The Brief

As one of Los Feliz's most walkable strips, Hillhurst Avenue has a lot to offer. The thoroughfare connects to Griffith Park and boasts a number of restaurants, shops and cool hangouts.

Soon, a new business is opening up — not unusual for any neighborhood. But this particular addition, a Philz Coffee that's taking over the space once occupied by gourmet butcher McCall's, is raising a blunt question: Are there too many coffee spots on Hillhurst?

" Yes, absolutely,” said  Steven Shinnick, a Los Feliz resident of about a decade. “I mean, we got Starbucks across from a Coffee Bean. There's a new one coming in over here ... Pete's... Leet's ... I don't even know the names anymore." Yeah, Philz. "And then Blue Bottle, of course."

The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf in Los Feliz.

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Here’s the lay of the land. Along a stretch of just a few blocks of Hillhurst, depending on how you count, a Los Feliz Daycare-following hipster can get his caffeine fix in at least seven places: Start at Starbucks Reserve (read: fancy Starbucks) near the intersection with Los Feliz Boulevard. Down the block and across the street is the Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf. Across from that is a Blue Bottle Coffee. Cafe Los Feliz and Alcove will feed you as well as make your $5+ espresso drink. And don’t forget homegrown roaster Maru Coffee.

Blue Bottle Coffee on Hillhurst Avenue in Los Feliz

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Add Philz and that’s seven coffee joints within a roughly 10-minute walk.

" It's very saturated. We are very lucky to have a lot of coffee so close to us," said Troy Born, another decade-long resident. " I can just walk down Hillhurst and choose what coffee I feel like that day."

On this very day, Born is feeling the siren calls of two places. He bought a box of coffee filters from Blue Bottle, as well as a bag of beans and a cup of drip from Maru.

As for the new kid on the block, he said the people will be the judge of whether it gets to stick around.

Overkill aside, choice can be good for the wallet, said Jacob Ross, who's lived in the neighborhood for about five years.

"You can kind of get a cheap coffee, but you can also get a super fancy cup."

But " there is quite a lot of coffee," he admitted.

Ross isn't familiar with the Northern California chain Philz but said his wife has heard of it. As a habitual coffee drinker, his go-to place on Hillhurst for a nice cup of black is All Time — a restaurant.

Does All Time make it eight coffee places on Hillhurst?

"It's super accessible, and it's a really good cup of coffee," Ross said.

What does the neighborhood need more of? Ross said he wouldn't mind seeing a few more watering holes, as a number of bars shut down during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Maru Coffee on Hillhurst Avenue in Los Feliz.

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"There's definitely a lot of places that have kind of stopped being a hangout after a certain time and then they become restaurants that you have to have reservations to get into. So it makes it a little harder to hang out in the neighborhood at night," Ross said.

Born wants to see a tried-and-true culinary establishment rise up in the beating heart of Los Feliz.

" Houston's restaurant," Born said, dead serious. "I swear it would kill. Because it's so good."

His wife emailed the steakhouse to soft launch the idea. But the chain responded to say that they would only consider opening a new location if they can own the building.

For one longtime resident and business owner, it doesn't matter what kind of new business comes in – as long as it isn’t coffee.

"We can use other things here in the community. We can always use another restaurant or a boutique. Or some sort of accessory store, or music," said Dr. Michele Ware, right after a coffee run to All Time.

Ware has lived in Los Feliz most of her life and owns Los Feliz Med Spa, just two storefronts down from the new Philz.

Given the proximity, is she at least tempted to give Philz a try?

" Probably eventually," Ware said. "But I'm not lining up to get in there."

For the last three years, the record store and music venue Healing Force of the Universe has been operating on a sleepy street corner not far from Pasadena City College. Nearby businesses include a shoe repair store, a nail salon and several auto shops.

“We're kind of in a dead corner,” owner Austin Manuel said. “No offense if anybody lives here, but not a very foot-trafficked area, kind of a hard place to have a store.”

In spite of the location, Manuel said Healing Force has become a home away from home for musicians and music fans. One of them is Bobby Bradford, a jazz trumpet legend who lost his house and personal archive in the Eaton Fire. He performs regularly at the venue. (Healing Force has also partnered with LAist on fire recovery events.)

