Randy's Donuts

In the late 1940s, donut machine salesman Russell Wendell founded a chain of drive-in donut shops named Big Donut. The first location opened in 1951 in Westmont. The second location, which is now a Randy's Donuts, was opened in 1952. In 1976, after shifting focus to his Pup 'N' Taco chain (bought by Taco Bell in 1984), Wendell sold the Big Donut Inglewood location to Robert Eskow who renamed the location "Randy's Donuts" after his son. In 1978, Eskow sold the shop to Ron and Larry Weintraub, who decided to retain the name for the business. Since that time, the brand has added franchise locations in Southern California, Las Vegas and Phoenix; as well as locations outside of the United States such as South Korea, Saudi Arabia, the Philippines, and Japan. Randy's Donuts opened a location at Los Angeles International Airport in 2023 and in the NoHo Arts District in 2024. == Architecture ==

The original building was designed by Henry J. Goodwin. Bradshaw, who worked as the civil engineer on the Theme Building at Los Angeles International Airport, is said to have designed the giant donut on the roof according to the Los Angeles Conservancy. ==Gallery==

File:Space Shuttle Endeavour at Randy's Donuts.jpg|The Randy's Donuts sign alongside Space Shuttle Endeavour as it is ferried through the streets of Los Angeles on Friday, October 12, 2012. File:Randy's Donuts, Los Angeles.jpg|Actor and comedian Jimmie Walker with brothers Ron and Larry Weintraub, 2013 File:Randy's Donut LA seen from Air.jpg|Randy's Donuts can be seen from airplanes landing at LAX (left of the foreground bridge over the freeway at Manchester Boulevard). File:Randy's Donuts LAX - Feb 2024 - Sarah Stierch.jpg|A miniature version of the Randy's Donuts sign at its LAX location. File:Randy's Donuts in Manila.jpg|Randy's Donuts at Ninoy Aquino International Airport in Manila File:Randy's Donuts Philippines.jpg|The donut flavors offered at Randy's Donuts in the Philippines == Popular culture ==

In the 2010 film, Iron Man 2, Tony Stark while wearing the Iron Man armor, eats a box of Randy's donuts while sitting inside the large Randy's Donuts sign. It apperared in other various movies such as Logorama, 2012, Crocodile Dundee, Get Shorty, Earth Girls Are Easy, Dope, The Golden Child; as well as Showtime's Californication and Futurama. Randy's Donuts also appears in Justin Timberlake's music video "Can't Stop the Feeling!". The building was shown in the Masked Rider episode "Ferbus Maximus" where an overgrown Ferbus takes the giant donut and tries to eat it. A small replica of the donut was made for the episode. The building is referenced on the vinyl cover for Donuts by J Dilla. The building and sign also appears in the music video for The Prodigy 1993 hit Wind It Up. == See also ==