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Knowing that there's only one mocha-flavored God standing between Angelenos and a stress-free, high-energy Monday morning, the sharp minds at LAist decided to introduce The Coffee Buzz.
What is The Coffee Buzz? Each and every Monday morning, LAist will be highlighting one of the fifty-two Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf shops across Los Angeles (Beverly Hills, Santa Monica, Hollywood, Ventura/The Valley, Malibu and the rest of Los Angeles proper) in an attempt to provide you, the obsessive-compulsive coffee drinker, with a full-scope view of your local coffee choices. (Choices being limited to the one chain that has not expressed their desire for world domination.)
After fifty-two weeks (yes, we'll still be doing this in July of 2005), if you don't know where to get your double-mocha, one-percent milk, easy on the whip, Ice Blended Vanilla Malibu Dream Scream on ice; if you don't know which group of clientele you find most calming as you imbibe your Monday morning elixir; if you don't know what's closest, easiest to get to and most pleasant on the eyes, we give up. Seriously, we'll give up. No, we're not kidding. Buh-bye.
52 weeks. 52 Coffee Beans. 52 punches on your punch card. (At 12 punches per card, that's four free coffee drinks. Woo-hoo!) So, without further ado, LAist gives you The Coffee Buzz.
Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf #1
Palms & Sepulveda
3470 S. Sepulveda Boulevard
Los Angeles
Hours: Mon-Fri 5:00 AM–10:00 PM / Sat 5:30 AM–10:00 PM / Sun 6:00 AM–10:00 PM
LAist knows that there's a coffee shop to serve each O.C.D. coffee guzzler here in Los Angeles, and The Coffee Bean at Palms and Sepulveda is way ahead of the curve in that area. This shop has the distinction of being the only Coffee Bean in all of Los Angeles that has a drive-thru. A drive-thru coffee shop, people. Upon closer inspection, LAist has decided to dub this particular location the lazy person's Coffee Bean.
The clientele turns out to be a very eclectic mix. The regulars — those who actually get out of their car to walk inside and order their drinks (and those who sit out on the faux patio over parking lot concrete) — are locals who live in the general vicinity. But drive-thru patrons? It's been rumored that those who have something against putting on clothes or showering on lazy Saturdays and Sundays will take the extra twenty minute drive down to Palms and Sepulveda so they can get their coffee without emerging from their designer SUV's and low-to-the-ground sports coupes.
As a result, the drive-thru at Palms and Sepulveda is often backed up, servicing an in-car wait of about 10-15 minutes. And people who have come to this particular Coffee Bean are there for a very specific reason as illustrated by this recently overhead conversation:
Man (in car, to woman): This line is so long.
Woman: So, just go inside.
Man: But it's a drive-thru Coffee Bean.
Woman: So? You have legs. Use them.
Man: I'm not driving to a Coffee Bean drive-thru to just get out of my car and walk inside. That's insanity.
Woman: You're insanity.
On the whole, if you're heading down to the South Bay from the Westside and looking for a somewhat quick coffee stop without any real sit-down charm, the Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf at Palms and Sepulveda is the place to go. With extremely friendly drive-thru window staff and a centralized location, it's the best drive-thru Coffee Bean in all of LA.
And, well, that's saying something.
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> (Choices being limited to the one chain that has not expressed their desire for world domination.)
Hm. I think that would be Peet's. The ol' Coffee Leaf and Tea Bean is far from denying a will to power, boasting that they are the "largest privately-held specialty coffee retailer" and given a fair number of locations outside of the US.
Is this a paid ad for the Coffee Bean? If so, you should say it. If not, why Coffee Bean only? You should say THAT. The "world domination" disclaimer is not enough. You know, if you live in an area with a lot of coffee places, Starbucks may seem like a corporate bully. But in humble Van Nuys, the only chain to open in my neighborhood, which is NOT on or near Ventura Blvd., was Starbucks. You know how many independent coffee places they drove out? NONE. Because there were and are NONE. The Starbucks near Van Nuys and Burbank boulevards is packed at just about every hour of the day or night. It's the most popular business of any kind in the area, by far, because it tapped pent-up demand and went into an area where there was absolutely no competition. Not even a freakin' 7-Eleven or AM-PM, let alone a "cool" coffeehouse or even Coffee Bean. I'd love to seen Coffee Bean open in the Valley anywhere but Ventura Boulevard or a mall. Hasn't happened. Is Starbucks the best coffee out there. No. But in my neighborhood, it's the only coffee. Opening where you have no competition is not brain surgery, just basic Business 101. Could an independent entrepreneur open across the street and do great business, even with Starbucks within spitting distance? Yes. It's not easy to be better than Starbucks, but first you have to be at all.
I mean't to say it's not HARD to be better than Starbucks (as opposed to easy). Yes, Starbucks' coffee is unduly harsh. Yes Peet's and a host of other indies make a better cup. Where Starbucks and Coffee Bean do converge is on the poor quality of their baked goods, most of which could function as serviceable paperweights.
Good questions.
Is this an ad for Coffee Bean? No. Why just them? Because there are so many Starbucks in Los Angeles it would take us a millenium to reach them all, and places like Peet's are too few and far between it would end next week.
The concept is less about plugging Coffee Bean itself as a chain, and more as a way to provide a look into how people and clientele and community changes based on each coffee stop throughout LA. Picking one particular company just happens to give it a cohesive theme.
I don't know where in the Valley you've been, but there is a Coffee Bean on Riverside, between just west of Mariota, right across the street from Trader Joe's. It isn't in a mall, unless you consider a string of storefronts a mall.
Aside from that, while it is a slam to say that Starbucks is bent on world domination, I don't think they would disagree with that comment. Starbucks is open about its business model and unabashed pursuit of market domination. Further, part of the point of this series is to explore the personalities of various communities through examining an establishment that is--ostensibly--the same in each one. The Coffee Bean is a good way to do that, as there is one is nearly every area of Los Angeles. While this is also true of Starbucks, it comes with the downside of overwhelming volume, making it a much more difficult series to pen.
I'm not ashamed to admit that I prefer The Coffee Bean--which was, notably, born in LA--but if you'll notice, the post isn't about the merits of the place but them physical location itself. We love all coffees equally here at LAist, and no one said we weren't going to write about other coffee shops too.
I think it makes sense for LAist to cover Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf simply because it is an LA chain. There are reviews of Starbucks up the wazoo.
This place is also supposedly the birthplace of the ice blended coffee drinks. I had a caramel ice blended last week which is impossibly good.
If you've ever visited a mall or 10 in, say, Singapore, Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf might not seem quite so benign, at least in terms of world domination. Those vanilla ice blendeds leap out and snatch you by the throat.
I believe the first incarnation of the Ice Blended was what I remember as the "Larchmont Special" at the CB&TL location on Larchmont Blvd. Will have to look into this matter to see if staid ol' Hancock Park really did start a sensation...