West Hollywood Specialty

Walk up to Awan’s takeout window—if you have trouble finding it, it’s tucked behind Dayglow—and walk away with an Indonesian-style scoop made from rich coconut cream. (It’s all dairy-free.) Maybe the vibe today is saffron ice cream with pistachios and dates. Or maybe it’s fresh Valencia orange. The menu changes regularly, and it’s always special.

The coffee is excellent here and the baristas know their stuff. It’s also a great place to buy coffee beans; they source from some of the best indie roasteries worldwide.

A hidden gem when it comes to quality groceries—and significantly less busy than the average store—Pantry LA curates tasty boxes of local-to-the-area and international artisanal ingredients. The risotto and pasta sachets with dried herbs, spices, and zests already mixed in are heaven-sent for an easy one-pot supper, while the fresh veggie boxes are just waiting to be seasoned with French salt, tough-to-find-in-LA spices like Urfa pepper, and olive oils straight from Italy. Pantry LA’s curater Brandie Rossi is super knowledgeable about her stock and goes above and beyond to find the best-ofs (keto bread, OWL Venice broths, healthy tonics) from local kitchens and bakers.

Moon Juice is a New Age pharmacy—look no further than the fifty-pound jade crystal that’s affixed to the shop’s exterior on Alfred Street. There are tonics for every malady or desire (we love turmeric cup, with cayenne pepper, black pepper oil, and oil of oregano to help us through a cold). At the raw copper Alchemy Bar, one of the alchemists will happily help you customize the Vittoria coffee or gynostemma tea with a Moon Juice dust of your choice. The cabinet of cold-pressed goodness is almost too pretty to drink, but it’s delicious and effective. At the register, the snacks (dried chili and mango slices, activated maca mesquite walnuts) are absolutely addictive.

This is a no-fuss iteration of the original Salt’s Cure (now located a few miles east on Highland), where you’ll find the same oatmeal griddle cakes that were once the reason behind horribly long wait times for brunch. It's now set up counter-style and à la carte, which makes engineering your perfect breakfast blissfully simple—it’s all the classic options, done better than anywhere else. Plus, you can now get a gluten-free version of the griddle cakes, and they’re somehow equally good. Just don’t ask for syrup: They come topped with decadent sea-salt butter and powdered sugar, and the staff will proudly tell you that nothing else is required.

The eponymous shop is owned and operated by one of the sweetest creatives who has a talent for whipping up some of the most unexpected and classically delicious flavors.

Los Angeles is home to an incredible new fish shop. Conveniently located on Fairfax, just north of Melrose, Cape Seafood & Provisions offers a prime variety of wild caught, fresh, and sustainable fish both to home chefs and some of the city's best restaurants. Chef and owner Michael Cimarusti—of Connie and Ted’s and Providence—founded LA's first dock-to-dish seafood program out of the space, agreeing to a CSA-style arrangement with local fishermen that guarantees a minimum annual order, giving him access to the freshest local fish while guaranteeing much-needed job security to the fishermen. Out of the actual storefront, Cimarusti has an amazing selection of prepared foods, like cured fish, fish tacos and lobster rolls, and holds regular cooking classes.

Regulars have always loved Alfred’s coffee shops for their design-conscious interiors, but the tea room (around the corner from Moon Juice on Melrose Place) is downright indulgent, aesthetically speaking. The teensy space is tiled floor-to-ceiling in a soothing pink, with gold finishes and one of Alfred’s signature cheeky neon signs, explaining “tea, yes! you, maybe!” The menu here specializes in tea; in addition to matcha (which you get at any Alfred location), there’s a lengthy list of loose-leaf and several flavors of boba, which are made from scratch. P.S. Coffee enthusiasts, the original location with a full coffee menu is just across the street.

With more than a dozen outposts in Southern California (and several hundred worldwide)—plus convenient placement in most of Equinox’s Southern California locations—Earthbar is one of LA’s original, nutrition-focused juice bars. In addition to smoothies, organic cold-pressed juices, salads, and wraps, the shop stocks a wide variety of plant-based vitamins and supplements the company is known for.

Urth Caffé is something of an LA casual staple. While they have an extensive menu of salads, sandwiches and pizza—plus a full breakfast menu with pretty much anything you could think of—it’s really Urth’s coffee, tea and pastries that make the spot so popular. A slice of their pumpkin pie, if you can snag one, goes great with any of their organically grown heirloom coffees, which are roasted every day in small batches Downtown. Also of note: their matcha latte. You can expect all of their LA locations (Santa Monica, Beverly Hills, Downtown, Pasadena) to be pretty crowded, but you can almost always grab a table in one of their signature outdoor patios within a few minutes.