Greetings Cityzine reader!
We’re on a mission to find the very best independent cafe in our LA.CityZine Coffee Competition: The Quest for the Best Bean!
We’ll have open voting starting the 13th, and you’ll be able to pick your own top cuppa (the winner will be announced on the 23rd). Got something nice to say about the place being reviewed? Then leave a comment for a chance to win a $30 gift certificate! Ain’t that swanky?
Our first contender is Venice’s Abbot’s Habit, and here’s the low-down…
Abbott’s Habit, aptly named of course because it serves coffee - the addictive, comforting, stimulating, repetition-inducing black stuff - is also the quintessential Venice beach hangout.
Though it’s probably one of the least tidy, freshly-painted or smartly decorated of cafes, it carries in it’s bones the unmistakeable air of a well-worn community gathering spot that makes it, in and of itself, habit-worthy. Rows of windows let the beachy-bright sunlight in, washing the white walls and opening the place up into a quirky little floor-plan dotted with every type of person you could imagine.
For whatever reason Abbott’s Habit has never struck me as a place where “those type of people” go. Everyone seems pleasantly blended in as just people (imagine that)! It could just be my attachment to all things “hippie” or “granola” tossed with the indelible charm of the beach that makes it feel so comfortable, but it clearly works for everyone else in Venice who blatantly flock to the arty little dive-bar of a cafe. They serve Groundwork coffee and espresso like most places, it seems, on the West Side. Since the company is organic and fair-traded, there is an extra appeal to knowing you’re supporting the local companies.
I was made a mocha and hot damn the whip cream was good. Heavy, cold and tasting like the real deal. The espresso was strong and fairly noticeable for a normally sugary drink (hurrah) and though the chocolate at first tasted a little chalky and bitter , it was still actually a pretty rich and satisfying combo.
But it really doesn’t strike me as the kind of coffeehouse for which you’d travel a great distance to experience. And for all intents and purposes it doesn’t need to be. Like any good local hangout, it strikes me as a genuine place to go any ol’ time you feel like it, provided you’re lucky enough to live near the beach. The frills may be a bit shy of spectacular, but Abbott’s Habit’s character and affability kept me quite contented, moving about the place as if it was my own backyard.
Plus they were playing the Moody Blues and that’s just awesome.
To win a $30 gift certificate to this cafe leave a message saying why they deserve to win! Then go vote in our LA Coffee Competition Now!
Abbott’s Habit
1401 Abbot Kinney Blvd
Venice, CA 90291
(310) 399-1171
Bean Trophy Image(s) by Jaye_Elle and presta, all others by Jamie
Subscribe to our RSS Feed And checkout our coffee competition to win a $30 gift voucher to your favourite coffee shop : click here
(No Ratings Yet)
Loading ...
7 responses so far ↓
1 Coffee Competition: Quest for the Best Bean | LA.CityZine.com - Los Angeles // Jun 3, 2008 at 11:33 am
[...] Abbott’s Habit, Venice [...]
2 ronne // Jun 8, 2008 at 12:41 pm
i just may leave the valley for this! half my love of coffee is the atmosphere, and this looks and sounds like a good fit. great photos!
3 Emberly Modine // Jun 15, 2008 at 11:14 pm
This is my old haunt. I hate their bagels. They are dry and they give you cream cheese in a plastic container. Uninspired and wasteful.
4 LA.CityZine Coffee Competition: Quest For the Best Bean | LA.CityZine.com - Los Angeles // Jun 23, 2008 at 10:05 am
[...] Abbottâs Habit, Venice [...]
5 Coffee Competition’s Gift Certificate Winners! | LA.CityZine.com - Los Angeles // Jun 23, 2008 at 11:00 am
[...] Abbott’s Habit: Ronne [...]
6 Jamie // Jun 23, 2008 at 3:31 pm
snap Emberly! daaaang
7 Liana Aghajanian // Jun 25, 2008 at 4:02 pm
I pass by Abbott’s Habbit on my way home from work sometimes. Looks cool. I love independent run coffee shops and more importantly, ones that have local art on the walls, which this one seems to have. Great place!
Leave a Comment