Best Coffee Shops in Los Angeles

Los Angeles has one of the most diverse and innovative coffee scenes in the world. The city's café culture spans everything from Japanese-inspired precision bars in Little Tokyo to sun-drenched specialty shops in Silver Lake. Intelligentsia, G&B, and Verve have made LA a global reference point.

Best neighborhoods: Silver Lake, Los Feliz, Echo Park, Venice, Arts District

Most pulled shop: DAMO (1 check-ins)

Top puller this month: SAM PIKAR (1 check-ins)

Los Angeles specialty coffee built outward from a roasting culture rather than from cafes. Groundwork Coffee Co. has been roasting certified organic coffee in Los Angeles since 1990, one of the longest running organic programs in the city, with the Arts District cafe on Traction Avenue a few blocks from the Sixth Street bridge. Intelligentsia opened the Venice cafe on Abbot Kinney Boulevard in 2010 in a converted bungalow with a generous patio, the kind of room that became the template for a decade of Westside specialty design.

The neighborhood map runs the length of the basin. The Arts District holds Groundwork on Traction and Alfred Coffee at 714 Traction. Venice and Abbot Kinney carry Intelligentsia and the Westside specialty bench. Downtown anchors Cognoscenti Coffee Roastery at 1118 San Julian in the Fashion District and Birdies on Olympic and Hill, two blocks from the Convention Center, where the kitchen runs free-range fried chicken and donuts hourly. Carthay covers Lo/Cal Coffee and Market on South Fairfax Avenue, with the first Lo/Cal opening in 2014. The Cumulus complex at La Cienega and Jefferson holds Alchemist Coffee Project a few minutes south of Culver City.

The wider region extends into the South Bay and Glendale. Ambrosia Coffee Roasters anchors North Fries Avenue in Wilmington, where founder John Phan pulls every shot on a manual espresso machine. Long Beach holds Common Room Roasters at 2952 East 14th, a purpose-built space with a barista training academy and a front patio. Glendale carries Urartu on North Artsakh Avenue, where owner Urik and his son Youra opened the Armenian-themed family operation in 2004 and built it into a second home for the neighborhood's Armenian community.

Pulled Coffee pays real cash via PayPal for visits to coffee shops in Los Angeles. The app verifies each check-in with GPS and a photo, then credits your progress toward the city’s active challenges. With 1,155 coffee shops in Los Angeles on the platform, even a casual coffee habit can complete the entry challenges in a few weeks.

The First 15 challenge pays ten dollars for fifteen check-ins at any cafe in thirty days. Explorer 30 pays up to fifty dollars for thirty check-ins across ninety days. The Daily 50 challenge pays up to three hundred fifty dollars at the Origin tier for fifty check-ins in ninety days. With 1,155 shops in Los Angeles, these challenges are reachable for an active coffee drinker.

Make your first pull in Los Angeles.

Download Pulled. Check in at any cafe in Los Angeles. Earn real PayPal cash on every visit.

Own a coffee shop in Los Angeles?

List on Pulled, run sponsored challenges, reach every coffee drinker in Los Angeles.