{"id":424188,"date":"2026-08-05T05:08:24","date_gmt":"2026-08-05T05:08:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/424188\/"},"modified":"2026-08-05T05:08:24","modified_gmt":"2026-08-05T05:08:24","slug":"donut-delights-randys-grand-opening-draws-overnight-lines-across-from-local-favorite-stans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/424188\/","title":{"rendered":"Donut Delights: Randy’s Grand Opening Draws Overnight Lines Across from Local Favorite Stan’s"},"content":{"rendered":"

Many towns claim the title of world\u2019s donut capital, but last Friday, Santa Clara laid claim to the title, as L.A. donut icon Randy\u2019s Donuts<\/a> opened its first Northern California store across Homestead Road from Santa Clara\u2019s donut icon, Stan\u2019s Donuts<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The grand opening drew scores of donut lovers to both stores. Randy\u2019s line peaked around 450, estimated Randy\u2019s franchise co-owner Asaf Masud.<\/p>\n

Camping Out With Randy\u2019s Fans<\/p>\n

Mark Frye was so determined to be first in line that he set up his folding chair at 10 p.m. Thursday. Frye was soon joined by another man, telling him, \u201cThanks for being here, because I don\u2019t feel so crazy now.\u201d<\/p>\n

Justin Chen lives two blocks away and was in line at 3 a.m.<\/p>\n

SPONSORED<\/p>\n

\"Devid\"Devid<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cI have heard about the controversy,\u201d he said, \u201cso I wanted to be able to try Randy\u2019s this morning and then try Stan\u2019s afterward to get that direct comparison. Stan\u2019s is probably going to win that battle.\u201d<\/p>\n

Twelve-year-old Nathan and his brother Evan were up at 4:30 a.m. at their mother\u2019s suggestion. Asked how he felt about landing third or fourth in line, Nathan just said, \u201cGood.\u201d His pick: a glazed donut.<\/p>\n

Donut Lovers From Beyond Santa Clara<\/p>\n

Martha drove from Tracy, arriving at 3:50, surprised to find she wasn\u2019t first.<\/p>\n

SPONSORED<\/p>\n

\"Santa\"Santa<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cRandy is my favorite,\u201d she said, comparing it to Stan\u2019s. \u201cIn the Randy-Stan\u2019s war, I choose Randy\u2019s always.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tadashi Naito made the biggest trip of anyone in line \u2014 he flew in from Osaka, Japan, on an unrelated visit and happened to be staying nearby.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s the first time,\u201d he said of Randy\u2019s, \u201cso I wanted to go to the Los Angeles [store] too, but I couldn\u2019t. So I will definitely try [this one].\u201d<\/p>\n

Chris from Southern California is a Randy\u2019s regular and noticed Stan\u2019s line while parking.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a little bit of a rivalry going on,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He was sticking with Randy\u2019s that day, but considering a Stan\u2019s visit before heading home.<\/p>\n

Not every out-of-towner chose Randy\u2019s. Alexandria, on a six-month work assignment for Apple, came to Stan\u2019s after coworkers raved about it.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a local-owned business,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019m super big on supporting locally owned businesses. I feel like that\u2019s where our money should go in the community.\u201d<\/p>\n

She never considered crossing the street to Randy\u2019s.<\/p>\n

Devoted Stan\u2019s Loyalists<\/p>\n

For longtime Stan\u2019s customers, the new arrival barely registered. Gonzalo Azevedo, a two-decade customer who grew up going to Stan\u2019s, wasn\u2019t worried.<\/p>\n

\"\"\"\"<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re not on the same level as Stan\u2019s,\u201d he said of Randy\u2019s. \u201cStan\u2019s is local. They built a legacy. It\u2019s not a threat.\u201d<\/p>\n

He came out Friday, he said, specifically \u201cto support local.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lori Taylor was picking up donuts for her family, something she does regularly, but Friday\u2019s trip was special.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wanted to support [Stan\u2019s] especially today, because of Randy\u2019s,\u201d she said. She didn\u2019t rule out Randy\u2019s. \u201cI will definitely try it because I want to compare.\u201d<\/p>\n

Six-year-old Sophia waited with her mother, Tara, whose family is longtime Stan\u2019s customers.<\/p>\n

\u201cTwo generations of Stan fans,\u201d Tara said, \u201cand a little Stan fan\u201d in Sophia, whose favorite is \u201csprinkles.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ryan waited with his son Dorian, also six, because the boy \u201cwanted a donut. Sometimes it\u2019s that simple,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Dorian was interested in Randy\u2019s s\u2019mores donuts, but said he\u2019d probably still go with Stan\u2019s vanilla.<\/p>\n

Dr. Gary Chen, a Valley Medical Center nephrologist picking up donuts for his team, has been a Stan\u2019s regular for several years. He wasn\u2019t tempted by Randy\u2019s.<\/p>\n

\u201cMaybe if the line dies down,\u201d he said, \u201cbut I\u2019m feeling like it won\u2019t be nearly as good as Stan\u2019s.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Nonpartisans<\/p>\n

Zafar came specifically for Randy\u2019s \u2014 \u201cmy wife asked me to come\u201d \u2014 but the line was too long. So they crossed the street to Stan\u2019s instead, marking their first time trying it. He\u2019d \u201cgo over here rather than wait more than an hour.\u201d<\/p>\n

Trinity Cunningham has tried both.<\/p>\n

\u201cRandy\u2019s has a lot more selection,\u201d she said, \u201cbut Stan\u2019s glaze is unbeatable.\u201d<\/p>\n

Asked what might seduce her away from Stan\u2019s, she didn\u2019t hesitate.<\/p>\n

\u201cTheir apple fritter. A little warmed up with some coffee.\u201d<\/p>\n

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2021 Virtual Firehouse Run a Real Success in Santa Clara<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Many towns claim the title of world\u2019s donut capital, but last Friday, Santa Clara laid claim to the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":424189,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[6036,88,90,89,197,2921,2922,169205],"class_list":["post-424188","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-jose","tag-bay-area-news","tag-san-jose","tag-san-jose-headlines","tag-san-jose-news","tag-santa-clara","tag-santa-clara-weekly","tag-silicon-valley-voice","tag-stans-donuts"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/424188","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=424188"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/424188\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/424189"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=424188"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=424188"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=424188"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}