Reviewing Nearby Coffee Shops in LA to Work From
By: Ani Antonyan ‘24
Tired of studying at Leavey Library? Need a change of scenery and to get off campus? A different environment can inspire productivity. Exploring LA and trying nearby coffee shops is a great way to motivate yourself to get started on that project you’ve been dreading or devote yourself to a study session.
Grab your laptop, your TAP card, and computer charger and get ready to power through a few hours of studying and crunching assignments at these great nearby coffee shops!
Ministry of Coffee
844 W 32nd St, Los Angeles, CA 90007
Wifi: Yes
Outlets: No
Noise Level: 4/10
Walkable from Campus: Yes
Parking: Street parking or USC Village garage
Overall Rate: 4/5
Ministry of Coffee is located in the Caruso Catholic Center right across the street from the Village. This location is filled with students working or enjoying lunch with friends. The cafe offers plenty of seating inside and outside. With a menu filled with a variety of smoothies, coffees, teas, sandwiches, and bagels, you won’t need to go home when it’s time to eat lunch. The coffee shop has a cool, vintage vibe with a wall filled with unique posters and books. If you’re looking to work outdoors on a sunny day, there are tables outside in the beautiful courtyard.
Nature's Brew
2316 S Union Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90007
Wifi: Yes
Outlets: Yes
Noise level: 6/10
Walkable from Campus: Yes
Parking: Street parking off 24th Street and Union Ave
Overall Rate: 5/5
Nature’s Brew is a cozy cafe on Union that offers a warm and inviting environment. Their menu features a variety of delicious coffee drinks, teas, smoothies, fresh pastries, and breakfast foods with gluten-free and vegan options among them. When I visited around 1 p.m. on a weekday, the cafe was filled with students. With plenty of natural light, comfortable seating, outlets, free Wi-Fi, and a great ambiance, this is the perfect spot nearby for students looking to focus and get work done.
DRINK Coffee+Tea
2595 S Hoover St, Los Angeles, CA 90007
Wifi: Yes
Outlets: Yes
Noise level: 6/10
Walkable from Campus: Yes
Parking: Parking lot and street parking
Overall Rate: 4/5
Located on Hoover street underneath The Element apartment building, DRINK Coffee+Tea is a great spot for students looking for a spacious place with lots of natural light. With plenty of tables and chairs, it’s easy to find a spot. Feeling like working outside? This location also offers outdoor seating. Chipotle and QWENCH Juice Bar also share retail space with DRINK Coffee+Tea, so you have lots of options for more sustenance in case studying makes you hungry or thirsty!
With Love Market & Cafe
1969 S Vermont Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90007
Wifi: Yes
Outlets: Yes
Noise level: 4/10
Walkable from Campus: No
Parking: Street parking
Overall Rate: 5/5
If you want to know which cafe is my personal favorite, that distinction easily goes to Love Market & Cafe. It’s an amazing place to be productive while contributing to the community. This community-owned cafe and marketplace has a mission to provide high-quality, healthy, organic, and affordable food options to the community that can be purchased with CalFresh and EBT. They reinvest a portion of their profits back into the community, enabling South LA to thrive! With few accessible options to health focused food in the area, that makes Love Market extra important.
Cafe prices are also much more affordable than the typical coffee shops in LA. Homeboy Industries supplies all the pastries for the cafe and is a non-profit organization that gives formerly incarcerated folks a path to employment.
This place is HUGE! There are three distinct areas to work in – the main floor, upstairs in the loft, or outside in their patio. The outdoor patio provides a beautiful and tranquil environment to relax and unwind between study sessions.
Alfred Coffee at the LINE Koreatown
3515 Wilshire Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90010
Wifi: Yes
Outlets: Yes
Noise levels: 4/10
Walkable from Campus: No
Parking: Paid parking, but validation is available from the cafe if you spend $10 and covers up to 2 hours
Overall Rate: 5/5
Alfred Coffee at the LINE Hotel is a magical place to get work done. It is quite a drive, (3.3 miles away from campus) but it’s definitely worth the metro or car ride. The coffee shop is located in the hotel lobby which doubles as an excellent place to work. The pictures speak for themselves! Being surrounded by productive workers inspires me to join them.
Though pricey, Alfred Coffee is an LA must-try. Consider ordering their famous Iced Vanilla Latte! Their menu also features a wide variety of tea, snacks, and pastries.
Verve Coffee Roasters
500 Mateo St #102, Los Angeles, CA 90013
Wifi: Yes
Outlets: No
Noise levels: 7/10
Walkable from Campus: No
Parking: Small parking lot, some street parking
Overall Rate: 5/5
Finally, we have Verve Coffee Roasters. This flagship location in the Arts District is well known for its huge space. Students and employees all over LA come to this location specifically to work. This spacious, two-story coffee shop filled with natural lighting has tons of seating to pick from. Feel like watching the coffee roast? You can sit at a table right in front of the roasting machine and enlighten yourself on the process as a break from studying. They also have an outdoor seating space surrounded by greenery. Everytime I visit Verve, I feel cheerful and inspiring vibes because of the atmosphere and people around me.
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