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Social media is calling it the “Donut Wars,” but the opening of Randy’s Donuts near Stan’s Donut Shop in Santa Clara has had an unexpectedly positive result – booming business for both shops and an outpouring of support for the 67-year-old Bay Area institution.
The iconic LA chain Randy’s Donuts made its Bay Area debut on Friday – and in a bold move, it chose to open across the street from Stan’s, a beloved longtime mom-and-pop doughnut shop. Randy’s has cemented itself in pop culture with cameos in “Iron Man 2,” “The Simpsons” and more, and now it’s making its mark in the Bay Area with four more locations in the works, according to Ausaf Masud, one of the owners of Randy’s Donuts Santa Clara.
“(There’s been) amazing response and love from Santa Clara, so that tells us that there’s no such Donut Wars, actually. We are here to coexist,” Masud said. “We are two different businesses, have different tastes, different proprietary dough and mixing recipes.”
On opening weekend, Masud estimates that Randy’s went through about 6,500 doughnuts a day, running out hours before closing at 9 p.m. Because of customer demand, Masud said he’s had to reduce operating hours until the team is able to optimize production.
While the choice of location for the chain’s Bay Area debut has been controversial, it has resulted in some of the longest lines that Stan’s owner Julie Clark has ever seen.
“When we went through COVID, we saw how much people appreciated us. But that’s nothing compared to now,” she said.
Clark, the youngest daughter of founder Stanford Wittmayer, noticed a slight increase in business the week before Randy’s debut, but on the day of Randy’s grand opening, business “exploded,” she said. The majority of those in line for Stan’s were longtime customers, but many others had heard about and queued up for Stan’s because of the controversy.
“We’re so thankful. It’s just so heartwarming to see,” she said. “There’s just nothing better than seeing people come out to support you and really appreciating what you do and really rooting for you.”
On Monday, lines were out the door for both Stan’s and Randy’s. Standing in line for Stan’s was Evan Forest, who has been frequenting the doughnut shop since high school. His girlfriend had heard about Randy’s opening on social media and wanted to check it out – he vetoed that idea.
“I was all like, ‘No, we’re going to Stan’s Donuts because that’s the local spot,’” Forest said. “One of my best friends’ dad, he showed me this spot … these are the best doughnuts out here.”
While he lives in San Francisco now, he said he makes sure to stop by Stan’s and grab a classic glazed raised when visiting family in the area.
“I’ve only seen Randy’s Donuts in LA. I’m like, ‘Come on. We’re from the Bay. We got to support Bay Area businesses,’” Forest said.
Across Homestead Road in the Randy’s line stood mother and daughter Gigi and Saira Sambrano. Both are loyal Stan’s supporters, but they wanted to see for themselves if Randy’s was worth the hype.
“We are native Santa Clarians and we wanted to see what it’s like to have another doughnut shop that’s in competition – there is no competition,” Gigi Sambrano said with a smirk.
For Stan’s owner Clark, she maintains that there truly is no competition – Randy’s and Stan’s are very different businesses.
“We’re old school, classic. It’s kind of the In-N-Out of doughnuts. We don’t change a lot. … We don’t bring in trendy flavors,” Clark said. “Randy’s has their own style where they do have different things going on and just different flavors than we would have.”
Randy’s menu is considerably more extensive than Stan’s, with raised doughnuts in flavors such as mango Tajin, matcha tea, Fruity Pebbles, s’mores and Nutella. Randy’s also offers Texas doughnuts (giant raised doughnuts) and Crondies (croissant doughnuts). But these specialty doughnuts come with a higher price tag: A single doughnut at Randy’s goes for $2.75-$4.55, while one at Stan’s is $1.25-$3.
Clark explained that their business models are also different.
“We’re a volume shop. We get dozens and dozens ordered at a time,” she said. “I think more specialty doughnut shops, they might do more like half a dozen, and their fancier doughnuts are a little bit more exotic. Where we’re doing dozens for meetings or events, family gatherings, things like that.”
Notably, Stan’s is a cash-only establishment and intends to stay that way. Clark explained that being cash-only helps the line move faster during peak periods and it cuts costs so that Stan’s can keep the prices of its doughnuts down.
Not much has changed since Stan’s founding, Clark said. The doughnut recipes are the same – still hand cut and hand glazed. And even the menu signs are more than 50 years old, handpainted by artist Luis Filipe Villafuerte. If you squint, you can see the guidelines he sketched to keep the words straight, Clark noted.
“I want somebody to be able to come back and visit that place (they visited) when they were 6. They come back and they turn 6 again. In their mind, they’re back to their childhood,” she said.
Stan’s will never franchise, Clark said, but she wouldn’t completely shut down the idea of opening another shop. While the third generation of the Wittmayer family isn’t expressing interest in taking over the family business, Clark said they’ll definitely keep it in the family.
“Some of the employees have been there almost 25 years, and their children work at the shop, and they have other family members that work at the shop,” she said. “So it’s this extended combined family, and so we’re going to keep it in that family.”
The core of Stan’s is her parents’ legacy, she said, adding that her goal is just to continue doing what her parents loved.
“Our parents, Stan and Tina, were some of the best people you could ever meet, and the community loved them,” she said. “And none of this, not one bit of this, would be possible without their hard work and getting through hard times and building this business so that we can continue it.”
Stan’s Donuts, 2628 Homestead Road, Santa Clara; 408-296-5982, Instagram: @stansdonutshop. Open daily from 6 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
Randy’s Donuts, 2595 Homestead Road, Santa Clara; 650-503-6688, Instagram: @randysdonutsbayarea. Open Monday to Thursday from 6 a.m. to 4 p.m., Friday and Saturday from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Sunday from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m.
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Finally, a war that both sides of the aisle can support.