The Inspiring Evolution of Coffee Cart to Brick and Mortar Coffee Shop at Civil Coffee
When it comes to the speciality coffee world, it seems everyone is connected to someone and it really is that a small of a world. Civil Coffee, now a Highland Park staple, started with 2 brothers and a coffee cart, and has since landed with a sleek and stylish brick and mortar, complete with coffee and food programs. If you’re any sort of speciality coffee geek, you’ll remember the quick existence of Handsome Coffee Roasters. Speaking of that small world, try to keep up with this family tree.
Image Credit - Stella H
The three owners of Handsome left the now corporation that is Intelligentsia to start a smaller brand of roasters. They hired the Morales brothers, Alex and Alan, who later left Handsome and started their own coffee cart, Civil Coffee. And back to the corporation Handsome Coffee Roasters went, after Blue Bottle acquired the company in 2015, just four years after opening. That same year, the Morales brothers turned their coffee cart into a brick and mortar shop, hiring Tyler Wells, one of the three original owners of Handsome, as a consultant to oversee the brew program. Everyone caught up?! Full circle, small coffee world for sure.
So now we have the stunning Civil Coffee on Figueroa as a community coffee shop staple in Highland Park. The design is as sleek as the menu, with lattes offered in the form of ‘espresso + milk’. In addition to speciality drinks, Civil has a full breakfast (served from 7am-2pm) and pastry menu, with goodies including a skillet scramble called the Morales Breakfast, and of course, Civil’s take on an avocado toast.
If you’re looking for an indulgence, ‘The Figueroa’, made with sweetened condensed milk, espresso, cinnamon and a cookie for the garnish, will most definitely hit the spot. Even if your order is just the “espresso + milk”, the inspiring story of two brothers’ passion for coffee and a drive for excellence makes Civil Coffee a worthwhile visit.