The doughnut case at Monarch Donuts in Arcadia is about to go empty for good. Owner-baker Jonathan Ung is serving his final batches of apple fritters, crullers, glazed twists and sprinkle-coated doughnuts at the walk-up shop on West Huntington Drive, closing out more than a decade of 1 a.m. wake-up calls and sold-out mornings.
Ung has run Monarch Donuts since buying the business in 2017, according to the Los Angeles Times. He typically begins baking around 1 a.m. and opens at 5 a.m., producing about 1,500 doughnuts a day for a devoted pre-dawn clientele. The Times also reported that he had not missed a day of work in more than 10 years.
The shop itself has drawn steady crowds for the past decade.
A Family Legacy Rooted in Cambodian-American Baking
Ung is the son of Cambodian refugees, and his family's ties to the doughnut trade include an uncle who was a longtime Monarch baker and a father who worked at Los Angeles doughnut shops beginning in 1970, according to the Times. That history connects Monarch to the larger Cambodian-American presence in Southern California's independent doughnut business.
That family history places Ung within a much larger regional legacy. Roughly 80% of independent doughnut shops in Southern California are owned by Cambodian refugee families, a business ecosystem pioneered in the late 1970s by refugee Ted Ngoy, according to CBS News. Ngoy graduated from a Winchell's management training program before helping hundreds of incoming Cambodian families open their own independent bakeries. Even the shop's pink boxes trace back to that same immigrant network — Cambodian shop owners once asked suppliers for cheaper alternatives to standard white boxes, and Westco began selling leftover pink cardstock at a discount, as detailed by Business Insider.
The Apple Fritter That Made Monarch Famous
Monarch's reputation grew after Los Angeles Times food critic Jenn Harris highlighted the shop in April 2015 and later named its apple fritter the best in the city. The Times described the fritter as pale, pillowy and cinnamon-flecked, with apple pieces and a glossy icing topping.
Monarch's cash-only setup and habit of selling out its daily batch before 8 a.m. became part of its local mythology, as reported by the Arcadia Quill. Ung also made doughnuts for nearby churches and schools and took preorders from regular customers, weaving the shop into the daily fabric of the community.
Why Ung Is Stepping Away Now
Despite the shop's following, Ung has said he does not love doughnuts, according to the Los Angeles Times. He considered several ways to continue the business, including baking for someone else, opening another shop or franchising the Monarch name, but decided to close instead. He said he plans to rest and has not ruled out returning to the doughnut business if the right opportunity arises. He has attributed the shop's quality to familiar ingredients and the care he puts into making them.
A Block Cleared for Arcadia's Housing Boom
The closure is also tied to redevelopment of Monarch's building. The 5–19 W. Huntington Drive property is being cleared for Arcadia Town Center, a planned five-story mixed-use project, according to Urbanize LA.
What is planned for the site?
According to Urbanize LA, the planned Arcadia Town Center at 5–19 W. Huntington Drive and 25–75 N. Santa Anita Drive would include 181 homes, 13,130 square feet of ground-floor commercial space and a 378-car partially subterranean parking garage. Urbanize LA, citing the project's initial study, reported that construction was expected to take approximately 29 months beginning in 2026. The development is one part of Arcadia's housing-planning framework. City of Arcadia planning records separately identify a Downtown Mixed-Use Overlay Focus Area assumed to yield 152 units, including 39 assumed affordable units, at a minimum density of 64 units per acre, according to the city's Housing Element Implementation Plan.
The project comes as downtown Arcadia and the area around its Metro A Line station undergo broader housing and commercial changes. As Hoodline reported earlier this month, the city is working toward a state-mandated plan for 3,214 new housing units by 2029. The same area has also seen proposals for the 359-unit Alexan Arroyo and 130-unit North Village condominiums.
Monarch's role in the neighborhood extended beyond its daily customer line. In November 2019, the shop served as the official starting refreshment stop for the 14th annual Great Los Angeles Walk, supplying coffee and pastries to hundreds of participants before their 20-mile trek to Downtown Los Angeles, according to organizers' recap of the event.
