Donut Man, a Route 66 fixture in Glendora, California, opens a second location today in the Grand Central Market in downtown Los Angeles after being delayed for months by the coronavirus pandemic.
Eater Los Angeles reports the market sits between Hill Street and Broadway (aka Route 66) in downtown L.A.
The second Donut Man location, announced in November, had been scheduled to open in February. But the pandemic lockdowns and protests over police brutality delayed it.
For the grand opening of the Grand Central Market shop today, the first 100 people in line will get a free sprinkle doughnut. Its hours will be from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily, so early rising Angelinos who see this story still have a few hours to get there.
Here’s the announcement on Donut Man’s Instagram account. Yes, they put the announcement on a theater marquee:
The original Donut Man has operated at 915 E. Route 66 in Glendora since 1972, and this expansion is the first in its history.
The Los Angeles shop will hold 18 racks of doughnuts, including Donut Man’s famed strawberry doughnut when strawberries are in season.
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.
(Donut Man’s neon sign in the Grand Central Market in downtown Los Angeles via Facebook)