Hey folks. Our coffee competition is over, and while it didn’t fare particularly well in the voting, there are plenty of people who would argue to the death that Silverlake’s LA Mill has some of the best java in town.
And tomorrow is a golden opportunity to put that claim to the test and find out for yourself, as they’ll be serving free coffee, all day long (from 7 am to 10 pm).
First of all, thank you to all of the amazing cafes that competed in our coffee competition. We sought out the best coffee shop Los Angeles and found a number of astounding cafes all over the city. Every single one of the cafe’s listed in our coffee competition is a great place to visit for amazing atmosphere, talented Batista’s and of course, a great cup of coffee. We decided the only way to judge who has the best cafe in Los Angeles was to ask the people. And although many of you love your own cafe, there can only be one winner. The people have spoken. Our winner is….
Tags: Beverages · Contests · Editorials
First of all, thank you to all of the amazing cafes that competed in our coffee competition. We sought out the best coffee shop Los Angeles and found a number of astounding cafes all over the city. Every single one of the cafe’s listed in our coffee competition is a great place to visit for amazing atmosphere, talented Batista’s and of course, a great cup of coffee. We decided the only way to judge who has the best cafe in Los Angeles was to ask the people. And although many of you love your own cafe, there can only be one winner. The people have spoken. Our winner is….
Tags: Beverages · Contests · Editorials
Thank you to everyone who voted in LA.CityZine’s Coffee Competition. The winner of the coffee competition will be announced at noon today along with their prize. But! In the meantime, we would like to announce the winners of the competition’s $30 gift certificates! Everyone who left a comment for their favorite cafe was entered in a drawing, and if your number was picked than you’re the winner! So here they are, our winners:
Thanks for playing! Sign up for our Newsletter to find out about more competitions coming up on LA.CityZine.
Currently you can enter two win two tickets to the Hollywood Bowl Competition to see Gilbert Gil and Devendra Banhart on June 29th!
Thank you to everyone who voted in LA.CityZine’s Coffee Competition. The winner of the coffee competition will be announced at noon today along with their prize. But! In the meantime, we would like to announce the winners of the competition’s $30 gift certificates! Everyone who left a comment for their favorite cafe was entered in a drawing, and if your number was picked than you’re the winner! So here they are, our winners:
Thanks for playing! Sign up for our Newsletter to find out about more competitions coming up on LA.CityZine.
Currently you can enter two win two tickets to the Hollywood Bowl Competition to see Gilbert Gil and Devendra Banhart on June 29th!
Not to sway the voting in any way for our ongoing “Best Coffee in LA” thing, but here’s an interesting tidbit that might appeal to those of you partial to LA Mill.
The Silverlake coffee hotspot (and Jonathan Gold obsession) will be giving away free coffee all day from 7am to 10pm on June 24th!!!
Did I mention it’s free?!
Because it is. Free. Coffee. LA Mill. June 24th. All day.
Tags: Beverages · Upcoming events
“Sabor y Cultura”means “flavor and culture”. Stepping into the spacious, mellow cafe, it certainly looked like the kind of place that hosts a healthy attempt at “culture”: Local art hangs casually on the rich purple and light pumpkin colored walls, a local “community board” advertises local happenings, while relaxed, youthful Hollywood types tap quietly away at their laptops.
I loved the wide open windows that let in the cloudy-day light along with the calm created by some classic jazz music, but like a lot of cafes, Sabor y Cultura sells a little more than I personally think a coffee house needs to: A rack of snack-pack nuts, a glass case of jewelery and other odds n’ ends tend to ruin the aesthetic cohesiveness of a what could otherwise be a nicely concentrated local hangout.
Take everything that describes the cusp of Santa Monica and Venice Beach - arty, beach-breezy with hidden flashes of homelessness and a bit of hippie “crunch” - roll it into a dark, wooden-laced cathedral of a cafe for young, laptop wielding men and women and you’ve got Novel Cafe.
I used to visit my own hardworking-writer-friend here and it still maintains that Beatnik breathiness that I remember: quiet and peaceful yet lending an impression that for some reason I’m being watched. Double-deckered with an intimate balcony overlooking the bottom floor, Novel Cafe creaks like the den in your grandfather’s house, colorful paint worn smooth and chipped, tables sticky without being gross, and paved with shelves crammed full of weathered books that may or may not be read. The aesthetic recalls some of the well-worn, chalk-menu cafes I know and adore in Northern California but with a touch of Los Angeles’ edge that make it feel a bit more ‘too cool for school’.
Let’s get one thing straight, LA Mill is not a normal coffee house.
It’s an overwhelming, vacation-worthy destination. Greg Torres, VP business developer of LA Mill, says the coffee here is intended to be a “culinary experience” and believe you me, that is precisely what I got.
Set in artsy Silverlake, the brand new cafe is light and reflective, grounded in colorful, modern design that reads at once “Urban Outfitters meets fashionably posh”. A paradox of a diner, this self professed “coffee boutique” is an educational mecca of coffee cupping that offers an eye-opening, international menu of extraction methods above and beyond what one normally encounters with their beloved bean. (Not to mention extraordinary food that could do with an article all for itself. Just ask Jonathan Gold).
If you want to experience Joni’s Coffee the way I did, bring your boyfriend along and watch as he gets force fed a spoonful of “ultimate oatmeal” by Joni herself. At once over the top and oddly charming, that one moment pretty much sums up the whole visit.
Claiming repeatedly that she “takes no prisoners”, Joni sat me down and dove into her explanation of how she had the best coffee in the world, no contest. Knowing that Joni used to be a real estate agent might help immensely in imaging this continual selling of things that are, yes, fresh, well prepared and tasty, (my boyfriend had a yummy egg salad sandwich) but not as mind blowingly special as the verbal marketing attempts to make it seem.
J’adore Intelligentsia.
I “heart” it. Straight up.
Tattoo me on the arm and call me Sailor, I don’t care, just keep Intelligentsia branded somewhere on my body so I don’t forget that Los Angeles can actually get something right for a change.
And by “right” I mean give us a cafe that cares about their product, a place that loves ’said product’ personally enough to share it in a focused, welcoming, high-quality manner, and who can achieve that without looking like they did anything other then roll out of bed, throw on some really cool clothes and just, you know, look great.
With the ubiquitous local-art on the walls (which I actually liked), a simple yet well-spaced seating area and a door that opens just blocks from the beach on the quiet, Northern end of The 3rd Street Promenade in Santa Monica, Infuzion Cafe seems at once common and special.
Reminiscent of a spiffy little “downtown” cafe where office-types pop in at lunch hour to grab a quick sandwich or the morning coffee, it has a “little bit of everything” menu, serving coffee drinks and boba, ice cream, sandwiches, breakfast pastries and even vases.
