It wasn’t easy to get a good cup of coffee in Los Angeles a few years ago, where Starbucks dominates the local coffee industry.
The situation now isn’t the same as it is. A new wave of coffee renaissance is happening in Los Angeles. Over the past couple of years, more and more local coffee bean providers open up their own locations. More and more up-and-coming coffee chains and independent coffee stores opening up new stores and expending, challenging Starbucks’s. More and more online celebrities are now promoting the L.A. café scene, making a cup of coffee something that’s trendy.
If you are late to the movement, don’t worry. We are here to help. Here are 10 of the city’s best cafés to get you started rolling.
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Copa Vida
Copa Vida is the best cafe in the Pasadena area. The huge floor to ceiling storefront allows sunlight to pour in from outside the store. The place is always busy, filled with customers queuing for their daily dose of caffeine, while the staff are family like and usually quite friendly. The coffee beans here originate from several well-known roasters in the city, brewed with state of the art equipment that’s sure to brew some of the best coffee you’ve ever tasted.
In addition to their tasty specialty coffee (2.50/cup), the shop also has a full breakfast and Brunch menu, with their patisserie department. The Croque Madame is highly recommended – it’s a piece of toasted bread topped with sprinkles of Gruyere Chesse, Caramelized Onion, tomatoes, ham, a sunny side up with yolks running with Béarnaise Sauce. A bite of Croque Madame would surely be a great way to start your day.
The Pie Hole
Some cafés focus on coffee. Some are more focused on creating a comfy environment. Some are more about the food. Pie Hole is, just like the name suggests, focuses on pies.
Pie Hole has five locations in LA. While each location operates with a slightly tweaked menu, the selling points are pretty much the same: a good ol’ piece of Americana.
From Apple Crumble baked with green apple, Mexican Chocolate pie with a ganache that’s infused with cinnamon and pepper, to savory old favorites like Shepherd’s Pot Pie, these recipes all come from the owner’s mom. Together with their medium roasted, slightly sweet coffee, a bite into a piece of pie is like biting into a piece of family history, perhaps the culinary history of America.
Intelligentsia, Venice Beach
Coming to Intelligentsia’s location at Venice Beach is like experiencing what it’s like to become a local Los Angeleno. The shop is filled with a sense of openness, with no panels or large round tables to separate the whole room. The wall’s decorated with shelves full of coffee beans and brewing machines. The room’s been lighted with soft yellow lights. It’s a stylish and somewhat a hippy place, filled with locals bringing their Macs to work or study.
Of course, the food and drinks at Intelligentsia does not disappoint. Their iced coffee is soothing and chilling. Light meals such as Donuts and croissants are also wildly loved. If you need more proof that this place is well worth a visit, just look at the queue outside – it’s always long, sometimes stretched outside till the streets, which are the living proof that Intelligentsia has won the hearts of locals over.
Just like Intelligentsia, Cathay Pacific also has won over many international travelers. Why not make an intelligent decision and book a flight to Los Angeles now?
Civil Coffee
Nearly every list of LA café recommendations and every coffee drinking local would recommend Civil Coffee. It is crowded with hipsters, but don’t let that reputation fool you.
Civil Coffee has the best Avocado Toast you’ll ever try. We also recommend their Figueroa – it’s a mixture of sweetened condensed milk, espresso, milk cinnamon, served with ice and a piece of Maria Cookie. It tastes like a cup of coffee-flavored horchata, and you are unlikely to find this specialty anywhere else in town.
Doubting Thomas
The quality of coffee and food at Doubting Thomas probably won’t doubt anyone. The place is well-lit and serves light eats and classic breakfast & brunch items.
Thomas Breakfast, their signature dish, is an all-day breakfast that changes its contents by in-cooperating different seasonal vegetables. Their Matcha Latte is quite good and definitely an item worth trying.
Alfred Coffee & Kitchen
The first thing you’ll see when entering is the big signature on top: But First, Coffee. They brew with Stumptown’s coffee and have long been Instagrammer and blogger darlings.
But this is not an overhyped location, for their coffee is the real deal. The Iced latte has the right balance of sweetness and bitterness, and is definitely worth trying. If you are sick of coffee, there is also coconut water and Matcha Powder available, so there’s another reason for you to check this place out.
Urth Cafe
Even though Urth café is a chain store, the quality of the food is still worthy of recommendation. They offer a wide selection of Vegetarian, Vegan-friendly and Gluten Free items.
While their coffee art is quite delicate and their artisan pizzas are crispy, the item that most people order here is their Boba Tea (or bubble tea and tapioca tea in some countries). If you don’t know what Boba Tea is, it is milk tea with Tapioca balls added on. If you haven’t tried Boba Tea yet, this would be a great chance to do.
Dialog Café
Dialog café is the choice for many West Hollywood locals to order takeaway or to dine. They usually pay online and take away later, which is very convenient if you are staying in the area.
But the service doesn’t make Dialog survive. It’s all about their food. It is quite filling and comes with a big portion, filled with cheese, scrambled eggs and briskets, and is a great way to start your morning.
The Butcher, The Baker, The Cappuccino Maker
If you are looking for the perfect instagram-able café, The Butcher, The Baker, The Cappuccino Maker will definitely make the cut.
The café has been painted white on the outside, which reminds those that you would see from Greece. The best and the most popular items on the menu are their Banana Foster French Toast – it is crunchy on the edges and soft inside, and the portion is quite generous. While the food’s good, many people come here because of their colorful coffee art. It takes some time to make, but results are so colorful that it’s definitely worth being your next instagram post headline.
Endorffeine
Unlike most of the café on this list, Endorffeine in Chinatown is a place only about coffee: the shop only has one circular bar that surrounds the brewing station. The décor is minimalist, with only a few shelves decorating the wall, shelving unused machines and glass bottles. The menu doesn’t provide much option, as they don’t sell anything other than coffee.
Endorffeine is all about coffee, and the coffee here is amazing. Everything here is almost one of, if not, the best cup of coffee that you will find in LA. While the owner’s not brewing coffee, he will gladly answer any of your curious questions about coffee making.