Randy’s Donuts, the iconic Los Angeles shop, is opening its first East Coast location in early December at 185 Bleecker Street, at MacDougal Street, in Greenwich Village. The expansion brings more than 70 years of West Coast doughnut culture to a corridor better known for shops like Mamoun’s Falafel, post-hippie cafes, and hordes of students, than a home to a drive-in brand from California (unless, of course, you count the old McDonald’s).
Founded in 1952, Randy’s California flagship is marked by a giant rooftop doughnut that looms over Inglewood, a sight featured on TV, in film cameos, and across social media. Randy’s began as part of an L.A. drive-in chain called Big Donut, created by a doughnut-machine salesman who leaned into spectacle. The Inglewood store was renamed in the 1970s. Attorney Mark Kelegian bought the business in 2015 and expanded it across Southern California, Las Vegas, Phoenix, and international markets, including South Korea, Saudi Arabia, the Philippines, and Japan.
Randy’s New York location will open with more than 30 doughnut varieties across “classic” glazed or chocolate raised, sugar raised, and sprinkles; “deluxe” old-fashioneds; “fancy” jelly-filled, cinnamon rolls, and apple fritters; and “premium” tiers with Texas glazed, s’mores raised, and Nutella. Also look for its doughnut holes called Randy’s Rounds, and a full lineup of coffee drinks.
New York’s pastry landscape
Randy’s entry lands amid an unusually competitive moment for New York pastry culture. Tokyo import I’m Donut? opened in Times Square, and draws lines for plush doughnuts and limited-run savory specials. Toronto’s cult favorite Cops landed in the West Village with a rotating menu and seductive ads. Portland’s Voodoo Doughnut is planning a Union Square debut.
Beyond doughnuts, the bakery field keeps widening: Swedish-leaning Ferrane opened in Brooklyn Heights with cardamom buns and princess cakes, Papa d’Amour from Dominique Ansel arrived in Greenwich Village, and Upper West Side institution Silver Moon Bakery resurfaced in collaboration with Buttercup Bake Shop. And in parallel niche bakeries, Diljān will open from Bryan Ford, the Afghan bakery in Brooklyn Heights, with the partners of Astoria’s Little Flower Cafe, later this month.
New York pastry culture has shifted from neighborhood mainstays to high-visibility openings, limited releases, and influencer-fuelled lines. It involves pastry mavens like Lysée, kuih specialists like Lady Wong, and croissant experimentalists like Lafayette. Neighborhood favorites brush up against international entries like Tuscany’s La Tazza d’Oro in featuring a spectrum of baked goods as well as those focused on single-item offerings. Like Voodoo, Randy’s brings a different category — a West Coast doughnut institution defined by cultural recognition and everyday appeal.
“Randy’s Donuts is about as iconic a food destination as there ever has been,” Eater’s former Los Angeles editor Farley Elliott noted after the desserts were featured on The Tonight Show a decade ago, when Jimmy Fallon jumped through an inflatable version of the giant doughnut. New Yorkers, who pride themselves on neighborhood bakeries, bagel shops, and Italian pastry counters, now get to decide whether this Southern California symbol should be embraced in Greenwich Village.