Donuts—deep-fried sugary dough coated with crystalline glaze, dunked in vibrant frostings, and sprinkled with … you guessed it, sprinkles. LA produces some of the country’s finest, softest, and fluffiest dough rings, many of which are vegan. How do they do this? Where do they do this? Well, read on dough-nnoisseurs!
We’ve teamed up with In Vegan Veritas to bring you a stacked Vegan Donut Tour of LA, kinda like a music tour, just with donut shops instead of venues. Step 1: Head to inveganveritas.com to grab an exclusive Vegan Donut Tour t-shirt, complete with each stop on the run (use promo code VEGOUT for free shipping). Step 2: Hop on a scooter, call up an Uber, or strap on your Balenciaga running shoes and get busy touring the city in search of your favorite vegan donut! Step 3: No more steps! We dough-not wanna make you wait any longer.
Donatsu
Little Tokyo
Here’s something we love about Donatsu: nothing about their marketing shouts “vegan.” In fact, if you never asked, you’d never know that every pastry in their shop is 100% plant-based! Their yeast-raised donuts are airy, soft, and nostalgic perfection.
Donut Farm
Silver Lake
If you’re one of those people whose DNA was wired to prefer cake donuts over raised, then Donut Farm is your oasis! Upon entering, you’re greeted with racks on racks of entirely plant-based cakey treats in multiple flavors, like Lavender Earl Grey, Salted Caramel, and Whisky Tangerine Fig!
Trejo's Coffee & Donuts
Hollywood
It doesn’t get more LA than grabbing a vegan cake donut and cold brew from a poppin’ bakery started by a famous actor. Swing by on the way to your next audition to embrace the LA-lien you’ve always wanted to be!
SK's Donuts
Mid-Wilshire
We know we’re winning when a historically conventional donut shop adds a slew of vegan options that would easily tie with traditional donuts in a bakery sparring match (can someone make that happen?). With hours from 6am to midnight and expansive cases of succulent pastries, SK’s Donuts captures that classic donut shop vibe without excluding anyone from the party.
Sweet Retreat Donuts
Long Beach
You read that right, vegan donuts in Long Beach! Vegan cake donuts are available every day of the week with raised donuts available Friday-Sunday. We know when we’re visiting!
Karma Baker
Westlake Village
You thought LA was going to stop at vegan donuts? Uh uh—given this is the acting capital of the US, we can’t let every shop on the list tango with gluten and deep frying. This is where Karma Baker steps in with made-to-order, vegan, and gluten-free cake donuts!
Fonuts
Beverly Grove & Studio City
Continuing the trend of slightly healthier stuff that’s full of sugar, yet we eat anyways because there’s no gluten is Fonuts! Influencers living out by The Grove, you may just have a new home!
Blue Star Donuts
Silver Lake, Venice, & Manhattan Beach
At Blue Star Donuts, clean minimalistic marketing meets creative flavors executed with elegance. Kinda sounds like Blue Bottle, only with donuts in place of coffee. Dang 21st century, you lit!
Yvonne's Vegan Kitchen
Delivery and Pickup
Yvonne’s will deliver a literal rainbow of vegan and gluten-free baked donuts straight to your door. With donuts like this, any month can be Pride month!
Primo's Donuts
Sawtelle
What were we saying earlier about OG brands adding fire vegan options to the menu? Because Primo’s Donuts is about as OG as it gets, serving the city bomb donuts since 1956.
Erin McKenna's Bakery
Larchmont and Santa Monica
Erin McKenna’s combines pastel aesthetics, alternative attitude, and vintage vibes with vegan, gluten-free, soy-free, and nut-free everything! If there’s something you want to keep out of your body, it’s probably never entered their store.
Colorado Donuts
Eagle Rock
“Wait, I thought this was an LA Magazine?!” Don’t worry guys, we’re talking about Colorado Blvd.—we know you can’t Uber 1,000 miles away. Colorado Donuts combines that cozy, hometown vibe with a mouthwatering selection of vegan cake donuts.
Donut Friend
Highland Park and DTLA
In one word, Donut Friend is ICONIC, and we ain’t talkin’ bout Jaden Smith. Donut Friend has been doing the whole “vegan donut thing” since before people were doing the “vegan donut thing.” But their reign doesn’t stop there, as they’ve been consistently one-upping the traditional donut game with treats so good Krispy Kreme could shed a tear. They’ve also infiltrated pop culture with big name collabs from the likes of Billie Eilish along with nods to emo legends like Taking Back Sunday, Teagan And Sara, and Polar Bear Club. Donut Friend’s responsible for filling up this writer’s lonely, punk heart that sat in the hallway during lunch with tears of joy.
Remember to tag us @vegoutlosangeles and @inveganveritas and use the hashtag #vegandonuttour so we can follow along and share your photos!
