Randy’s Donuts

Famous as much for its iconic signage as its actual products, Los Angeles-based Randy’s Donuts is a chain of donut shops primarily specializing in classic recipes, while also dabbling in trendy alternatives. Randy’s has two locations in Orange County: One freestanding in Costa Mesa with an oversized donut on the roof, the other in a Santa Ana plaza with an inflatable donut by the front door.

We tried three raised (yeast-based) donuts – matcha, Nutella, and M&Ms – as well as a chocolate “crondy,” devil’s food, iced blueberry, and maple cruller. All but one of the donuts were fine rather than remarkable or memorable in any way, beyond their very heavy use of sugary glaze. The only exception was the crondy, a square croissant donut that falls short of the famous Dominique Ansel cronuts that clearly inspired it; Randy’s version looked interesting but was comparatively dry and not worth having again. Generally, we’d choose other places for great donuts, but this isn’t a bad stop for the basics, or for tourists.