I found out just how seriously Intelligentsia takes coffee when I wrote an Archetype piece for Los Angeles Magazine on Intelligentsia (Silver Lake) barista Rachelle Tews.One of the Chicago-based company's west coast locations is on the very cool Abbot Kinney Boulevard in Venice, an area that's home to plenty of good beans.
Intelligentsia's Venice Coffeebar is worth checking out for the impressive modern industrial space alone, but you'll surely want to grab an espresso drink, and maybe a pastry, while there.
Other notable Venice-area coffee spots:
Abbot's Habit - a very neighborhood-y sort of hippie-style cafe that serves great coffee. An early morning favorite of mine during my LMU (Birkenstock-wearing) days.
Rose Cafe - reliable coffee, delicious fresh food, and a cute gift shop.
Urth Caffé - you cannot go wrong at Urth. Coffee, tea, breakfast, salad, soup, panini, chocolate cake, it's all spot-on. Technically this is in Santa Monica, not Venice, but it is on Main Street, which is just around the corner from Abbot Kinney.
Bring a newspaper to Venice this weekend and stop by one of these places for a relaxing morning and a stroll down Abbot Kinney and/or Main Street!
-- Leslie Anne Wiggins
Photo credit: LA Weekly
Re Urth: It's all dandy until you realized you spent $20 on a salad + drink.
ReplyDeleteSince you're venturing AWAY from Venice, go another block and park your heinie at Stella Rossa. Tell Chef Jeff the ex-Chicagoan sent you (for food, not for coffee).