During the 1970s, large numbers of Cambodian refugees fleeing the Khmer Rouge arrived in Southern California. Many of them started donut shops to earn a living in a new country.
One of them was Ted Ngoy, a Cambodian immigrant who arrived in California in the 1970s. He set up a shop of his own, and then helped fellow refugees establish theirs. He was also the first to package donuts in light pink boxes — now the emblem of the Los Angeles donut scene.
The light pink box was Ted Ngoy's idea. It is now the emblem of the Los Angeles donut scene.
By 1987 Ngoy owned 32 Christy's Donuts locations, built largely by living out of a motor home while travelling the state opening new shops.
The pattern he helped set never went away. Roughly 80 percent of donut shops in Southern California are owned by families of Cambodian refugees, and thousands of shops in the region are still owned and operated by Cambodian families today — many now into a second or third generation.
Roughly 80 percent of donut shops in Southern California are owned by families of Cambodian refugees.
The families behind the counter
Teresa Ngo, who owns Blinkie's Donuts in Woodland Hills, has described immigrating right after the genocide, arriving without the language, and being offered work by family — and how people then stayed in the trade for their whole lives, sometimes several generations at a time.
Donut City was run for three decades by John and Stella Chhan, who moved to Southern California in 1979. When Stella became ill, locals bought out the shop early each day so John could be home with his wife.
Regulars bought out the whole case early so John Chhan could close up and be home with Stella.
Seaside Donuts Bakery was established in 1985 by Kong Eap, a Cambodian immigrant who came to the US in the 1970s. He later passed the bakery to his son Roger. His daughter Melissa runs Simone's Donuts in Long Beach.
California Donuts in Koreatown is among the most famous Cambodian-owned shops in Los Angeles.
Shops close, too. Monarch Donuts in Arcadia, run by Cambodian-American owner-baker Jonathan Ung, closed on September 21, 2026, after its building was sold for redevelopment. Its apple fritter was the Los Angeles Times' pick for the best in the city.