Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

It Doesn't Need A Hole To Be A Donut

IB. I'm Baack.

Lookin' for the fabled donuts of Imperial Beach.

Was here (Stardust Donut Shop, 698 Highway 75, Imperial Beach) yesterday about four. Too late.

So today I get here about 1.30. And yes! "OPEN" signs all over the place.

Ed Arnold and his brother Cliff are there inside, and maybe half the donut racks have the famous rings filling them. Of course it turns out I was wrong about cinnamon jelly donuts.

Cliff and Ed

"We have jelly twists, but not cinnamon jelly donuts," says Cliff.

"No-one has donuts like theirs," says Melissa, the girl in line in front of me.

Melissa

Customer takes the long view

Allan and Jan come down from Coronado to IB to fill up on cheap gas and donuts

Melissa gets two chocolate donuts and two cinnamon rolls. "I've been to every other donut place in IB, and it just doesn't taste the same," she says.

"Everybody starts off with the same commercial donut dough mix," says Cliff, "but we add things like eggs and shortening."

Cliff cooks up a batch of buttermilk twists

I'm looking at the buttermilk twists.

"I thought you only sold donuts," I say to Cliff.

"It doesn't have to have a hole to be a donut," he says.

These guys should know. They have been making and selling them since 1967, and before that, their grandma Kitty Keen had been selling donuts downtown since, wow, 1929.

"During WW2, she had a place across from Convair, on Pacific Highway," Ed says. "At Convair's request she stayed open 24 hours throughout the war, for all those Rosie the Riveters. She ran three shifts."

So right now, he has glazed, chocolate, cinnamon, old fashioned, and buttermilk twists, all of them 89 cents. Hmm. People turning up behind...decision time.

I go for a glazed, and a cinnamon, and a coffee ($1.20).

My cinnamon roll and glazed donut

Ed asks if I want sugar and milk in my coffee, and when I say "sugar," he mixes it in himself.

The donuts? They are delicately crispy on the outside and melty tender inside. Can see what people are talking about. I'm no expert, but you sort of feel you're eating a legend here. A CARE package for Carla, I think.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all

Previous article

Dating Sites For Little People: Best Platforms & Tips

Next Article

Will L.A. Times crowd out San Diego U-T at Riverside printing plant?

Will Toni Atkins stand back from anti-SDG&E initiative?

IB. I'm Baack.

Lookin' for the fabled donuts of Imperial Beach.

Was here (Stardust Donut Shop, 698 Highway 75, Imperial Beach) yesterday about four. Too late.

So today I get here about 1.30. And yes! "OPEN" signs all over the place.

Ed Arnold and his brother Cliff are there inside, and maybe half the donut racks have the famous rings filling them. Of course it turns out I was wrong about cinnamon jelly donuts.

Cliff and Ed

"We have jelly twists, but not cinnamon jelly donuts," says Cliff.

"No-one has donuts like theirs," says Melissa, the girl in line in front of me.

Melissa

Customer takes the long view

Allan and Jan come down from Coronado to IB to fill up on cheap gas and donuts

Melissa gets two chocolate donuts and two cinnamon rolls. "I've been to every other donut place in IB, and it just doesn't taste the same," she says.

"Everybody starts off with the same commercial donut dough mix," says Cliff, "but we add things like eggs and shortening."

Cliff cooks up a batch of buttermilk twists

I'm looking at the buttermilk twists.

"I thought you only sold donuts," I say to Cliff.

"It doesn't have to have a hole to be a donut," he says.

These guys should know. They have been making and selling them since 1967, and before that, their grandma Kitty Keen had been selling donuts downtown since, wow, 1929.

"During WW2, she had a place across from Convair, on Pacific Highway," Ed says. "At Convair's request she stayed open 24 hours throughout the war, for all those Rosie the Riveters. She ran three shifts."

So right now, he has glazed, chocolate, cinnamon, old fashioned, and buttermilk twists, all of them 89 cents. Hmm. People turning up behind...decision time.

I go for a glazed, and a cinnamon, and a coffee ($1.20).

My cinnamon roll and glazed donut

Ed asks if I want sugar and milk in my coffee, and when I say "sugar," he mixes it in himself.

The donuts? They are delicately crispy on the outside and melty tender inside. Can see what people are talking about. I'm no expert, but you sort of feel you're eating a legend here. A CARE package for Carla, I think.

Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Respect the donut maker!

Devil’s Dozen Donut Shop
Next Article

"Carol, call me!" My Thursday Travelogue

Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.