Homestead Road's Doughnut Corner Runs on Two Clocks, and So Does Central Park This Fall

At Stan's Donut Shop on Homestead Road, the staff moved quickly as customers waited in line on July 31. That morning, across the intersection at Las Palmas Drive, Randy's Donuts was opening its first Northern California shop. Hundreds of people had been lined up there since before sunrise.

Two months later, the corner looks less like a fight and more like two shops working different parts of the day. Stan's closes at 2:30 p.m. Randy's was built to cover the afternoon and evening. The same timing question applies at nearby Central Park, where construction crews hold part of the park on weekdays and the fall events land on Saturdays.

What opened at 2595 Homestead Road

Randy's moved into a corner building that used to be a KFC. Ausaf Masud of Campbell is one of three partners who own the franchise. He said they chose the site for its large kitchen and the chance to reopen the old drive-thru lane, which few properties have. The partners operate as Sweet Rings LLC and hope to open about five Bay Area locations in total. On opening morning, Masud estimated 400 people were waiting.

Opening weekend went faster than the shop expected. Masud told Palo Alto Online that Randy's went through about 6,500 doughnuts a day and ran out hours before its 9 p.m. closing time. He cut the hours until the kitchen could catch up. Those reduced hours, as printed August 5, were 6 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday. Randy's own location page lists different hours, so check before planning an evening run. As of early August, the drive-through was expected to open later in 2026.

The menu covers a wider spread than a classic doughnut counter. There are up to 50 varieties, including Maple Bacon Long Johns and a seasonal Mango Tajin, plus breakfast sandwiches and a long list of coffee drinks. There are also Texas doughnuts, which are giant raised doughnuts, and Crondies, a croissant doughnut.

What happened at 2628 Homestead Road

Stan's opened in 1959 and is still owned by the Wittmayer family. Many expected a new shop across the street to take some of its customers. Instead, owner Julie Clark said business "exploded" on Randy's opening day. Most of the people in her line were longtime customers, but many others came because they had heard about the controversy. She told KQED the Friday line was four to five times its usual length.

"When we went through COVID, we saw how much people appreciated us. But that's nothing compared to now." Julie Clark, owner of Stan's Donut Shop

By the following Monday, both shops had lines out the door. Both owners have described the two shops as different businesses. Clark calls Stan's a volume shop that sells "dozens and dozens" at a time for meetings, events and family gatherings. Masud said the shops are "here to coexist," with different tastes and their own dough recipes.

Stan's has changed very little over the years. The doughnuts are still cut and glazed by hand from the same recipes. The menu signs are more than 50 years old, hand-painted by artist Luis Filipe Villafuerte, and you can still see the guidelines he sketched to keep the letters straight. Clark said Stan's will never franchise and will stay in the family, which includes employees who have worked there for almost 25 years and their relatives.

How the two shops split the day

Put the published details side by side and the two shops overlap less than the "Donut Wars" label suggests.

The prices show the split most clearly. A dozen glazed raised from Stan's costs about what eight or nine cost across the street. Stan's stays cash-only on purpose. Clark said it keeps the line moving at peak times and cuts costs, which keeps prices down. If you're picking up a box for an office meeting before 2:30, Stan's fits. If you want something sweet after school pickup on a Friday, or a matcha or s'mores doughnut, the shop that is still open is Randy's.

Some customers worked this out on opening day. A customer and a friend split up, one in each line, so they could compare. When someone asked where they would meet for the taste test, another customer pointed across the parking lot at the Taco Bell.

Central Park has a weekday schedule too

The Central Park Library is at 2635 Homestead Road, on the same stretch as Stan's. Central Park, at 909 Kiely Blvd., is partly under construction this fall. The city's Entrance, Accessibility and Parking Improvements Project includes a new entrance, traffic signal upgrades, ADA pathway work and electric vehicle chargers. Crews work Monday through Friday from 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., except on city holidays.

Phase 1 was supposed to finish by the end of September. The city's latest posted update listed the Pavilion parking lot, the Pavilion picnic area and bathrooms, and the kids' playground as closed. Magical Bridge Playground was still open. Phase 2 has started and is expected to run until summer 2027. It focuses on the Kiely Boulevard and Kaiser Drive intersection. Magical Bridge, the basketball courts and the Creek Trail stay open throughout, and the city directs visitors to the CRC lot.

Central Park Lake was drained June 22 for routine maintenance, including system repairs and sediment removal. The city expected the work to finish in early September and planned to refill the lake with reclaimed water afterward. The city had not posted a refill update as of early October, so you may want to see the lake before promising it to visiting family.

A fall calendar along the same few blocks

Weekday construction doesn't touch the season's events here, which fall on weekends or outside work hours.

• October 15 to November 3: A community ofrenda is on view at the Central Park Library, 2635 Homestead Road.
• Saturday, October 24, noon to 4 p.m.: Children's SpooktaClara Halloween Party is held in the Meadow Area by Bob Fatjo Field in Central Park. It includes Trick or Treat Row, a Pumpkin Walk, carnival games, crafts, music and food. The event is free for ages 10 and under.
• Sunday, November 1, 3 to 8 p.m., tentative: Santa Clara University's Camino de los Muertos at 500 El Camino Real is open to the community. A Spanish-language Mass is listed for 5 p.m. in Mission Santa Clara.

For SpooktaClara parking, the city's event page lists free parking at the Pavilion lot, on Patricia Drive and at the Community Recreation Center lot. That page was last updated in May, before the September construction notice listing the Pavilion lot as closed. Plan on the CRC lot or Patricia Drive unless the city confirms the Pavilion lot has reopened. A Saturday that starts at Stan's before the 2:30 close, continues to the Meadow at noon and ends with a later stop at Randy's covers both clocks on this corner.

Elsewhere on Homestead Road, a different kind of change

Farther along Homestead, the business changes are bigger. At its August 25 meeting, the Santa Clara City Council approved the Pariva development at 3521 and 3591 Homestead Road: 147 homes and 4,991 square feet of commercial space. According to Silicon Valley Voice, the project displaces 16 businesses. Nine have relocated elsewhere in Santa Clara, three have moved out of the city, and the rest retired or closed.

That makes the doughnut corner more unusual. Randy's moved into a former KFC with a drive-thru lane, and the shop across the street saw some of the longest lines its owner had ever seen. In August, Masud said four more Bay Area Randy's locations were in the works. For now, the intersection of Homestead Road and Las Palmas Drive is where a 1952 Los Angeles recipe and a 1959 Santa Clara one share a stoplight.

A doughnut-corner sale depends on timing, and so does a sale on Homestead Road. If you live near Central Park and want to know how the area's changes affect your home's value, Christopher Renois can walk you through it block by block, with no pressure. Let's connect.