LONG BEACH – Of the nearly 8,000 Dunkin’ Donuts stores nationwide, the Long Beach branch stands out for one reason: the giant sprinkles-topped doughnut that sits atop the sign outside.

The Long Beach store at 5560 E. Seventh St. is the only of the Canton, Mass.-based franchises to have such a sign, according to corporate representatives of the chain.

The huge pastry formerly graced the entrance of another doughnut store drive-thru at that location and is a throwback to the 1950s. Community organizers rallied to save the sign after developers initially placed it on the chopping block, and the city added a condition that the doughnut be restored to its place before the new Dunkin’ Donuts could open.

On Tuesday, more than 100 Long Beach residents and East Coast transplants – many clad in pajama pants – waited in the dark, chilly morning for fresh coffee. Several in line had their orders mapped out before arriving.

Chanita Fondacaro, 38, noticed within three hours of moving to California in 1996 that Dunkin’ Donuts was absent from her new home on the West Coast.

While glazed doughnut holes can be acquired easily, Dunkin’s signature “munchkins,” doughnut holes of assorted flavors, are unheard of in California, Fondacaro said. Those that she would buy while traveling back East never made it to the Golden State.

“I do fly back, but I’d eat them on the plane,” she said.

While Fondacaro is a fan of the chain, her 16-year-old daughter, Joey Hafner, was the one to suggest they wait for the store’s opening. Hafner spent the early-morning hours studying for her 6 a.m. anatomy test at Wilson High School. The reason she wanted to wait? Two words: “swag bag.”

The pair were among the 100 first customers to receive an orange bag filled with a to-go coffee mug, magnet and other goodies.

First in the line stood Johnny Hoops, 38, a former resident of Connecticut who missed the company’s signature coffee.

Hoops was also the first to set foot in the Santa Monica and Downey restaurants that opened this year, and waited since 8:30 p.m. Monday to be the first in line. He also was weighing waiting in line for the Thursday opening of the Whittier franchise.

The North Hollywood resident said he’s not big on grand openings, but just enjoyed seeing the familiar restaurant from his home state.

“I just love Dunkin’ Donuts,” Hoops said. “I don’t even do Black Friday.”

Tony Candela, 61, waited with his colleague Liam Whitney, 34, and planned to buy some 100 munhckins and three dozen assorted doughnuts for their coworkers and “contribute to the expansion of their waistlines,” Candela joked. He joined Whitney Tuesday and waited in line starting at 4:30 a.m.

“I said ‘I want to do something like this at least once in my life,’” Candela said.

During the development stage nearby residents worried about the added traffic from the drive-thru, but at the store’s Tuesday opening a sign redirected drivers away from the residential neighborhood and onto the nearby thoroughfare.

The Long Beach location is the third store to open in Southern California and the closest to open near coastal Orange County. Dunkin’ Donuts hopes to open a total of 200 stores in California over the next five years, said Dunkin’ Donuts Public Relations Manager Lindsay Harrington.

Contact the writer: lwilliams@ocregister.com, 562-243-3419