Donut Friend: Now serving Bacon 182

In 2013, acclaimed record producer (Blink-182, Jimmy Eat World) and drummer (Drive Like Jehu) Mark Trombino began a new career when he launched Donut Friend in Los Angeles, California. The store’s motto is: “Donuts Done Differently.” Whopperjaw previewed the venture with a brief interview before the store opened. We checked in with Trombino recently to see how things have been going.

Donut Friend opened in October. What was opening day like?
We actually opened for a few hours on September 14^th during Highland Park‘s monthly artwalk. It was the scariest and most exciting day of my life. We had a line out the door all night and people were stoked, and hopefully not just because the donuts were free!

What has been your top-selling donut?
Hands down our most popular donut is the Bacon 182, which is a traditional donut with maple glaze and bacon. We make it with both real bacon and coconut bacon. It outsells everything else by far. [Blink-182 frontman] Mark Hoppus posted about it on Instagram and we can’t keep the thing on our shelves.

What is your personal favorite donut?
The Lemon Weapon (lemon cream and blueberry jam inside a traditional donut) at the moment, but it changes all the time. Before that it was the Dee Snider (peanut butter, strawberry jam, and sriracha sauce inside a traditional donut). I can’t stop eating our donut holes.

Give us a sneak peek of what to expect in the future. As Donut Friend grows, what would you most like to achieve?
I’d love to have another location. I’m super stoked to be in Highland Park, but different locations bring different challenges and different opportunities. I’d love to open downtown for the deliveries, or [open] something on the west side for the catering.

What’s been the biggest gaffe so far?
Probably thinking I could open a donut shop in the first place!

What’s been the coolest thing to happen so far?
Right after we opened I got to meet Bruce Moreland from one of my all-time favorite bands, Wall of Voodoo, and give him a Walnut Voodoo donut. That was pretty cool.