{"id":87129,"date":"2025-10-04T04:59:00","date_gmt":"2025-10-04T11:59:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/hi-lo\/?p=87129"},"modified":"2025-10-04T07:34:31","modified_gmt":"2025-10-04T14:34:31","slug":"long-beach-doughnut-shop-puts-eclectic-whimsical-twist-on-classic-sweet-treats","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/hi-lo\/long-beach-doughnut-shop-puts-eclectic-whimsical-twist-on-classic-sweet-treats","title":{"rendered":"Long Beach doughnut shop puts eclectic, whimsical twist on classic sweet treats"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This article was originally published by LAist<\/a> on Oct. 3, 2025.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a region packed with doughnut shops, Moonbridge Doughnut Studio in Long Beach stands out from the crowd with its eclectic designs, including edible berry crumb Labubus<\/a> and a series inspired by author Roald Dahl<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ve had my eye on Moonbridge, which is on the corner of East Spring Street and Palo Verde Avenue, for more than six months \u2014 ever since images of its doughnuts inspired by the T.V. show Avatar: The Last Airbender<\/i><\/a> popped up on my Instagram feed in February.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So I headed to the shop early Thursday morning to satisfy my hunger \u2014 and curiosity \u2014 and to see if the treats are worth the hype.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Co-owner Anabelle Brown told LAist the look and feel of Moonbridge are as if famed director Wes Anderson had a quirky little sister who went to art school and then opened up a doughnut shop.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For Roald Dahl week, the James and the Giant Peach<\/i> doughnut featured a tiny peach plopped in the center and chocolate insect-shaped decorations to represent the main characters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An \u201cUbe Wan Cannoli\u201d doughnut, with a chocolate-covered pretzel that looks like a lightsaber, combined tributes to the Star Wars<\/i> movies and Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And in an homage to Japanese filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki, the \u201cSoots in Cahoots\u201d doughnuts were covered in colorful stars and three soot sprites from his movie Spirited Away<\/i>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe tried to not only be, like, aesthetically pleasing but really try to communicate our story,\u201d Brown said, adding that the story of the shop is \u201cvery heartfelt for us.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She noted that she and co-owner Kim Gros were intentional about opening the shop in Long Beach \u201cbecause our stories connect so much in this area,\u201d including other shops owned by Brown\u2019s family.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a>
Anabelle Brown, co-owner of Moonbridge Doughnut Studio in Long Beach. Photo by Makenna Sievertson, LAist.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

How Moonbridge came to be<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Brown was approached by Gros a few years ago with her concept of opening an artisanal doughnut shop with quality coffee that could bring a lot of joy to customers, in part, by incorporating pop culture into the fare.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Brown, who has a background in baking and art, said she felt confident exploring ideas for new designs and flavors, but doughnuts were a new medium.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Brown, who is Cambodian American, comes from a long line of doughnut shop owners. Five of her relatives run shops in California and Arizona, including the Long Beach bakery Simone\u2019s Donuts. The business\u2019 namesake is Brown\u2019s grandmother.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a>
Co-owner Anabelle Brown grabs doughnuts for a pair of customers at Moonbridge Doughnut Studio in Long Beach. Photo by Makenna Sievertson, LAist.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Doughnuts are a big part of the L.A. County landscape, which can be traced back to one man who came to California from Cambodia in 1975<\/a> and later bought a doughnut shop. He wound up sponsoring many Cambodians who came to the U.S. during a refugee wave in the late 1970s, and he taught them the doughnut biz.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Brown didn\u2019t grow up working in her relatives\u2019 shops. Her father took a different path. He became an architect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the \u201cdoughnut shop world,\u201d as she put it, wasn\u2019t completely foreign to her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis idea and this concept felt very accessible for me,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd it was just like, \u2018OK, I just need to learn the way of, like, the doughnut shop.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Brown studied her family\u2019s shops, something she called a \u201cpersonal doughnut pilgrimage,\u201d learning how to make the pastries all on her own.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Brown\u2019s grandfather died while she and Gros were developing the concept of the shop, and Moonbridge became even more meaningful, she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Moonbridge, which officially opened in April 2024, is a \u201clove letter\u201d to the people who\u2019ve come before, she said, while \u201ctrying to create a place that feels celebratory and joyful.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Quirky creations<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Moonbridge is best known for its creative pop culture themes, including a series of six doughnuts inspired by Mean Girls<\/i> that launched Thursday. Some of the doughnuts are named after well-known quotes from the 2004 movie.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The \u201cIt\u2019s October 3rd<\/a>\u201d doughnut is coated in malted strawberry milkshake icing, as is the \u201cGet in Loser<\/a>\u201d option, which is also topped off with a tiny pink car.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As one Instagram user \u2014 @phoebe_eats<\/a> \u2014 wrote in a comment: It’s the collab “millennials all need to heal our heart.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I had to grab the \u201cBurn Book<\/a>\u201d doughnut, a reference to a key plot point in the movie, made with salted malted vanilla icing and black-and-white letters that looked freshly affixed by Regina George, the queen mean girl herself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a>
Moonbridge’s “Coffee & Cigarettes” doughnut includes java chip icing and an Italian breadstick with “ash” made of Oreo cookie crumbs. Photo by Makenna Sievertson, LAist.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The dough felt light and fluffy under all the icing, but it also wasn\u2019t too sweet to discourage me from taking another bite.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe still try to have certain flavors and items that feel nostalgic or classic, but just having our own Moonbridge twist to things,\u201d Brown said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Brown has taken songs or scenes from movies and TV shows and transformed them into doughnuts, including \u201cSpeed Demon\u201d by Justin Bieber<\/a> with a tiny car and the chocolate cake confession with Miss Trunchbull from the movie Matilda<\/i>, which was coated in ganache.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Brown has a spreadsheet titled \u201creckless abandon mode\u201d that includes all of Moonbridge\u2019s new flavors, recipes and lineups, which she said helps keep her creative juices flowing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How to taste it for yourself<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Moonbridge Doughnut Studio<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Where: 6344 E. Spring St., Long Beach<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

