California Donuts falls short of taking the cake for best in state

★★★☆☆

For this week’s donut adventure, I took a trip to California Donuts, as the shop is so popular on social media. If you haven’t heard of them or been there, I’m sure you’ve at least seen photos of the legendary Panda Donut on Instagram. Despite its “Insta-worthy” donuts, I have to say it’s a little overrated. Don’t be fooled by the named; California Donuts is not the be-all, end-all of donut places in the state.

A few months ago, my parents stopped by California Donuts while they were in the area and brought me a Panda Donut and the Fruit Loops Donut since I had always talked about trying them. Though I didn’t get the full experience of going to the actual location, I was glad to finally see what all the fuss was about. Though I’ll admit the Panda donut is creative and adorable, there is nothing necessarily satiating about its flavor. I’m a huge fan of oreos, which were used to make up the eyes and ears, but in this case, they were a bit too soggy.

On the other hand, the Fruit Loops Donut has probably been the best one that I’ve tasted. So many donut places are beginning to introduce cereal donuts, but I believe California Donuts is one of the few that has mastered their recipe. Asides from the Fruit Loops donut, they also offer ones with Lucky Charms and Cinnamon Toast Crunch. They’ve even experimented with M&M’s.

Another trending flavor lately is Matcha green tea donuts. California Donuts offers these in both regular and cronut. On my most recent trip, I chose to eat the Matcha Green Tea Cronut. I was very satisfied with it and would absolutely recommend it over the regular one. Even better, I would recommend refrigerating it for a few hours and eating it when it’s slightly colder — trust me, you won’t be disappointed.

Overall, I would say my trip to California Donuts was pleasant but not the best. Though I really admire the fact that they are open 24 hours, the location of the store is a bit inconvenient. As with most places in L.A., there was very limited parking, so I had to park a bit farther away and walk. Also, they do not have any seating areas, so I ended up eating my donuts in the car.

For a place that is so popular, I think it would be a good investment to set up a more visitor-friendly area to create a welcoming ambiance. All in all, they are not my all-time favorite donuts, but regardless, I would still recommend visiting at least once in your life because it is such an iconic place in terms of city food in L.A.

California Donuts is open 24 hours all days of the week at 3540 W. 3rd St, Los Angeles, CA 9002024.

Paulina Ordaz is a freshman majoring in psychology. Her blog column, Donut Worry, Be Happy, runs every other Thursday.