frequently asked questions

We have and will continue to follow the most recent guidance from local, state and federal agencies. We’ve worked to adapt and update our policies, procedures and practices in accordance with those mandates and best practices, which have changed frequently through the course of the pandemic. We’re taking aggressive measures and providing even greater transparency during the pandemic.

For a detailed description of what we are doing to keep our guests and team safe while at work, please see our COVID-19 Prevention Plan.

We’re very proud of the work we’re doing through our #donutfunds program. Since its inception in 2017, we have raised over $100,000, and a majority of that money has gone directly into homeless outreach programs and music education programs in Highland Park. Recycled Resources for the Homeless, Highland Park and the Center for the Arts, Eagle Rock have both received multiple donations from Donut Friend. In addition, we helped to create and continue to fund the music program at Aldama Elementary School, located just a few short blocks from our HLP shop, through our continued patronage of Education through Music, Los Angeles.

For our DTLA community we’ve donated to the Downtown Women’s Center, Food Forward, and CASA of Los Angeles. We also organized a group of volunteers to help prepare lunch for the ladies of the DTWC in November of 2019, and would have done so again in 2020 if not for the pandemic. Hopefully this year! We continually donate any leftover supplies or food items to the DTWC as they become available, and of course, any left over donuts go to Food Fight! and Vesta for distribution at local food banks.

We’ve always welcomed suggestions for organizations we should support from our staff, and many of our previous recipients have come from employee suggestions.

The complete list of organizations we’ve donated to over the years are publicly available on our Donut Funds Page

Over two weeks in August of 2021, our employees were invited to vote in a government run secret ballot election to determine if a group called Donut Friend United would become their exclusive bargaining representatives. The ballots were counted on August 19th, and out of 29 eligible voters, five voted in favor of the union and five voted against. Nineteen people chose not to vote.

The purchase and renovations of our third location, Creamo, was funded through a bank loan we received in 2019. Those renovations were completed in February of 2020, prior to the COVID-19 outbreak and related restrictions. We applied for and received a PPP loan in April, 2020, and used that money as it was intended – to help cover payroll expenses, rent, and utilities during the pandemic.

An order for miniature donuts, giant donuts, donut letters, special donut holes, or any kind of custom donut is considered a “special order.”

To start the ordering process, simply head to our special order page and send us a message. We will do our best to respond within a few days, but please keep in mind that we are not a catering company and do not have dedicated staff on hand 24/7 to take special orders. Someday we will!

Also, due to the constraints of our small kitchen, we can only accommodate so many special orders a day. In order to ensure we have the staff and resources necessary to complete your order, it must be finalized at least one week in advance or else will incur a 20% rush fee Orders finalized less than 48 hours in advance will incur a 30% rush fee.

We do not do delivery ourselves, but you do have a couple of options if you do not want to see our bright and smiling faces in the shop:

  • For our regular donuts, you can order and request delivery or pickup online through Postmates, DoorDash, UberEats, and GrubHub.
  • For special orders (donut cakes, donut letters, mini donuts, etc.), we can arrange for delivery through a third party messenger company called Deliver LA. The cost is approximately $35 + $1.35 per mile, but we won’t know for sure until we have the delivery address and time, and know the size of the order. Nights and weekends are considerably more expensive than during regular business hours.

We’re flattered that you’d like to try our donuts, but unfortunately they wouldn’t survive the trip!

We get a lot of requests for shipping, though, so it’s something we are definitely looking to do in the future!

We’re sorry to hear that you have to cancel your order! Can we reschedule for another time?

 

If you really must cancel your order, please give us at least 48 hours notice for a full refund. Orders canceled between 48 and 24 hours ahead are subject to a 30% cancelation fee. Unfortunately, we are unable to offer refunds on any orders canceled with less than 24 hours notice.

We’re sorry! We stopped making donut cakes in March of 2020.

There is a 10 letter minimum for donut letters.

Our letters are cut out of our raised dough.

Any of our Signature Donuts can be made into a donut letter. Because we make them out of our raised dough, some cake donuts will be made slightly different.

We can do the letters A-Z, the numbers 0-9, and a few punctuation marks!

Our miniature donuts are cut out of our raised dough.

Any of our Signature Donuts can be made into a miniature donut. Because they are made out of our raised dough only, some Signature Combinations may have to be modified.

Giant Donuts are made out of our raised dough and are approximately between 7 and 8 inches in diameter.

Any Signature Donut can be made into a Giant Donut with some modifications.

We can have special orders ready for pickup thirty minutes after we open!
Unfortunately, no, we are unable to hold donuts overnight, and we do not recommend you do either. We’re sorry!

We are unable to provide full catering services at this time, but we can work with you to come up with fun and interesting treats for your event. Please email us at specialorders@donutfriend.com to get started!

That really depends on what twelve donuts you want! Since all of our donuts are priced differently, the cost for a dozen donuts can vary. However, we do offer a 10% discount on any 12 donuts from our display case!

All of them! Everything in our shop is egg and dairy free!
We use beet sugar and cane sugar that has not been processed with bone char. If you are concerned whether or not it’s vegan, it is!
We use soybean oil for frying.
None of them, unfortunately. We stopped making our Gluten Free(ish) donut in March of 2020, and have no plans to bring it back in the future. We’re sorry!
Yes, some of our fillings or toppings do contain nuts, and we do process nuts in our kitchen.

All of our donuts contain some amount of soy, as do all of our vegan pastry cream, vegan chocolate cream, vegan whipped cream, chocolate curls, chocolate sprinkles, crushed Oreos, graham cracker crumbs, rainbow sprinkles, chocolate hazelnut spread, and peanut butter.

Yes! We sell reloadable gift cards in our shops!
Strawberrylab, hands down. Seriously, it’s ridiculous how much more popular that donut is over the other ones.
Three! Our first location is in Highland Park and our second is in Downtown Los Angeles. We opened an ice cream shop in Silverlake called Creamo in 2020.

SM57 + 421 through Neve 1073s, summed on an 8068, and printed to Ampex 456.