Chefs Roy Choi and Daniel Patterson's new healthy fast food restaurant will offer affordable cups of high-quality coffee thanks to a new partnership.
The two chefs have partnered with Tony Konecny, co-founder of Tonx Coffee—which was acquired by Blue Bottle—to offer $1 cups of gourmet coffee at LocoL, their soon-to-open fast food spot in Watts. According to Eater LA, they plan to offer the type of top-notch coffee that you'd find at the best shops around town for a much lower price by roasting quality beans in-house.
"Their question was 'can we do a $1 cup of coffee and make it really good?'" Konecny says in a post on Medium about the challenge presented by Choi and Patterson. "We tossed around a few scenarios, strategies and potential partnerships, but in the end landed on doing the roasting operation in-house."
Choi and Patterson mentioned at a panel discussion last year that LocoL won't be offering soda at the chain—which will soon include a second location in San Francisco—but instead they'll have aqua frescas and coffee. So, in addition to fresh renditions of $4 burgers, $2 chicken tenders and $6 rice bowls—and let's not forget about those quesadilla-and-taco hybrid Foldies—diners at the ambitious new restaurant chain can look forward to a cup o' joe for little more than pocket change.
As for the specifics of what types of coffee they will offer and other details, Konnecny says we'll just have to wait. "If you're a coffee geek, you've probably got a lot of questions. And maybe at some point, we'll share some of our answers. Right now, it's both a work-in-progress and a labor of love," he said.
LocoL is located at 1950 East 103rd St. in Watts and is expected to open on January 18 at 11 a.m.
