Our Cambodian friends have run this Cambodian Donut Shop for more than 10 years and have previously purchased it from another friend of ours. I’m not sure how long it’s actually been in operation but it’s pretty common for businesses like this to change ownership many times.

The story of Cambodian owned doughnut shops is in many ways, the story of America, and it all starts with one man, Ted Ngoy. Him and his family touched down in Camp Pendleton in 1975 bearing refugee status from the brutal Khmer Rouge regime. In those days the doughnut scene was a variable landscape of hit or miss mom and pop joints who weren’t known for making the freshest products. Ngoy changed all that with his local chain, Christy’s Donuts. He was the first Southeast Asian trainee for Winchel’s where he learned all the aspects of managing a store. After a year of hard work, he saved up the $20,000 to buy his first shop located in La Habra California. With the help of extended family and a lean payroll he was able to purchase 4 more shops in a year. And after 5 years he had 20, leasing out his restaurant to newly arrived Cambodian refugees and giving them an Entreprenurial path.

By the mid 90’s Cambodians owned over 2400 Doughnut shops and Ngoy was almost singularly responsible for all of it. So fast forward to today and the tradition of Cambodian owned doughnut shops continues at Rocky’s Donut.

The locals appreciate the friendly customer service, and of course they love the donuts. Here Dylan’s working the cash register, hopefully learning a thing or two about making cold hard cash. There’s my brother-in-Law putting in some sweat equity behind the scenes.

Doughnuts are basically mixed dough that is dropped into hot oil, fried, then glazed. Some of them are filled with Jam which are called Bismark’s. Their dough can be raised in a chemical process resulting in a denser cake like texture, while yeast raised donuts are lighter but take several hours to produce. Anyone could make these at home, but it would be hard to get the quality and texture that’s been earned from years of experience. It’s no wonder business is booming at Rocky’s, just look at all the patrons coming in, they can’t wait to take a bite out of these tasty morsels.

Address: 254 N Lemoore Ave, Lemoore, CA 93245