Stan’s Donuts, a fixture of L.A.’s Westwood Village and the UCLA community since 1965, has closed its doors for good.
“It is with a sad heart that I inform you that I have made the decision to close my doors and today will be the last day I will be making donuts,” owner Stan Berman posted on the shop’s website Thursday. “Unfortunately COVID-19 made the decision happen sooner, but I hope that you will remember how our donuts made you smile for many years to come.”
The shop became so popular that in 2014 it inspired a spinoff franchise, Stan’s Donuts and Coffee, which will still operate in about a dozen locations in the Chicago area.
In 2018, the store’s original The Corner Shoppe signage was temporarily restored during the production of Quentin Tarantino’s Oscar-winning film “Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood” — and appears when Margot Robbie’s Sharon Tate buys a ticket for her own movie at the Fox Bruin theater across the street.
Stan’s Donuts is the latest beloved L.A. restaurant to shutter for good as a result of the pandemic and the widespread self-quarantining. Other victims include Swingers Coffee Shop on Boulevard, which had been operating since 1993, and the beloved Beverly Hills Jewish deli Nate’n Al, which closed last month and has no new location lined up.
“We had hoped that we could continue our take out and delivery service so that we could provide the community with the food that has been a part of our lives for years,” the deli wrote in an Instagram caption. “After reviewing all the variables, we no longer feel confident that we can do that.”