We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again: Los Angeles is a coffee city. In fact, it might just be the best coffee city.
There are world-class coffee shops, internet-famous cafes, Vietnamese coffee destinations and specialists that source beans only from particular regions and appellations. Every imaginable coffee experience can be found across the region, and some of its newest are the most exciting.
About This Guide
Our journalists independently visited every spot recommended in this guide. We do not accept free meals or experiences. What should we check out next? Send ideas to [email protected].
Over the last few months, L.A. has seen a boom in these openings, be it standalone coffee shops or cafes that also offer ample food programs. Some flip from daytime concepts to full-fledged restaurants or wine bars by night. One is a meticulous matcha purveyor. Another doubles as a record store, complete with listening stations and a DJ booth, while a new East Hollywood cafe hopes to be a community art gallery. You can sip strong Armenian coffee with soujuk breakfast sandwiches in Historic South-Central or pair brews with perfumes in a Koreatown penthouse.
Every week it seems a new cafe or coffee shop is sprouting up in L.A., a kind of hyper-caffeinated hydra. Established coffee names are also expanding their footprints; this month, popular local roaster Madlab unveiled a new outpost in Chinatown, while Dayglow recently announced an expansion into Venice.
While this is by no means a comprehensive list of all the new coffee shops and cafes that planted a flag in the region over the last few months, it is a collection of more than a dozen great new places for sipping and, in some cases, dining, shopping artisanal ceramics or taking in local art.