5 LA Coffee Shops That Make The City A Unique Place To Wake Up In, According To A Local

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I've been in Los Angeles for nine years and have enjoyed watching cafe culture take off in that time. I grew up in coffee-centric Portland, Oregon, and worked as a barista in a busy cafe in New York's Lower East Side. Here in LA, I host tastings with friends at my home and try to explore as many new spots for coffee as I can while still spending time at my beloved regulars.

From a brand-new, sprawling campus devoted to all aspects of coffee, to a tiny stand in a shopping arcade full of British charm, LA's coffee scene is as diverse as the city itself. LA's baristas have the basics down. You can find them making a perfect latte or pour-over in many shops, and they're now having fun with their craft through creative signature drinks. It can be hard to stand out in LA, but these five coffee shops manage to in all the right ways. 

Picking five is hard. There are many great coffee shops in the city that belong on this list. Places like Thank You Coffee, Yeems, Maru, Document, Be Bright, and goodboybob are just some of the spots that were hard to omit. I ended up with five that have great coffee and show the breadth of the scene here. You may notice the furthest west this list gets is the edge of Northeast LA's Glassell Park. I'll admit I don't often make it west of Hollywood, so there is some location bias. LA is a big, spread-out county with heavy traffic, so people don't often make it across town unless they have to.

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One of the newest spots in Los Angeles is Quat LA, a coffee campus from AJ Kim and Scott Sohn, the team behind Kumquat, Loquat, and Fondry. This is a sunny campus dotted with tables that you can drag to wherever the shade is. The building houses a small coffee shop, roastery, retail store for high-end beans, teas, and brewing equipment, and there are plans for a coffee omakase bar called Atelier Q. The store includes displays of elaborately packaged geisha coffee samples up for auction — showcasing the art of selling coffee. Quat LA is still in its soft opening with a coffee pop-up from Wynd (owned by a former Loquat employee) operating out of its small coffee kiosk until December 21, 2025. Wynd's clarified yuzu coffee punch is a standout, with clean citrus notes from the yuzu and a surprise milkiness from the milk wash. It's refreshing and creamy, perfect for a hot LA afternoon.

Kim and Sohn's other shops are already two of the best places to get coffee in LA. Kumquat is an international multi-roaster with beans imported from South Korea, Japan, and across Europe. Both the service and coffee shine, as the friendly, fastidious baristas make pour-overs from a long list of coffees, espresso drinks, a variety of teas and unique specialty drinks. Loquat is the pair's journey into roasting specialty coffee. Their bakery, Fondry, is a temple of lamination where they make buttery croissants, kouign ammans, and more to sell in-house and at their coffee shops. 

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When you sit on one of the five seats at the counter and watch Endorffeine's Jack Benchakul make each cup with the precision of a scientist, the conversation naturally turns to coffee. Every coffee lover in or passing through LA should make at least one stop at the unassuming shop in Chinatown. Few people stumble into Endorffeine unaware of where they are. The space is hidden in a mall with no large sign above the entryway. The espresso machine is tucked under the counter with only the group head and steam wand poking above. 

There's always someone asking the only barista, ex-biochemist Benchakul, for his thoughts on brewing variables like water temperatures and mineral content, grind size, and pour-over techniques. Endorffeine is only open Monday to Thursday, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., leading to a clientele largely composed of restaurant workers. Customers sipping shots of espresso in a snifter will often greet people walking in with a nod and a, "Hey, chef." When everyone isn't talking coffee, the conversation is often about the goings-on in the LA restaurant scene.

Endorffeine's selection is largely washed, aged, light-roasted coffees. You won't find any sweeteners here; the coffee stands on its own. During the morning rush, it can take some time for Benchakul to get to your coffee because each cup is given his full attention. No computers are allowed. This is a place to be present with your coffee and the people around you.

Mandarin Coffee Stand's owner, Sherry Gao, had a chance to sell out when social media noticed the shop's rich, sweet cream-topped drinks. Lines of people filled Pasadena's Burlington Shopping Arcade, waiting up to an hour to get their coffee. Instead, Mandarin reminded everyone that it was serious about coffee and limited its famous sweet cream to the Vienna latte, the drink for which it was originally intended, and where the shop felt the flavors best complemented each other. A second mandarin location has since opened deeper into Pasadena, and hosts events showcasing rare coffees made by expert guest baristas. 

This multi-roaster shop includes beans sourced from China's Yunnan province. The original stand is a charming, tiny cafe with room for only a few people at a time to order and wait for their drinks. Popular orders are the aforementioned Vienna latte, the Gui Hua latte made with espresso, osmanthus syrup, cardamom bitters, and pour-over espresso. There are tables out in the arcade to sit and sip your earthy and fruity pour-over of Yunnan coffee as you soak in the faux-London atmosphere. 

Great coffee and delicious food come together at Picaresca Barra de Cafe in Boyle Heights. Specialty drinks include the Cafe de Olla latte made with a syrup of cinnamon, anise, orange peel, and brown sugar, and the El Pino, with a rosemary and chamomile syrup. The pine note is a unique and delicious flavor not often paired with coffee, and El Pino is named after the landmark pine tree in the neighborhood. The cafe sells bottles of cafe de olla syrup to make your own Mexican coffee in the morning. For breakfast, the chilaquiles (not to be confused with huevos rancheros), especially enfrijoladas-style, and the breakfast burritos are not to be missed.  

Picaresca Barra de Cafe carries an array of beans from all over South and Central America and East Africa, which the owners roast themselves. You can often find a coffee fermented with pineapple yeast that's bursting with funky, tropical flavors. Keep tabs on the cafe's events calendar so you don't miss the latte art throwdown, where baristas compete in a party-like atmosphere with a live band bringing in extra energy.

Along Figueroa Street in Highland Park, a small, gold-tiled building glimmers beside the standard laundromats and parking lots around it. This is Lumen Coffee, a small shop that started in Yerevan, Armenia. Los Angeles is a natural spot for the roaster's third coffee shop to open, as the county has the largest population of Armenians outside of Armenia. The drinks are all well-done pour-overs and espresso beverages. The freddo espresso con panna is sweet, creamy, and frothy, perfect in the LA heat. Lumen also recently expanded its seasonal drinks. Matcha with Armenian black currant compote stands out as a uniquely LA find. Get a nazook (a traditional Armenian rolled pastry) to eat with your coffee.

The seating space is a tight outdoor garden around the side of the shop. People sit and chat at tables along one long bench. Lumen is opening a second U.S. location soon. The latest shop is a partnership with the Yerevan-based Karmir film lab in LA's Frogtown neighborhood.