Category: Coffee Shops

A local favorite that makes midtown Long Beach the place to be on a cold winter night. Located at the corner of Junipero and 4th St, Portfolio is the traditional coffeehouse you grew up with. In a world surrounded by franchise monsters like Starbucks and Coffee Bean, it’s nice to see a small place like this (though it is not necessarily small) thriving within the community.

On the visual side of things, Portfolio offers a fantastic indoor and outdoor atmosphere. Outside the doors there are plenty of places for you and your significant other to sit, sip, and feed off of each other’s warmth. There are also a wide variety of shops within walking distance, making late night that much more fun.

Once through the doors your eyes will typically be greeted by people and laptop computers. Portfolio’s free wireless internet, and limited amount of noise make it a Mecca for writers, and college students alike. There is hardly a person inside whose eyes aren’t glued to their screens, which makes for little, or no conversation (besides laptops, iPod’s are very popular here as well). I would say that there is a feeling that whatever conversation you have inside should be hushed and quiet.

If you are just popping in by yourself, it is a perfect atmosphere to get some thinking done. The walls are adorned with an interesting array of paintings, which I would assume are from local artists. They also sport a wide variety of magazines for sale (consisting of mainly music magazines, Rolling Stone, Mojo, Etc).

When you reach the counter, portfolio offers you typical coffee house fare. There’s coffee, mocha, tea’s, etc, all of which is good, and worth you four dollars. I would recommend anything from the mocha category, as well as the teas. For those who’ll be spending an extended amount of time there, Portfolio also offers a pretty extensive lunch menu.

Things then change on Friday and Saturday nights when Portfolio’s back room becomes a hot spot for weekend entertainment. At around nine o’clock, you should make your way to the back room where you can see the cream of the crop of local singer songwriters performing the best they got. I think that’s what really makes this place feel like the traditional coffeehouse I grew up. They are grooming house for the best talent that Los Angeles has to offer. To top that, amateur talent can show their stuff on Wednesday nights Open Mic, also starting at nine.

Portfolio is only a hop, skip, and a jump from my house, so I spend a good amount of time there. It’s a fantastic atmosphere that serves many purposes. So, whatever you’re feeling, Portfolio Coffeehouse is a good place to go to think about it, or not think about it.

A local favorite since 1997, Cafe Balcony is a quaint little coffee shop located in West Los Angeles. Tucked away along Rochester Ave (right off of Santa Monica Blvd and Centinela) , this neighborhood gem takes an interesting approach in creating the perfect cup of coffee. Brewed using a unique hand-crafted Siphon (see picture below), the result is a remarkably great tasting cup of coffee that’s always made to order.

The contraption resembles a chemistry set that you may have used in High School. The Siphon is made up of three parts: a burner, a water chamber, and a brewing chamber which holds the freshly ground organic beans. The burner heats up the water and essentially creates a vacuum effect which forces the water into the brewing chamber. The coffee is brewed in the chamber for a few minutes, funneled back down into the water chamber, and then served.

If this all seems a little too scientific for you, don’t worry…they also offer some simpler alternatives. Using the finest Italian coffees from Illy, all of their espresso drinks (lattes, cappuccinos, etc.) are absolutely fantastic.

Cafe Balcony also provides free wireless internet and is open daily till midnight.

NOTE: They don't accept credit cards so remember to bring along some cash.

Located in Westwood, Coffee Zinio is a cozy neighborhood Café that’s nestled along Westwood Blvd – about a block north of Santa Monica Blvd.

Since it’s a Persian Café and located in a predominantly Persian neighborhood, you’ll hear lots of people speaking Farsi. Don’t worry though…the staff is always courteous, helpful, and they really do their best to make you feel welcome. There are about a half dozen tables to choose from inside; alternatively, you can opt to sit outside on the patio. Smoking is allowed on the patio, so if cigarettes and/or hookah smoke bother you, I suggest sitting indoors.

If you're hungry, Coffee Zinio serves fantastic Panini sandwiches, an assortment of fresh pastries, and fine Persian Teas. In the evening, the upbeat atmosphere makes it the perfect spot to hang out with some friends or a date; if you're into smoking hookah, they have a variety of flavors for you to choose from. For the Soccer (football) enthusiast, they have a large Plasma TV with satellite coverage from around the world.

If you can’t find any parking along Westwood Blvd, you can park for free in the parking lot right next door to the Café (right below Ross).