How LA’s Top Historic Donuts Carries on the Legacy of a Competitor

(Gerry Furth-Sides) The Primo family continues the Stan’s Donuts legacy across from UCLA right at the start of fall term. The combined total of the two shops is well over a century. To celebrate, Buttermilk Bar bites were offered the first day to a sell out crowd.  www.primosdonuts.com,

Primo’s Donuts Westwood10948 Weyburn AveLos Angeles CA 90024

The second Primo’s Donuts location on the site of the shuttered Westwood favorite updates and brightens up the original location, known to us only as a window on the sidewalk for pickup! A gleaming Italian expresso machine is just about the first thing you see from the door.

The finest espresso and coffee drinks, and seating to enjoy them in the store are available at this Primo’s Donuts location. Tables line the outer walls, and the former Stan’s Donuts little pick up slot is still visible directly across the room.

Plans were in the making to continue the Stan’s legacy as far back as spring, 2020 when it closed abruptly at the start of the pandemic. According to Ralph and Celia Primo, “We were so upset when we heard that Stan’s had decided to close its doors early due to COVID-19. There aren’t many family-owned mom and pops like us left that bake donuts fresh every morning, and we have always felt that we shared the same type of customers and vision for our businesses. The location in the heart of Westwood Village is so iconic, and we are honored to have a chance to open our doors here. We wish Stan the best in his retirement.”

Primo’s Donuts, a family-owned LA favorite since it opened in 1956 by husband and wife, Ralph & Celia Primo has been consistently ranked as one of the top donut shops in the city since its opening. Second generation owner Ralph, Jr. oversees the Sawtelle store and third generation, grandson Nick oversees the Westwood location, with manager,Amelia.

Primo’s Donuts cake doughnuts come in plain, maple-iced and glazed in chocolate and cherry.  The donut texture has been described as  “magnificent—sensationally moist and hardly bogged down by oil, definitely one of the very best cake doughnuts that we’ve ever encountered in our fair city.”

A cake donut is made with a sweetened dough that’s leavened with the help of baking powder, and is extruded into oil to cook. It’s firm, often with a slightly crunchy exterior and a soft, cake-like interior.  The jelly donut below is what the best cake donut looks like.  (A yeast donut made with a yeast dough is cut out into a shape before being fried. They’re light and airy, but have a chew and slight yeast flavor.)

Primo’s Donuts, 2918 Sawtelle Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90064 (parking in back lot).