VIBE

The airy interior of this specialist coffee workshop is the domain of super star baristas and their hot rod espresso machines, while the wide blue tiled patio belongs to the cream of Silver Lake’s hipster crop. Some find the “too cool for school” types swanning about detract from the experience, especially since their sprawling posses make getting a table tricky, but others lap it up as part of the specialty coffee scene. All agree that on hot days, the overhead misters on the patio are dreamy.

CROWD

Eclectic mix of hipsters, coffee snobs, students, creative types, and joe-starved locals.

WHAT WE WOULD WEAR

If you want to roll with the Silver Lake crowd on the terrace, ultra hip label jeans and sunglasses are de rigueur. If you’re just in it for the fantastic coffee, wear whatever you like.

GO HERE WITH

Coffee aficionados; friends

WHY WE LIKE IT

No bones about it: we dig the coffee. Baristas will recommend the best coffee for you (offerings change based on freshness/availability) given a description of your taste.

WHAT WE WOULD CHANGE

Getting a table takes too much time and tenacity.

GOOD TO KNOW

Intelligentsia practices direct trade, which means they source their beans and tea directly from the growers. (Their buyers cumulatively spend over 365 days a year “at source.”) Also, they push the importance of the seasonality of their beans, so their brews are made from micro-lots of coffee bought in-season.

OTHER LOCATIONS

Venice (Los Angeles); Chicago

CLOSEST COMPS

The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf (Los Angeles); Lamill Coffee Boutique (Los Angeles)

Read more about Intelligentsia Coffee in The Diary

Click here for our full-form mobile travel guide, The Purple Passport to Los Angeles