During what the ‘they’ are starting to call The Great Recession, a number of people are left with few options but to set out for work on their own. It’s a conundrum of how to find work without there being any work to have. Regardless of how the Recession (capital R, naturally) ends, the coffee shops of Los Angeles are busier than they’ve ever been – teeming with people doing work, making work, or simply just trying to find a place to call their own. Here are some hits and misses.
Stir Crazy
6917 Melrose Ave
Stir Crazy is shoebox sized coffee house straight out of a Kerouac book. Everything is made of wood, there’s jazz playing, and the (gorgeous) girls behind the counter talk with the same kind of raspy lackadaisical verve as the Miles Davis playing in the background. It’s a great place, with a few tables just outside for smokers. Refills are free and the coffee is just above passable. Stick around long enough and they’ll come around and top you off with more coffee. Parking on the side street isn’t metered as long as you’re gone by 6pm – at which point the meter maid doles out a $75 ticket. The downfalls about this place are few, but the lack of electrical outlets means that if you aren’t lucky enough to sit within five feet you’re shit-out-of-luck if you run out of batteries. Given the amount of people in here at any given time, that’s a pretty strong chance.
Cafe Audrey
6701 Hollywood Boulevard
For every Stir Crazy there’s a Cafe Audrey, an Audrey Hepburn inspired joint that tries very hard to be a quaint little place but is never full enough to come off as anything more than an attempt. Perhaps it’s the location; nestled off of Hollywood Boulevard where you’d think there’d be enough foot traffic. Parking is metered only (boo!) and running out every half hour to feed the meter is a pain. The decor is like the perfect art-school girl’s dorm room with pictures of Audrey Hepburn everywhere – which usually I wouldn’t complain about – but the black and white color scheme does a number on your senses if you’re there for more than an hour. Due to the lack of stick-around patrons, you’ll find an outlet for your laptop although I’m still unsure about their wireless as I ganked it from a nearby apartment building. I’ll give them this: the coffee is surprisingly good, and the service was some of the nicest I’ve received in the city.
Silverlake Coffee Co
2388 Glendale Blvd
This is smack-bang in the middle of the hipster bar double whammy: Red Lion and Cha Cha Lounge across the street from each other, hardly a block up the street from Silverlake Coffee Co. It’s a large place with a ton of seating, free wireless, a great menu, and their own parking lot. However, when this place gets busy it gets crowded super fast and the internet lags like none other… which is all fine if you’re WORKING ON YOUR SCRIPT LIKE EVERYONE ELSE IN THIS TOWN OH MY GOD HOW MANY MORE CONVERSATIONS DO I HAVE TO OVERHEAR ABOUT FUCKING SCRIPTS IT’S LIKE SHUT THE FUCK UP ALREADY GOD sorry, where was I? Oh yeah. There are secret outlets by the couches.
Swork
Colorado Blvd & Eagle Rock Blvd
There’s not a lot out in Eagle Rock save a three block strip of restaurants. However, there’s Swork, which somehow keeps the whole area tied down and is something off an unspoken landmark. The coffee – I hate to say it – is god awful, and refills are a dollar, but there’s a vibe in here like none other and you’re more than welcome to hunker down on your laptop for hours on end. If you get talking to Jason, one of the baristas, he’ll probably refill you for free, and talk your ear off, but that’s what makes this Cannery Row-esque part of Los Angeles tick. If you’re a Seattle or Portland native you’ll enjoy it here in the neighborhood and there’s a ton of great food within walking distance.
(Photo from gamespot.com)
