Rudy's Donut House
 3692 Castro Valley Blvd. --- Castro Valley, California 94546 --- (510) 889-1109

Here's the story as I remember it: There was a very popular Winchell's Donut Shop in Castro Valley, California. Winchell's owned the building, and a guy named Rudy owned the franchise. One day officials from Winchell's came calling, asking Rudy why he was making his donuts bigger than the standard Winchell's franchise rules called for. Rudy said that was what his customers wanted. Winchell's said stop, and Rudy said no, so they took his franchise away. However, Rudy had a few more years on the building lease, so the Winchell's signs came down and hastily-prepared signs reading "Rudy's Donut House" went up.

 Rudy was now free to make his donuts any way he pleased. The shop stayed busy, with lines out the door, for a few years until the lease was up. Rudy then retired, and because Winchell's owned the building a new franchisee was found and the shop reopened under the Winchell's name.

After a year or two of retirement, Rudy bought a vacant gas station down the street from his former shop, remodeled it, and reopened Rudy's Donut House. Once again Castro Valleyans flocked to the new Rudy's, and the Winchell's eventually closed up shop. (The building's not even there anymore.)

 I may have some of the minutiae wrong, but the gist of the story is true. And even now, in the age of mom-and-pop Cambodian donut shops everywhere (not to mention the omnipresent Krispy Kreme -- don't get me started), Rudy's still attracts a loyal following. Go to Rudy's two or three times, and you'll start to recognize the regulars -- at their usual tables, with their usual orders. Weekdays, the clientele consists of landscapers, construction workers, and other blue-collar types, rubbing elbows with a large group of retired men (who get there at the crack of dawn) and businesspeople buying donuts for the office. There's sometimes a pack of teenagers from Castro Valley High School on weekdays. Sunday morning brings out the church crowd -- men in crisp shirts and ties, ladies in skirts, girls in dresses, adolescent boys with their hair slicked into place -- all enjoying a bit of real Americana.

 Rudy's charming daughters often work the counter. And though Rudy has retired -- again -- he's still a regular presence at the shop.

 The fare at Rudy's Donut House is the usual donut shop stuff. Nothing's fancy (unless you count the automatic espresso machine, which occasionally breaks into self-cleaning mode and blasts steam all over), but everything is good. My personal favorites are the buttermilk bars (plain), the blueberry cake donuts, and the classic chocolate raised. (Jane wishes Rudy's made a maple old fashioned -- hint hint.

 Hours: 5:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. every day.

 
Rudy's won the Best Donuts category in the 2002 "Bay Area's Best" competition in the  Hayward Daily Review.

 
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