Introducing the Lunch Box Atlas: Coffee in Los Angeles

Launching guides with 13 coffee shops I frequent to write, dream big and recharge

This is the first in a series of guides to the places I love and why. Restaurants, markets, cafes and shops but also their neighborhoods and histories. I’ll tell you what to eat, where to go, and what to see, as well as offer answers for the curious traveler and trail markers for the intellectual journeys that await.

I began to think deeply about guides when I was an LA Times reporter covering news in working class immigrant communities. Guides proliferated in a media environment in which most meaningful coverage of people and institutions had withered.

Lifestyle coverage enjoys more stable economics than news. But people couldn’t help but wonder why lattes got attention while evictions, disinvestment and corruption went unrecognized. Their neighborhoods were often the subjects of stories that didn’t treat them as part of the audience. Guide writers had no choice but to cater to search algorithms, but the endless battle for optimization had created different realities that sat on top of each other, fighting each other to exist.

The Lunch Box Atlas is my attempt to create guides that speak to everyone in the room. I want to celebrate the food and places I love and share what I’ve learned from them. I’ll tell you what to buy but also try to show you the bigger picture. Future guides will cover dim sum in the San Gabriel Valley, swap meets in Southern California, beef in Japan, ekiben, and grocery stores.

From a critical perspective, I try to treat every transaction as a chance to learn something new, make a connection and even be transformed. I’m honest about what I don’t know but always seek to grow my understanding. I spend my own money, avoid freebies and conflicts of interest, and I’m funded entirely by a discerning group of investors also known as my subscribers. We are always welcoming new partners.

Coffee shops in Los Angeles are where we compose our ideal creative lives; equal parts home, office and safe house; playgrounds and labs for the side hustles we hope to grow into day jobs.

Every Angeleno needs a network of spots across the city to wait out traffic, take meetings and seek inspiration.

Taste in coffee shops is personal and depends on your creative ambitions. Your home cafe is a place to get work done that feels nothing like the workplace. It has all the pleasures and comforts of home but without distractions and chores.

These are my favorites from two decades as a roving newspaper reporter. Each has seating with back support, wifi and strong coffee. Most have a place to plug in your laptop, decent parking and enough space so that you won’t struggle to find a seat.

I have no idea what people wear at most of these places. But if you show up in basketball shorts to write emails, no one cares. And contrary to popular belief, that’s the cool thing about Los Angeles. There’s a scene but participating isn’t mandatory. You can be one of the try-hards or just relax and ignore it. I’ve been to the trendy places and list some of them here, but a stressful line and seating struggle ruins my productivity. If a place is slammed regularly I tend to find another. I like good coffee and food, but when I’m working I’m just focused on getting enough of both inside me.