June may kick off with National Donut Day, but many of us would argue that one day just isn’t enough time to do doughnuts justice. The city of Los Angeles agrees, and has created a month-long Donut Trek, inviting doughnut connoisseurs to spend (or perhaps “fritter” away) all of June trying various glazed, filled, and blingy doughnuts all over L.A. County.
DineL.A. came up with a list of 10 unique doughnut shops around the county (complete with handy map) and challenged each shop to create an Ultimate L.A. Donut. Certainly, the contenders have plenty of A-list appeal: Try the Avocado Donut at Blinkie’s Donuts in Woodland Hills (hey, if it works for toast, why not a doughnut?) or the sweet-meets-spicy Mango Chile Donut at Hollywood’s Trejo's Coffee & Donuts, launched by actor Danny Trejo, of Con Air and Breaking Bad fame.
Both vegans and non-vegans should try the L.A. Sunset doughnut—with pink pomegranate glaze and blue sprinkles—at Silver Lake’s Donut Farm. For a red-carpet-ready treat, bite into the Not So Mini Gold Donut—with strawberry jam, Nutella, and edible 24-karat gold leaf—at Birdies in Downtown L.A., or the Gold-Dusted Glazed at the Westfield Century City branch of Randy’s Donuts.
Certainly, you don’t have to limit yourself to themed donuts, or even those 10 spots, to experience California donut love. Universal CityWalk is home to branches of VooDoo Doughnut and Sparky’s Mini Donuts (the latter a cousin of Trish’s Mini Donuts in San Francisco), and a little to the south, San Diego donut lovers rave about Donut Bar. Head up Highway 1 to Pismo Beach, meanwhile, and you can have the brown-sugar-crusted Dirt Surf donut at Surfside Donuts, or take a trip to Gold Country to sample the apple cider doughnuts at Red Apple in Murphys.
