LaLaLand
image credit - www.qsrmagazine.com
There’s a new trendy coffee shop in the non touristy area of Santa Monica - an area that has acquired some of the largest wealth in LA, unassumingly. The interesting juxtaposition of where this new coffee shop has planted itself is the fact that looks just like its surroundings; sleek, well manicured, expensive, and trendy AF. But just a couple miles to the other side of Santa Monica another life exists. It’s not a large pocket (Santa Monica is pretty affluent all around) but just across the 10 freeway, a different life exists. Run down shops, people experiencing homelessness, a place one could assume that some fostered children may come from. And yet just a few miles north, that same seemingly trendy AF, glamorous coffee shop in the middle of one of the swankiest streets in Santa Monica has dedicated itself to employing fostered youth.
It probably wasn’t the concept behind LALALand coffee shop that got people lining up around the block to enjoy, rather the incredible aesthetics. Inside, you’ll find a large living room type area, complete with the comfiest couch and four swivel chairs, two on either side creating the boundary lines of this little heaven sent living room space. The walls are a stucco white, with books lining some of the shelves wrapped in a cool white cover, making it impossible to see the book, but rather blending it into the wall. SLEEK AF. True to all the branding techniques out there, amidst all of this gorgeous sleek white, there is an insane amount of yellow pops all around the shop. You’ll notice when you get there the cups and lids are yellow, all their pastry bags, and most of their merch as well. I have a complicated relationship with yellow but somehow, they do it well.
Being a Santa Monica spot, the open air vibe also helps with the attraction, allowing you to be inside with the beauty of outside seeming at your fingertips. In addition to this sweet living room seating area, they’ve created a large patio area on the side, complete with a window for serving drinks out of.
Everything is delicious there but the last item that caught my tastebuds attention was the truffle avocado toast. I MEAN. If you love truffle and avocado toast, THIS IS YOUR JAM. Check it out and ask someone about the vision behind the Dallas based coffee shop, LALA Land.