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Los Feliz's Hillhurst asks: Another coffee place?!
Philz Coffee will soon open on Hillhurst Avenue in Los Feliz.
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Fiona Ng
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LAist
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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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Fiona Ng
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LAist
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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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Fiona Ng
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LAist
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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.
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"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.
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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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Fiona Ng
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LAist
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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.
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"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."
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