Its current location is set to close this month, but Manuel and his team are already raising funds to cover a move to another space: G-Son Studios in Atwater Village. The repurposed ballroom was the Beastie Boys' home base when they recorded their classic albums Check Your Head and Ill Communication. Run-DMC and Biz Markie stopped by at one point, and Beck also laid down tracks for his album Odelay there.

Inside Healing Force's space in Pasadena.

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The vibe

Healing Force sells records, of course, but these days it’s more of a nighttime performance space. Manuel said he wants people to feel comfortable striking up conversations after a show.

“I grew up in the church in the South, and I was like, ‘How do I design this so that it feels like a Southern church lady could come in here and feel welcome?’" Manuel said. “ I didn't want it to be too cool.  I wanted it to feel kind of suburban in a way.”

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Though the name might call to mind a cult slogan — and Manuel said they lean into that aesthetic on purpose — it’s actually a reference to the 1970 album Music Is the Healing Force of the Universe by saxophonist Albert Ayler.

At the venue, “people can kind of get … into a meditative zone,” Manuel said. “After the [January 2025] fires, it felt so good to come back together in this room and feel the healing of community.”

Healing Force's stage setup.

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The performances

The shows Healing Force puts on share a common thread: They’re meant to promote peace and relaxation, as well as deep, careful listening on the hi-fi sound system. But they’re an eclectic mix of genres. On one night, you might see L.A. spiritual jazz band Phi-Psonics, who turned a residency at the venue into a live album, Expanding to One.

On another night, you might catch a spaced-out electronic set, an up-and-coming singer-songwriter or a group of session musicians who’ve played with the likes of Paul Simon, Elton John and Lucinda Williams.

About the fundraiser

With the new space on Glendale Boulevard, Manuel said, Healing Force would triple its capacity for concerts, get a bar space and be closer to other venues in Northeast L.A.

“If 1,000 people gave $25, we would get there,” Manuel said – though he also said most people have been giving more.

You can read more about the fundraiser and donate at Healing Force’s GoFundMe.

See the Pasadena space before it closes

The venue is still open at 1200 E. Walnut Street and is holding events through this Halloween weekend. You can see their events calendar on their website.

The racist DNA of Jim Crow discrimination may be embedded in your housing documents.

The language in housing documents that restricts sale or use of a property only to a person of the white race is called a “restrictive covenant,” and in California the practice goes back to the 19th century and continued into the mid-20th century. While housing discrimination persists, the practice was found unconstitutional in 1948.

California counties are reporting mixed progress in meeting the demands of a 2021 law to excise the language from property records.

According to Sylvia Manzo, deputy recorder in the Orange County Clerk-Recorder’s office, the county finished the job in March of this year, removing racist language from more than 27,000 property documents with the help of computer software.

This 1924 property document from Bakersfield includes racist language limiting use of the property in question to people of "the white or Caucasian race."

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L.A. County is far from done. It says that with the help of an outside company hired in 2024, 50 million pages will be examined yearly, which would take about 10 years to finish the job.

Public agencies could use the public’s help.

Language examples

Here’s a 1924 example from a property in Bakersfield. The text reads, “That the lands herein conveyed shall never, at any time, be sold to or rented to or occupied by any person not of the white or Caucasian race.”

Or this language from a 1936 document relating to a Costa Mesa property: “That said premises shall not be sold, conveyed, rented, or leased to, or occupied by any person of African, Mexican, or Asiatic descent.”

How to get it taken out

The Restrictive Covenant Modification Form is at the heart of the effort to remove the racist language from housing documents. Each county has its own process. Some charge a fee; others don’t. Some require a notary certification for the signature; others don’t.

L.A. County:

Registrar-Recorder officials recommend these steps:

• Highlight or underline the unlawful provision on the recorded document
• Complete the Restrictive Covenant Modification Form
• Submit the form and the recorded document by email: RCM@rrcc.lacounty.gov or in person at the Norwalk headquarters at 12400 Imperial Highway in Norwalk
• Mail instructions are here.

Orange County:

The Orange County spokesperson says there may be some properties not caught by its software and urges the public to report them. Here’s the form

Riverside County:

Here’s the Riverside County form

San Bernardino County:

Here’s the San Bernardino County form

San Diego County:

Here’s the San Diego County form

Santa Barbara County:

Here’s the Santa Barbara County form

Ignoring the racist language in property documents, some say, reinforces the legacy of segregation, while taking steps to remove restrictive covenant language is a way individuals and organizations can repudiate policies that sought to discriminate.