global village coffeehouses in LA (my movement against the New Coffee Shop aesthetic)

the new coffee shops in LA look terrible. the walls are literally metal and the stools are slabs of concrete. they are everywhere now. i don't want to sit on a slab and drink out of a plastic cup.

"we aren't there to hang out we're just there to grab coffee" im sorry but why. how come when i do a day trip to santa barbara i go on tiktok and i look up things to do in santa barbara and seven out of ten videos are about coffee shops to go to. grabbing coffee is not an activity. please make your coffee at home.

while i dont believe grabbing coffee is an activity, i do believe going to a coffee shop could be one. but i'm talking coffee houses. a place where i feel warm. your drip coffee comes in a teal mug, the chairs are eclectic and mismatched, there's nooks to sit in, books laying around, soft music playing, dark lighting, amber. wood. chatter.

i am constantly on the hunt for this vibe, which i have recently learned is called "global village coffeehouse", a 1990s aesthetic popularized by borders (rip), panera bread and starbucks (also rip to those two but in a diff way).

these 90s coffee houses are almost completely extinct, unless you go up to humboldt county they're all around. but there are some coffee shops in LA that still channel this warm energy. that fuzzy feeling you get walking into one. and i have worked tirelessly to curate a list of these very very special coffee shops in and around LA. please see below.

1. aroma coffee and tea (studio city)

2. priscilla's gourmet coffee tea and gifts (burbank)

3. jones coffee roasters (pasadena)

4. cafe mak (ktown)

5. republic of pie (noho)

6. unurban coffee house (santa monica)

7. sabor y cultura (hollywood)

8. java man (hermosa beach)

9. holy grounds coffee and tea (el sereno)

i am very very particular about this list. a lot of places people recommend to me do not meet my standards. but i would love to hear recs anyway.