Some Words Downtown Donuts

Downtown Donuts was built in the spirit of the legendary donut shops that graced the central cityscape of downtown Los Angeles since the 1920’s—Mayflower, Cooper’s, and Town Donuts—places where downtowners could go to enjoy a freshly baked donut and a cup of delicious hot coffee almost any time, day or night. Angelenos took their donuts very seriously even then. In 1929 the LA Times ran an article that officially changed the spelling from “doughnut” to donut, putting Los Angeles on the map in donut history.
The founder of Downtown Donuts, Les Goodwin, has also had a long love affair with donuts, starting with buying donuts as a child in the 60’s from the Helms Bakery street truck service. His high school sweetheart worked at Winchell’s. Later, Goodwin travelled for business, tasting donuts all over the nation. (He likened himself to the equivalent of a sommelier—for donuts.) Goodwin decided to take his lifelong passion and give something back to the city, a traditional donut shop in the historic core of Los Angeles.
Downtown Donuts is located in the 1924 historic Arcade Building, a perfect setting, designed to evoke a nostalgic donut tasting experience. From this location, we serve and deliver our classic fresh donuts, generous in size, and designed to both turn heads and satisfy cravings.
We hope you enjoy!