Randy's Donuts is open for business in Phoenix

Randy's Donuts is a longtime institution in California, and now that it's officially expanded to Phoenix, you can stop in yourself to see why it's such a beloved chain.

State of play: The chain, which opened its original store in Inglewood, California, in 1952, launched its first Arizona location last month.

• Randy's Phoenix location is on Seventh Street, a few blocks south of Bethany Home Road.
• They have 17 other U.S. locations in California, Nevada and Georgia, along with 21 international stores in South Korea, Saudi Arabia and the Philippines.
• New stores are scheduled to open later this year in Albuquerque, Las Vegas and multiple locations in California.

What to try: There are so many varieties to choose from that it was hard to figure out where to start.

• You can get a "crondy," which is a cross between a croissant and a doughnut, or a Texas-sized donut that, as the name suggests, is gigantic.
• They've got a lot of interesting stuff in their fancy and premium selections, like doughnuts that are matcha-flavored or covered in Fruity Pebbles.
• I went with a few selections so I sample pieces of each: a butter crumb raised, a s'mores and a maple raised with mini churros on top.

Everything was fantastic. The s'mores doughnut had me fantasizing about sitting around a campfire, and nothing with churros on top could be anything but delicious.

• Best bites: It was a little less fancy than the others, but the butter crumb doughnut was my favorite.

What's next: Franchisee Brian Padilla isn't stopping with the Phoenix store. He told the Arizona Republic last month that he plans to open two more Randy's locations in Chandler.