My coffee house visits this summer had me exploring numerous "towns" in Los Angeles. For example, I never knew there was a Japantown in LA aside from Little Tokyo. See below:
Japantown
Balconi Coffee Company
11301 Olympic Blvd. #124
Los Angeles, CA 90064
Balconi is a small
quaint coffee shop in the revitalized Sawtelle Japantown area. Just off the
405, this 4-block stretch on Sawtelle near Olympic has numerous Japanese and
Korean restaurants and stores. I enjoyed a delicious Almond Essence Latte. They
sell almost equal amounts of coffees and teas as well as a small selection of
pastries. There is plenty of free parking on the side streets of the 1- to
2-hour variety. Just make sure you check the street signs as those time limits
are strictly enforced. Both when I left my car and when I came back, I saw
parking enforcement officers patrolling the neighborhood.
Beantown
45 N.
Baldwin Ave.
Sierra Madre, CA 91024
Beantown has a
laid-back community atmosphere with lots of coffee choices as well as
smoothies, ice cream, and an array of sandwiches - everything one needs to spend
a day getting work done. Lots of space. On the record hot day I came here,
their iced cherry latte really hit the spot.
Koreatown
LaB Coffee & Roasters
429 N. Western Ave. #5
Los Angeles, CA 90004
My mocha had a very
strong coffee flavor that would keep me humming for the next few hours. The
diverse crowd was comprised of a few Koreans, a few Latinos and a couple of
Caucasians. The current demographics of the neighborhood. Bags of coffee beans
were used as décor and plaques on the wall discussed the sourcing of their
coffee beans. LaB Roasters was a nice find. Having been born and raised in Koreatown,
before it was known as Koreatown, it was nice to see a legitimate coffeehouse
open in my old neighborhood. It is
small, but large enough for a number of tables, including communal tables with
people working on laptops.
Tinseltown
Coffee + Food
5630 Melrose Ave.
Los Angeles, CA 90038
From the few tables
out front you can see the world sitting atop Paramount Studios and iconic Astro
Burgers. Quite a few people who work at or want to work at the studios come by
here. One woman getting out of her old beat up car had headshots in hand.
Drinking my mocha, I had a really good lunch while people watching.
