LAS VEGAS (KLAS) – Carl’s Donuts has been a Las Vegas valley staple since 1966 when Carl and Lyn Sanders moved from California to Las Vegas to open their donut shop downtown.

Then they moved to wholesale operations and hit pause on their retail operations before opening up their first retail store in decades in 2018 on Sunset Road near Pecos Road.

Now Carl’s grandchildren are returning the brand to its roots with their first location downtown in decades.

“We got the opportunity to come downtown and we jumped at it as soon as it was presented to us. We really just wanted to return to my grandparents’ roots,” Amber Ramsay, Carl’s granddaughter explained.

The new location is called ‘The Donut Hole,’ “Me and my bother wanted to put a spin on the Carl’s name, so we came up with The Donut Hole,” Ramsay said.

Selling itself as downtown Las Vegas’ favorite hole in the wall, the 1,144 square foot facility opened in February 2024 and is a modern twist on a classic recipe. The hottest sellers are the maple bacon and strawberry cream donuts.

After decades of just baking, the granddaughter Amber and Brock Ramsay returned the donut maker to retail shops in 2018 with a location near Post and Sunset roads.

Now they are in the heart of downtown Las Vegas just a block away from Fremont Street Experience and right off Las Vegas Boulevard at 124 South 6th Street, Las Vegas.

It’s a sweet return from their first donut shop downtown in the 1960s and the start of many trips for frequent customers Sonia Guerrero and her husband. They discovered Carl’s Donuts when they moved to Las Vegas 23 years ago.

“He just found it driving around when we first moved here, and it has been one of the staples. I take it everywhere,” she explained.

Ramsay hopes they can explain the hours of the new shop to late night hours as well.