Randy’s Donuts — Restaurant in Costa Mesa

Randy’s Donuts – Costa Mesa (Harbor Blvd) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars Date of visit: Weekday morning Order: 18 donuts Total: Just over $50

TL;DR: Big, flashy donuts that live up to the hype. If you want something over-the-top (or just really well-made classics), this is a great stop. Not cheap, but worth it if you're splitting a box or trying to impress the office. Went early on a weekday and had zero wait. Staff was cool, donuts were fresh, and the box had legit variety. What I Ordered: 18 assorted donuts. Mix of classic, fancy, and just plain wild. Some highlights:

M&M Chocolate Raised – sweet on sweet, soft base with a candy crunch.

Cinnamon Sugar Cake – crisp edges, moist inside, not greasy. A sleeper hit.

Maple Bar – huge, fluffy, with a bold maple glaze.

Old-Fashioned Glazed – crispy, sweet, nailed the texture.

Square Glazed Raised – same dough as the classic round, but that shape adds some bite.

Fruity Pebbles Raised – pure chaos. Very sweet but fun if you like cereal donuts.

Pistachio Glazed – weirdly balanced and subtle. Really liked this one.

Salted Caramel Churro (Deluxe) – the most extra donut in the box. Mini churro on top, sticky caramel icing, dense. Tasty but intense.

Oreo Cookies & Cream – good cookie crumble and cream combo.

Glazed Twist / Cruller – thick, chewy, old-school feel.

Chocolate Sprinkle Raised – nostalgic and solid.

Purple Iced Cake (maybe taro?) – good texture, flavor was just okay.

Classic Glazed Round – no frills, done right.

Powdered Sugar Cake – fresh, not too sweet, melts in your mouth.

Maple Crumb – maple frosting plus a soft graham crumble — great combo.

There were a couple others in the box I couldn't ID exactly (maybe filled ones?), but nothing was stale or over-fried. Everything tasted like it had just been made that morning.

The Experience: Went in around 7:30 AM on a weekday. No line. No chaos. Just a chill morning donut run. Inside was spotless. The display cases were full, and everything looked fresh. Staff was friendly and patient even though I took a minute to pick out 18 different kinds.

Parking was easy — lot’s not huge but it wasn’t full either. This spot’s in a small plaza so access is super straightforward.

Pricing: $50+ for 18 donuts sounds high, but honestly, I didn’t feel ripped off. The deluxe and premium ones run around $3.50–$4 each, and even the classics are larger than average. You’re paying for size, quality, and creativity here. That said, I wouldn’t roll through here weekly unless I was made of money and had the metabolism of a teenager.

What I Liked: Big variety of styles and flavors Donuts were super fresh Creative toppings without being lazy (everything felt intentional) Fast, friendly service even early morning Clean, easy-to-navigate setup

What Could Be Better: A few of the deluxe ones were sugar bombs — fun but not balanced Prices stack up fast

Final Verdict: If you’re in the area and want donuts that go beyond the usual, Randy’s Costa Mesa is worth the stop. Whether you're after classic glazed or looking to try something stacked with cereal, cookies, or churros, they’ve got options. Just go in knowing it’s not a budget bakery — you’re here for fun and flavor, not a discount dozen.

Would I come back? Yep. Next time I’m keeping it 50/50: half...

I liked this place but recently I had a new experience; I pulled up to the drive-through and the worker told me it would just be a minute and I said OK no worries I’m not in a rush. A couple minutes later someone pulls up behind me (while we are still waiting) and they must think that I’m ordering for a big party because they start honking at me. Of course I just sit there and wait. The car behind me actually drives away because we are waiting so long. They finally take my order after what feels like Maybe six minutes. I pull up to the window to pay and I can see that there isn’t much going on in there. I apologize to the cashier about it and tell them it wasn’t me honking. She says well anyways whenever that happens, we take even longer for no reason just to be petty. It wasn’t even me honking and I still had to pay the price for someone else being rude, because the worker wanted to be petty. How embarrassing lol they weren’t even honking at you. The blonde chick said that she needs a few minutes to recover after that … after what? You’re probably going to be working there a long time. I hope that that was just a one off situation, but she basically admitted to me that it happens pretty often. And I can’t endorse a big waste of peoples time, the world doesn’t really revolve around you

I can see now why the orders always take a while when other donut shops have me in and on my way in a couple minutes. Anyways, there are many other dessert and donut places in the area, I won’t be coming back but I hope that chick gets the...

So I've got I've got a test for donut shops I call it "the glazed donut, Maple bar test", and it's about 99.9% accurate! It's a two-pronged study of "the donut shop" (Randy's) and it starts out at first with the glazed donut... because the maple bar will throw my pallet off a little So they passed the glazed donut Maple bar test replaced donut was just better and Krispy Kreme by far and the maple bar it passed now I got to go back and hopefully those puppies are warm at like 5:00 a.m. or 4:30 a.m. I forgot to ask I always ask and I forgot to ask. As I was eating my donuts in the parking lot drinking a really good cup of coffee too, I'll have to give them "a" "a" and "a" in an "a' for the coffee, anyway sitting in my car and pulling up information about Randy's, and there's a awesome Community journalist who writes in the daily Pilot in the la.times and she's written a great article about the family who bought Randy's donuts how the dad found that Randy's donuts on the market, just really really good reporting, She Hillary Davis I really enjoyed that article and I'll put a link to it at the end of this review, and I'm afraid if we don't support online subscriptions to the newspapers that are left we're going to lose some of the best journalists or should I say only journalists. Anyway check them out they're...