Holey Grail Donuts — Restaurant in Santa Monica

How do you build a better mouse trap when the best ones already exist? Now apply that to donuts that are probably available in every neighborhood of LA.

Holey Grail, a Hawaii transplant, found the holy grail of donut making and built a better donut from the ground up.

It starts with the ingredients, where almost everything is plant based except for honey or bee pollen varities, locally sourced from farms and artisans, prepared fresh on order (that's why it's so warm and pillowy soft), avoiding hydrogenated seed oils in favor of coconut oil. Instead of cheap brominated flour, they use pounded and fermented taro as a base.

The donuts are on the smaller side compared to say a Randy's, but they pack a lot of flavor, and the taro fills you up.

My partner and I were greeted by Nakoa, and felt very welcome. He answered many of our questions and told us of the items that were sold out. They had a big weekend and confirmed the community has really supported their shop. While there were no more fizzy drinks, he gave us a choice of picking anything from the menu.

We picked the Cacao Latte (Draft coffee, Manoa chocolate, housemade cashew+coconut milk) and got it iced as Nakoa recommended. While my partner after having many disappointing chai latte experiences was convinced by Nakoa to try their version of Chai Latte (Masala chai, housemade cashew coconut milk) - but this time the hot version. The drinks were expertly made and were lightly sweetened, one of my critiques with a lot of places that sweeten it so much that you cannot taste anything else. It felt clean and we both agreed that sometimes we'd just pop in to get these excellent drinks if we do not feel like donut worthy.

On the donut tasting experience, Nakoa said their weekly special was out, so he recommended a box with 4:

1. Lilikoi - Fresh, locally grown lilikoi (passion fruit) - This one was my favorite, which surprised me, since I am usually a chocolate-anything fan. It had a sourness that balanced the sweetness and worked really well with the taro. I could taste the coconut oil which added to the umami.
2. Miso Honey - miso, local honey, black lava sea salt - This was my partners and 2 year old's favorite. The local honey is from Eli's Bee Company in Topanga.
3. Dandelion Chocolate - Single-origin, dark chocolate from the SF based famous artisan chocolatier - I liked it because of the quality of the donut, but it was one-noted compared to the previous 2. Still an excellent donut.
4. J/Dilla - single-origin chocolate and coconut butter - This was excellent as well, but paled in comparison to the intricate flavor bombs of Lilikoi and Miso Honey.

Overall, having recently moved to Santa Monica from SF, I am pleasantly surprised to find LA has upped its game. Holey Grail has cracked the code and remains one of the destination Donut shops to try when you visit the beach. Donuts may not be the healthiest treats, but when in the mood, you are better off eating high quality artisan donuts.

Thank you @HoleyGrailDonuts & @YelpLA for the opportunity to try a neighborhood gem. It would've taken us a while to make our way thru our Yelp list, but now we have a local favorite for our regular caffeine and donut drip.

Tip: Park for free on 3rd street for 2 hours and walk. You'll feel less guilty about the donut. Or there's metered parking in front of shop.

Tip: They have a great backyard seating area that's shared with Blue Bottle coffee. Great place to enjoy your...

Donuts were invented in 1932. Captain Hanson Gregory created the donut as a teen while trying to feed a crew of sailors -- and changed American culinary culture forever.

How is it since 1832 no one has truly innovated the donut? Yes, they are classically perfect... but just wow. Holey Grail did it. They just did that. It took 187 years to innovate the donut and it was worth the wait!

Their flavors are creative and they sneak up on you. The Hail Mary with cardamom and rose is unlike anything I've ever had. The flavors come to you at different moments. The experience is on your tongue. (don't even go there, lol)

The dough reminds me of my childhood when my mom would fry donuts at home. They feel wholesome. They are filling for how small they are and the dough, it just hits. Frying them in coconut oil makes them feel so light but with substance.

4.5 stars is my rating. I wish I could pay a dollar extra for a bit of a bigger donut (like Sidecar Size). The sizes are a little inconsistent, some are small and some are really small. $4 for a donut is a lot, but with inflation, it's normal for a gourmet "pastry." BUT then again, it's a smart business move to make them small cause it entices you to buy more than one, hence better revenue than paying a little more for a larger donut. These donuts are the perfect dessert for after a date or to chill with friends.

The presentation just elevates the entire experience. Really impressed. Can't wait to go back again and again.

(Oh and the employee taking orders didn’t know what donut to suggest. She seemed to not know anything about them and she said she hadn’t tried most of them. Might be good to get employees excited about the product)

ONE DAY LATER UPDATE: Came back for 4 more and I’m less impressed than yesterday. Yesterday I had Strawberry Fields and Hail Mary and my mind was blown! Today the only one I liked was Original Sin and it was more like a really good classic glaze flavor. Not a fan of Lucky charms, Dandelion Chocolate, and Reincarnated did not hit. The chocolate tastes really weird, something is off with Lucky Charms, and I’m not feeling the smokiness of Reincartned. I’ll still be back. Will probably stick to the classics.

TWO DAY LATER UPDATE: Just got Dragonslayer, Black Sabbath, and Hail Mary(2nd time)…. FIRE! Best of the...

BEST DONUTS BUT YOU HAVE TO EAT THEM FRESH! Or at least if you get them NOT fresh (delivery, etc) then REHEAT for like 30 sec in the microwave/airfryer. But FRESH is best, because they're perfectly crispy and soft and the taro donut itself starts to shine along with the flavors. If you eat them cold, which I did the first couple times I tried this place, I thought they were cute but nothing special. Now, I dream about this place! The donuts are SMALL because of the expensive, natural ingredients they use, and I never feel like anything is too sweet or greasy, like how I usually feel with regular donuts. I can eat these guilt-free, and never feel gross afterwards. And happy surprise, most flavors are vegan, and you honestly wouldn't guess it because they're that good. One of these days I'm going to try to hit the morning holey hour, which comes with a free original sin donut with a purchase of a latte between 7-9 am! I like to dine in to eat it fresh, and the service and ambiance are top notch. I see people on their laptop working sometimes. There's only one outlet indoors, but that's one outlet more than the blue bottle coffee...