried to order, so they arrive at your table piping hot and with that sweet, yeasty scent. Did we mention the side of homemade ice cream?
After opening this smart little bakery offshoot of his popular Santa Monica restaurant, Hans Rockenwagner added German Berliners, the ultimate jelly doughnut, to the menu. You can get these golden, sugar-dusted, raspberry jam-filled babies on Fridays only. Just be sure to come early; they consistently sell out. And on National Doughnut Day, they'll be offering vanilla Berliners as well.
The days are long gone when Du-Par's hand-frosted their doughnuts with what looked like an inch-thick layer of icing. But the doughnuts, in all their dense glory, are still around, and they're well worth trying. While Du-par's has long enshrined the mid-century moment with its unchanging decor and uniformed waitresses, it appeals not because of nostalgia but because the kitchen understands how to make simple but hearty coffee shop food.
Fancy and delicious doughnuts like the cake doughnut glazed with tangerine marmalade.
