An ode to the Hotel Café’s famous alley spot before it moves

Walking down an alley in Hollywood might not be the typical way to watch a live show, but at the Hotel Café on Cahuenga Boulevard, it’s what music lovers have done for 25 years.

It’s a storied music venue that’s been a home for generations of artists. Even big names cut their teeth here, like Adele, Sara Bareilles and Mumford & Sons. It’s the kind of place that has a line well before anyone gets on stage. Phones are a rarity here, and the audience is so silent you can hang on every note.

This place is closing down in early 2026. But the Hotel Café won’t be gone forever — bucking the normal narrative of closures, it’s shutting down in order to expand.

Let’s dig into what made the small space special.

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The Hotel Café’s humble origin

It started out as a bit of a sidequest.

Back in 2000, an idea popped into the minds of screenwriting partners Marko Shafer and Max Mamikunian. Why not open a coffee shop together that could serve as a creative home base?

The two bought a vacant space right below a hotel. The plan was simple: Be successful enough to have a staff and go back to screenwriting. The Hotel Café, as they named it, reached that milestone right before Sept. 11 rattled America — and consumer habits nationwide.

“ We were in that position of just having made our success as a coffee shop and then all of a sudden nothing,” Mamikunian said. “We thought we were going to close down.”

Then musician Gary Jules came in, fresh off the heels of his hit version of “Mad World” in the Donnie Darko movie. He wanted to do a set, which put them on a trajectory no one could have seen coming.

“ The line was down the block, and half of the people in line were musicians,” Mamikunian said.

After his show, the Hotel Café gradually morphed into a regular music venue. Jules stuck around to perform and handle some of the booking, then Shafer took the helm.

Magical nights

The intimate, dimly lit setup quickly drew music agents, crooning fans and audiophiles. In the early days, they’d get inundated with demo CDs (now it’s SoundCloud). Shafer hid sometimes from hopeful performers because the demand was just too much.

Musician James Bay's performance in 2022.

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Justin Higuchi

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The Hotel Café

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A crowd at the Hotel Café in 2022.

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Justin Higuchi

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The Hotel Café

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He and Mamikunian credit the Hotel Café’s following to its consistently curated performance and group showcases, like Songwriter Sunday and Monday Monday. Shafer remembered a time in 2003 when Weezer joined one of those nights.

“ Their manager called me on my Razr flip phone, and so there was no proof it was actually her. I had to take her word for it,” he said.

It was real. Weezer showed up, loaded in some stools and played an acoustic set. Another fond memory, production manager Gia Hughes said, is when Chris Martin’s team called in for a last-minute show. The Coldplay frontman arrived on a Vespa.

“ He’s sound checking ‘The Scientist,’ and it’s just me and the bartender and the sound engineer,” she recalled. “I'm just like, ‘holy sh--, this is unreal.’ It was just one of those super magical nights.”

Hughes said their success also comes from the respectful culture the Hotel Café is known for. It’s as much of a place for music fans as it is for artists. They can sing for a tuned-in audience, or — like Radiohead did — roll up to enjoy a show undisturbed.

A new era

As more and more people came, it was clear the performance space needed more room. They later expanded in 2004 to include the stage next door. Today, they’re in a similar predicament.

A closure date for the Hotel Café hasn't been set yet.

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Gia Hughes

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The Hotel Café

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That’s why they’re moving to a bigger space inside Lumina Hollywood on Sunset Boulevard in the first half of 2027, which they recently announced on Instagram. The new spot will have two stages and a restaurant component.

While many Hotel Café fans are sad to see it move, Mamikunian said it’s another period of reinvention. He’s proud of their time on Cahuenga Boulevard.

“Any business lasting anywhere for 25 years is an accomplishment,” he said. "I think we want to go out in a kind of celebratory way.”

It’s unclear when exactly the Cahuenga spot will close, but they have several farewell performances scheduled through at least the first couple of months in 2026.

“A lot of people are asking us, especially because everybody wants to be one of the last to play the room,” Mamikunian said. “I  think we’ll know within the next few weeks for sure that we can put an actual date on it.”