King Donuts has been a one stop shop for Rainier Beach since 2003. Founders Chea Pol and Heng Hay first created their mash-up of breakfast-meets-lunch-meets-chores to fill gaps in the neighborhood. And when Hong Chhuor and his family took up the reigns at King Donuts 14 years later, he promised to keep meeting those practical community needs.

That self-guided tour back in 2017 took her to King Donuts, the laundromat–doughnut shop–teriyaki joint that had been a community hub in Rainier Beach for decades. A conversation sparked. The price was right. Sok summoned one of her five sons, Travis Chhuor, who was living in Texas with his family. She looped in her eldest, Hong Chhuor, who had just bought a house nearby. A new family business began—so did a new chapter for a neighborhood institution.

Rainier Beach residents were saddened last year when Amy O’Connell closed the doors of Beach Bakery after six years. But a short three months later, sweets were again available in the Rainier Avenue S. strip mall at King Donuts, a fixture in the south end for decades, which had pulled up stakes from its iconic blue building and moved seven blocks north to the vacant bakery.

In September 2022, Rainier Beach landmark King Donuts moved into Beach Bakery’s former location at 7820 Rainier Ave. S. The beloved family business has been a longtime community favorite, easily memorable for its joint operation as a donut shop, laundromat, and teriyaki counter. Though it has been in existence for decades, the Chhuor family has run King Donuts since 2017. Reopening after a break in 2021, the family dropped teriyaki from the menu, and they haven’t had laundry service since 2019. The recent move also solidifies a new direction for King Donuts.

PHOTOS: The legacy of King Donuts, an eclectic community gathering place, continues in Seattle.

Like so many great things in life it was a little bit of a happy accident and coincidence of timing,” says Hong Chhuor of his family’s acquisition of King Donuts late in 2017. Hong’s brother Travis is the family’s resident doughnut-maker. The recipes are all their own, and can go toe-to-toe with any other competitors in Seattle. The selection is wide, from chocolate- and sprinkle-coated to glazed or cinnamon sugar-coated rounds to cream-filled maple bars to doughnut holes, but has a definite focus on wonderfully puffy yeasted or raised varieties