We asked you: Is LA a coffee city? Here’s what you said

Recently I wrote about how, in my view, L.A. is a coffee city. My LAist colleague, Antonia Cereijido, believes that it is not.

We wanted to hear from you, the LAist audience so I joined LAist's radio show AirTalk earlier this week with Antonia and Jacob Margolis, who was filling in for host Larry Mantle, to hear some calls. I also posted on social media to see what you thought.

As we’d expect from our discerning audience, there was a variety of nuanced opinions.

Diane from Claremont called in to say, “It is a coffee city. But to be honest with you, you have to drive so far to get one. Part of being a coffee city is being able to grab one on foot.”

So — half in. Richard Bourne on Facebook said, “It’s definitely a coffee city because it isn't a tea city. The next question is, though, is L.A. a good coffee city? I don't know about that. It's got a lot of cool, different ethnic coffee scenes, but it also has an overwhelming amount of crap coffee loaded with sugar and fat served at bland drive-thrus.”

Ouch.

Meanwhile John Imig on Facebook said:

“As someone who has worked in the coffee industry for over 20 years, L.A. is absolutely a coffee city. I’d venture to say it is home to more U.S. Barista Champions than any other U.S. city. Several shops have been majorly influential on the national industry and it continues to push it forward.”

Will Tran, also on Facebook, added his two cents. “To be a “coffee city” means you’re able to export your product," he said.

"All of the coffee companies that dominate L.A. are from elsewhere: Stumptown (Portland), Intelligentsia (Chicago), Blue Bottle (SF), etc, whereas L.A.'s own (Groundwork, LAMILL, Alfred, Copa Vida, etc) tend to stay here. Until they can produce a brand that invades another's turf ... y'all can say we have good coffee, but we ain't a "coffee city."

Sal from Glendale gave another take on AirTalk . “L.A. pretends to be a coffee city, but the thing is, all the shops close early. The city wants to be like New York and the East Coast, which grabs a coffee super early in the morning, but L.A. has no reason to wake up early.”

Coffee shop recommendations

I also figured this would be a good way to tap the hive mind for great places to sit and sip. Scott Sullivan from Torrance (whom I met a few years ago when he was working as a bartender and now works in specialty coffee) had his recommendations broken down into categories:

For focus on the coffee itself:

Play Coffee (Orange)
Ondo (East Hollywood)
Loquat (Cypress Park)
Alana's Coffee Roasters (Mar Vista, Venice, West Hollywood)
Maru (Arts District, Los Feliz)
So sentimental (Long Beach)
Good Time (Long Beach)
Highlight Coffee (Glendale)

For focus on innovative drinks:

Our Spot (Long Beach)
Be Bright (Melrose)
Mandarin Coffee Stand (Pasadena)
Gusto Bread (Long Beach)
Kumquat (Highland Park)
WYND (Virgil Village)

He also added: “Endorffeine in Chinatown should be on every list, but only because I think (owner Jack Benchakul) is the closest to the thought of "what would a Michelin-star coffee shop look like?" Just like Michelin, some stuff he makes is great, and some is so-so. But the experience is great.”

Johnny Luna from Highland Park responded on Instagram. He suggested these spots, with a lotta love for his own neighborhood.

Cafe Tropicál (Silver Lake)
Dayglow (Silver Lake, Venice, Melrose),
Collage Coffee (Highland Park)
Comet over Delphi (Highland Park)
Civil Coffee (Highland Park, Studio City, DTLA)
MODU (Highland Park)

There were some West Side boosters. Ying Xin from Long Beach highlighted

Rose Park Roasters (Long Beach)
Endorffeine (Chinatown)
Profeta (Westwood)
Cognoscenti (DTLA, Fashion District, Culver City)

Meanwhile Jason Goble from Palms (who documents his cafe ventures on Instagram) plumped for:

Hooked (Dudley Market in Venice)

Maru (Arts District, Los Feliz)

Eyes Peeled (West LA)

Yeems (West LA and Gardena)

Mad Lab (Hollywood, Mid-City)

Goodboybob (Santa Monica, Manhattan Beach)

Menotti (Venice, Culver City)

Last word goes to Will Tran: “My go-to is Jones Coffee in Pasadena 😊.”

Given it’s also the LAist staff's go-to, a mere 5-minute walk from the office (with a drive through in the mornings when you’re trying to hit the 9 a.m. news meeting fully caffeinated), we figured it was only fair to give it some props.