Koreatown in Los Angeles has one of the most vibrant restaurant scenes in the city, from 24-hour Korean barbecue spots to mom-and-pop shops specializing in everything from steamy dumplings to giant bowls of icy cold noodle soups.
But K-town is also where one of the city’s most interesting coffee cultures thrives. The sprawling neighborhood, which encompasses more than two square miles, is home to the highest concentration of Koreans both in the United States and outside of the Korean Peninsula. Because of this, the coffee shops are often dominated by trends straight from the cafés of Seoul.
The menus even have their own lingo: While you will find lattes, cappuccinos, and Americanos, every shop is undoubtedly serving their take on the Viennese coffee staple, an Einspänner, a.k.a. creamtop, a coffee topped with a thick layer of sweetened and whipped cream. You will undoubtedly find several types of matcha, including the aforementioned matcha Einspänner, and the novelty beverages will come in flavors like corn, tiramisu, and misugaru, a powder made of toasted grains.
This menu style has proven to be popular: Many of the cafés often have lines out the door. The drinks are not only aesthetically pleasing and highly shareable on social media, but also often sweet and creamy, which makes them easy to drink. It doesn’t hurt that most of the cafés are also visually gorgeous in their own right. But do not let the crowds scare you, if one is full, there is another great Korean coffee shop just a couple blocks away.
Here are 9 of the best coffee shops in Los Angeles’s Koreatown:
Photo by Danielle G Adams
Stagger
3069 1/2 W 8th St, Los Angeles
instagram.com/staggercoffee
One of the newer cafés on the scene, Stagger is also one of the most popular thanks in part to their Double Matcha, an iced matcha latte served with a sweetened matcha cream top. It’s not uncommon to see a line out the door and into the parking lot of people waiting to get their aesthetically pleasing beverages, but it moves fast. If matcha is not your thing, don’t sleep on the iced mocha, which tastes like a chocolate-covered orange. The space may feel minimalist, but there’s lots of seating, which makes it a great place to catch up with a friend.