When: Seven days a week, 7 a.m. to 2 p.m.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Please note: The themed doughnuts are available on the counter starting at 9 a.m., but you can also pre-order<\/a> to make sure you don\u2019t miss out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The shop shares its\u00a0upcoming lineup on Instagram<\/a>, including a\u00a0KPop Demon Hunters<\/i><\/a>\u00a0theme in about two weeks and\u00a0Twilight<\/i>\u00a0at the end of October, as well as\u00a0The Grinch<\/i>\u00a0and\u00a0Nightmare Before Christmas<\/i>\u00a0in December.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

You’ll be blown away by the creativity behind the doughnut creations at this Long Beach shop.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":207,"featured_media":87142,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"newspack_sponsor_sponsorship_scope":"","newspack_sponsor_native_byline_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_native_category_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_style":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_placement":"inherit","inline_featured_image":false,"newspack_ads_suppress_ads":false,"newspack_popups_has_disabled_popups":"","_EventAllDay":false,"_EventTimezone":"","_EventStartDate":"","_EventEndDate":"","_EventStartDateUTC":"","_EventEndDateUTC":"","_EventShowMap":false,"_EventShowMapLink":false,"_EventURL":"","_EventCost":"","_EventCostDescription":"","_EventCurrencySymbol":"","_EventCurrencyCode":"","_EventCurrencyPosition":"","_EventDateTimeSeparator":"","_EventTimeRangeSeparator":"","_EventOrganizerID":[],"_EventVenueID":[],"_OrganizerEmail":"","_OrganizerPhone":"","_OrganizerWebsite":"","_VenueAddress":"","_VenueCity":"","_VenueCountry":"","_VenueProvince":"","_VenueState":"","_VenueZip":"","_VenuePhone":"","_VenueURL":"","_VenueStateProvince":"","_VenueLat":"","_VenueLng":"","_VenueShowMap":false,"_VenueShowMapLink":false,"_":"","_author_alias":"","cap-aim":"","cap-description":"","cap-display_name":"","cap-first_name":"","cap-jabber":"","cap-last_name":"","cap-linked_account":"","cap-newspack_employer":"","cap-newspack_job_title":"","cap-newspack_phone_number":"","cap-newspack_role":"","cap-user_email":"","cap-user_login":"","cap-website":"","cap-yahooim":"","newspack_article_summary":"","newspack_email_html":"","newspack_email_type":"","newspack_featured_image_position":"","newspack_hide_page_title":"","newspack_hide_updated_date":false,"newspack_post_subtitle":"","newspack_show_share_buttons":"","newspack_sponsor_byline_prefix":"","newspack_sponsor_disclaimer_override":"","newspack_sponsor_flag_override":"","newspack_sponsor_only_direct":"","newspack_sponsor_url":"","newspack_article_summary_title":"Overview:","newspack_show_updated_date":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"newspack_spnsrs_tax":[],"coauthors":[32360],"class_list":["post-87129","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-hi-lo","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87129","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/207"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=87129"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87129\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":87137,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87129\/revisions\/87137"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/87142"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=87129"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=87129"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=87129"},{"taxonomy":"newspack_spnsrs_tax","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/newspack_spnsrs_tax?post=87129"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=87129"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}