The Donut Man shop — famous for its strawberry doughnuts when the fruit is in season — in Glendora, California, will open a second location for the first time in its nearly 50-year history, also on Route 66 in downtown Los Angeles.
Donut Man has operated at 915 E. Route 66 in Glendora since 1972. The second location will be in the Grand Central Market at 317 S. Broadway Broadway in Los Angeles, which is near the original western terminus of Route 66 before it was extended to Santa Monica.
The Los Angeles Times reports:
The store will be located on the Broadway side of the market in stall A-1, near Eggslut and carnitas specialist Villa Moreliana. Unlike the original shop, which is open 24/7, the Grand Central location will be open from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily. Operations in Glendora will continue unchanged. […]
With Grand Central, the timing seems right, general manager Aaron Wearp said.
“We have a big enough following and group of fans that we can’t produce what we would like to at one location,” Wearp said. “It’s impossible — during our busiest times we’re running out of doughnuts.”
Wearp cites the 100-plus-year history of the market as a deciding factor. “The market is a very historical place and the Donut Man is on Historic Route 66,” he said. “We felt like it would be great to partner with someone who cherishes that history.”
The Los Angeles shop when it opens in February will hold 18 racks of doughnuts, including Donut Man’s famed strawberry doughnut when strawberries are in season. Donut Man also offers a peach doughnut during summer, when that fruit is in season, as well.
This L.A. Times video features the late, great food critic Jonathan Gold — he who helped popularize taco trucks — who also rhapsodizes about Donut Man:
Donut Man founder Jim Nakano, whose family was sent to a Japanese-American internment camp in Arizona in World War II, eventually served in the Navy and was a manager at JC Penney before starting his shop.
Nakano did a lot of research, including visiting French and Jewish bakeries, before making the pastries.
(Image of the Donut Man shop by Thomas Hawk; an image of a Donut Man strawberry doughnut by The Marmot, both via Flickr)
Now I’m hungry.