Coffee, Matcha, and More: Five Local South Park Spots to Try

As a huge fan of a high-quality latte, matcha, or cold brew, I appreciate that our neighborhood has no shortage of great places to grab a caffeinated beverage. Because I’m a big believer in supporting locally owned businesses, I decided to get to know the shops that make up our neighborhood’s local coffee scene. I spoke with the owners of five South Park coffee shops to learn more about what they are brewing, what makes each one different, and why they chose to make South Park home. What I found was an eclectic mix of neighborhood spots, each with its own personality, from carefully made espresso and locally roasted beans to creative lattes, matcha, house-made syrups and a variety of food options.

Get to know each of South Park’s five locally owned coffee shops described below and let us know in the comments: Have you tried them all? What are your favorite drinks or food that we should try next time we stop by your go-to neighborhood spot?

Ideology Coffee

Address: 1115 S. Hope Street

Go for: Properly made espresso, locally roasted coffee beans, Blue Jasmine Matcha, settling in for a meet-up or work for a few hours

Food: Seasonal toasts, hot breakfast and lunch options, bagels, and pastries

Paul and Lisa first started thinking about opening a coffee shop around 2016, when they felt they had to drive 45 minutes to find a really well-made cup of coffee. They opened their first Ideology location in Glendale in 2019 with the goal of serving properly made espresso drinks in a comfortable, home-like setting. Today they have four locations, but they have been spending a lot of time at the South Park shop because it is closest to their home. Coffee is still at the center of what they do. Ideology roasts its own beans in Pasadena, with a medium-to-dark signature espresso blend and a rotating selection of lighter, single-origin drip coffees. They said their most popular drink is their house vanilla latte, but the menu gets more adventurous with drinks like Raf coffee, a creamy Eastern European espresso drink made with half-and-half, cinnamon, and vanilla, and their Blue Jasmine Matcha. Their Chagaccino superfood mushroom latte has also become increasingly popular with customers looking for a healthy option. Their goal is a balanced cup that isn’t too bitter or too sour, whether you drink it black, add one of their house-made syrups, or buy a bag to brew at home.

Their location on Hope Street has plenty of seating, Wi-Fi, outlets, and a restroom for customers, and Paul and Lisa intentionally keep the atmosphere comfortable and the music low enough for everything from catching up with a friend to settling in with a laptop for a few hours.

COW Café

Address: 342 W. Pico Boulevard

Go for: Craft coffee, scratch-made chai, seasonal drinks, made-from scratch food, a cozy neighborhood café

Food: Made to-order breakfast and lunch with Mediterranean, Californian, and Salvadoran influences, including toasts, scrambles, burritos, tacos, and more

COW Cafe has been serving South Park longer than any of the other coffee shops on this list, and it has remained a decidedly hyperlocal neighborhood spot. COW brews locally based Tectonic Coffee and generally serves a lighter roast, with an emphasis on simply preparing good coffee rather than adding a lot to it. They also make their chai from scratch and regularly create seasonal specialty drinks using fresh ingredients, including combinations like hibiscus and blueberry. The food gets the same attention, with longtime favorites including avocado toast, a harissa scramble that can also be ordered as breakfast tacos, and what co-owner Samur Khouja describes as a “killer” breakfast burrito. They also serve locally sourced beer and wine and envision COW as a French bistro where it’s a café by day and neighborhood wine and beer spot in the evening (they serve beer from another neighborhood darling, Audio Graph!). The small, cozy space is geared more toward sitting down for a meal or catching up with someone than spending the day on a laptop, and the owners still love when neighbors simply stop in to say hi. When I asked what they wished more people knew about COW, their answer was pretty straightforward: that they’re here. After years of letting people stumble upon the café organically, they would love to see more South Park residents venture down to Pico and discover it.

COW has a restroom available for customers but, as of the time of writing, no Wi-Fi. They encourage customers to hang out and talk to each other instead.

