Silver Lake Coffee Guide: LA's Best Specialty Coffee Neighbourhood

Silver Lake has been Los Angeles' specialty coffee epicentre for over a decade — a neighbourhood where the coffee bar is as much a community institution as a caffeine source, and where the baristas are as likely to be musicians, screenwriters, or artists as coffee professionals. The neighbourhood's creative density, walkability (unusual for LA), and tolerance for lingering have created a coffee culture that more closely resembles Melbourne or Portland than the rest of Los Angeles.

Intelligentsia Coffee's Silver Lake location — the first Intelligentsia outside Chicago when it opened in 2007 — was the catalyst, establishing specialty coffee as central to the neighbourhood's identity. Today the competition is fierce and the options are exceptional. Cafecito Organico serves direct-trade Mexican coffees with genuine community focus. Go Get Em Tiger on Larchmont has built a devoted following with precise espresso and excellent pastries. Dinosaur Coffee on Rowena Avenue is the neighbourhood meeting point where Silver Lake's creative industries conduct their informal business.

The Silver Lake coffee experience extends beyond the cup. Most shops here encourage actual sitting — with laptops and books, for hours — in contrast to the drive-through culture of the Valley. Morning walks from the Silver Lake Reservoir to a coffee shop on Rowena Avenue is a genuine LA ritual. The crossover with Silver Lake's excellent food scene (lunch at Forage or Botanica, pastries from Proof Bakery nearby) makes a coffee tour into a half-day sensory experience.