Awesome Coffee

Address: 1200 S. Grand Avenue

Go for: Specialty lattes and matcha, waffles + desserts, coffee dates, something sweet

Food: Pastries and desserts, house-made waffles with fruit or ice cream, sandwiches, bowls, and protein smoothies

Before opening Awesome Coffee, Jorge Teixeira worked in finance downtown. But when he thought back on all the jobs he had ever had, the one he remembered having the most fun at was his cousin’s tiny coffee shop in Boston, where he grew up. He eventually left finance and opened his first Awesome Coffee in Koreatown, followed by South Park, a neighborhood he already knew and loved through a friend who lived here. Jorge wanted Awesome Coffee to be somewhere you could meet a friend, go on a date, work for a while, or linger over coffee and dessert, and the menu reflects that last part especially well. Alongside classic espresso drinks, some of their biggest sellers are the specialty drinks, including a tiramisu latte, pistachio matcha, and matcha lemonade. They also make waffles in-house using a recipe Jorge originally brought to the Koreatown shop, with versions topped with fruit or ice cream. The South Park location has expanded its food menu with sandwiches and bowls and recently added protein smoothies that Jorge told me have been “selling like crazy.” For him, the experience of visiting Awesome Coffee is just as important as what is in the cup, which is why he put so much thought into the design and atmosphere of the place.

Virtu Coffee

Address: 1214 S. Flower Street

Go for: Cocktail-inspired lattes, house-made syrups, creative flavors, and a quick stop before or after the Convention Center

Food: Sweet and savory pastries from local Sweet Temptations, plus Brooklyn Bagels and cream cheese

To understand Virtu Coffee, you should know that owner James Fastiggi spent about a decade as a beverage director, curating cocktail lists for different bars and bartending. He wanted to leave the late-night bartender lifestyle behind without giving up hospitality, helping people, or the creativity of developing drinks, so he brought the cocktail world with him as he opened his first Virtu location (originally in Skid Row). His specialty coffee menu is even organized like a cocktail menu and includes drinks like a Cinnamon Toast Crunch Latte and Cocoa Puffs-inspired latte, along with ube drinks bearing names inspired by New York, where James is from. He makes all of his syrups in-house, including vanilla and blueberry, and uses ceremonial-grade matcha. But underneath the playful menu, James is serious about the coffee itself. Virtu works with independent roaster Sightglass, which trained James and his staff and supplies the medium-roast blend he has used for years. The shop interior is very much an extension of James’s interests and personality. The shelves are filled with things he likes, local artists’ work hangs on the walls, and on slower days you might find him working on one of the children’s books he writes. You’re also likely to meet Melo, his dog, boss, and unofficial greeter, who has his own group of regulars who stop in just to say hello.

Virtu Coffee may look like a small spot to just stop in on your way to or from the Pico Station or Convention Center, but James has managed to fit a surprising amount of seating for customers, with both indoor and outdoor options, as well as Wi-Fi.

Fika Fika Coffee

Address: 418 W. Pico Boulevard

Go for: Floral coffees and tea-infused espresso lattes, ube + matcha, house-roasted coffee beans, creative drinks, hanging out

Food: House-made ice cream, Mochi Paw Cake, pastries, chilled desserts, waffles, savory toasts, and croissant sandwiches

Fika Fika is the newest of the five shops in South Park, but the family is not new to specialty coffee. They opened their first location in San Gabriel Valley, where they felt there weren’t many places serving the specialty coffee they were finding elsewhere in Los Angeles. Fika Fika roasts its own beans in Temple City and experiments with floral and Asian flavors, many rooted in the owners’ Taiwanese heritage. They combine those flavors with coffee in unexpected ways. For a first visit, they recommend the jasmine tea latte, which was one of their first creations and remains a favorite; if you have more of a sweet tooth, they point people toward the Tabby Brown Sugar or ube-flavored lattes. Their house-made ice cream started almost accidentally when the family began experimenting with flavors like ube, coconut, and roasted tea. They also make signature cat-paw-shaped mochi cakes (their very cute take on a taiyaki). The cat motifs that you’ll see throughout Fika Fika’s branding are personal too. One of the owners told me that getting a cat changed his life, and the family has worked with cat adoption organizations at some of its locations.

The name Fika Fika comes from the Swedish tradition of slowing down and appreciating the moment, and that idea influenced the shop as much as the menu. While many newer coffee shops are designed around grab-and-go service, the family intentionally included plenty of seating for people to meet friends and hang out. The Pico Street location also has Wi-Fi and restrooms for customers.