Xela Cafe

Apparently this place is now called Gaby’s Café. I stumbled by this place by accident last week and I’m so glad I found a place to buy south american desserts including the most delicious alfajores outside of Buenos Aires’ Havana! YUMMMM! I was so excited with their selection of desserts… it was overwhelming!!! Choripan, empanadas, alfajores, medialunas, facturas, dulce de leche goodies, sandwich de miga… you name it… they probably have it! The owner was very helpful and friendly with her latin hospitality. Can’t wait to go back!

New owners, really nice staff but not a place to go if you want to study or read.
TV was exceptionally loud and really takes away from the atmosphere. They might be better off just playing music.
The drink I had (iced coffee) was really sweet and not very good… but, it was cheap!

The placed changed owners but did not change names.
I decided to try the argentinian empanadas and the dough was raw. It was the most horrible thing I’ve ever had in my life and they were almost $ 3.00 each. I would never go there again when I can get my empanadas somewhere else at a much better price.

Ewww… snow cone like frappes:(
I ordered one of their frappes hoping it would be so good I would not have to go all the way to South Gate anymore to enjoy Tierra Mia’s really really ridiculously good horchata frappes and nice Latino feel.
No luck. The frappes here are not blended well so when you finish all of the actual drink you end up with a ton of ice. More than frappes they are snow cones. Sadly enough I am not a big fan of snow cones.
I would give the place a single star were it not for the really nice woman that attended me. A smile can go a long way but not that much…

This coffee shop is a gem. Found this location by my friend Rene and decided to stop in. Upon arrival, it is a very friendly business. The coffee brewed here is good, if you prefer a better tasting cup of joe than your traditional burnt roasted starbucks. The owner is really friendly and makes you feel at home. I set up my work station here and enjoyed some great tunes as well as delicious Spinach Empanadas. Their food is home made and sure has some good flavor. Added perk, free wifi.

I just discovered this place today and although it was lonely, I appreciated it. As a Latina, I try to do my part to support local businesses owned my local residents. I dont live in Downey so when I do visit, I make it a point to search out a business that is a mom & pop. That being said, I called prior to arriving and asked if there was WiFi. I hoped they would and they did!
Hooray. I can’t possibly go to yet another Starbucks to get work done nor have coffee nor relax.
I arrived and was greeted by Juanita. She explained all the drinks to me and told me that it was in fact a family-​run business. I noticed all the cool photos of the family and the awesome map of Guatemala they have on the wall.
I was a bit hungry and so I ordered an Argentinean and Colombian empanada. Both were tasty, even if they were microwaved. They are made my legit empanada makers for them to sell. This is not an empanaderia, folks, so get over it! They are authentic. That was a nice surprise.
So, if you’re not a diva and you like a down-​to-​earth friendly spot, come hang here. You will be treated with lots of warmth and flavor!
I just met the owner and she was a total sweetheart. We exchanged our stories about yummy pupusas! Too cool. I felt like family. What are you waiting for?

Well having worked for Starbucks and having studied to become a Coffee Master, any coffee expert will tell you that some great coffee comes out of Guatemala. So driving through the city of Downey one day and seeing their sign that says «Guatemalan Coffee House» I HAD to stop. Well although I can’t make a true Unilocal decision, so this is preliminary because i’ve only had the same drink both times, it’s good but it fell short of what i was expecting. Their espresso is good but i think they need to find a bolder roast to serve as their base espresso for their drinks but it’s smooth sweet. They really don’t offer too many pastry selections which is a shame because there are many traditional Guatemalan pastries they can be serving to pair perfectly with their beverages. I am eager to go back and try this place a few more times so i can try a few more of their beverages. But for now, this place is just O.k. For the sake of supporting independent, I would say if you’re in downey, stop by Xela’s and have a cup of coffee to make youre own conclusion.

This place is alright. i wish I could rate it higher because it is Guatemalan owned and I feel like I’m disrespecting my momma right now! Anyhow, the coffee is alright, good sometimes. The lady making the coffee will grind up the beans right before she makes the shots, which I think is pretty cool. However, for all the fancy names they aren’t really creative with their stuff. Just some regular syrups and shots. Nothing too fancy or new. Although they are cheaper than starbucks on most drinks.
Free wi-​fi and comfortable seating. Plugs are accessible. Good place to study since it’s kind of slow.
Oh and I think they have some jewelry in the back if anyone is interested. Plus, they do sell discounted Krikorian theater tickets (Downey location) which adds one star! Okay, now I don’t feel that bad.

Nice, clean, FREE WIFI. Pastry tasted old… good thing it was only $ 2.25. Décor nice, but odd. They seemed to have personal family pics on the wall (cause the people are Guatemalan? Cause they were taken in Guatemala? I don’t know).
No tomo café.
I’d return, but prob only for the free WiFi.
Synopsis?
Sure stop if you’d liked to try different coffee’s and eat poor pastry’s or are desperate for wi-​fi connection and don’t want to pay (p.s. they gave me a code to get on after I paid for my pastry).

X is for Xela Café and X is for XYLOPHONE
XYLOPHONE –noun — -a musical instrument consisting of a graduated series of wooden bars, usually sounded by striking with small wooden hammers. That’s what
says and that is the best word to describe my meal at Xela Café.
Well, they don’t have a Xylophone, nor do they need one. Nor do they have an X-​ray machine, Xenon gas or people whacked out on Xanax either. Nor were there any xenophobic X-​Gamers speaking Xhosa. So maybe the word should be «XCELLENT».
What they did have was one of the most comfortable coffee houses I have ever visited. I stopped in on a Monday night about 8pm because, let’s be honest, I needed to have a meal at a place in the LA area that began with an X. There used to be a sports bar in San Diego called Xaviers. They are closed now, but I was ready to drive down there, snap a photo of the old sign and claim they were «XTINCT».
But my anonymous Unilocal mentor vetoed that idea. (BTW – Happy Birthday anonymous Unilocal mentor). So last week in a moment of uncharacteristic brilliance I got the idea to search the X listings on the LA County Public Health website, and found they had a listing for a place called Xela Café in Downey. (Don’t worry they got a 98).
On Monday, I was in the area and in need of a light dinner so I stopped in to check the place out. I had a pre-​conceived notion that this was a Guatemalan version of a wannabee Starbucks, but I found just the opposite. Starbucks might want to send some V-P’s there to see how to design a coffee house. While they have the usual selection of lattes, macchiatos and mocha’s, I just had a cup of the coffee of the day; something called Atitlan. It was described to me as a medium bodied coffee, but it was bold enough for me. It also had the caffeine kick I needed to get me home.
Since I wasn’t all that hungry, I just ordered a Rio Dulce, which is a tuna sandwich. It was pretty basic comfort food, served on wheat toast with lettuce and tomato. While it was pretty non-​descript, it was a good value at $ 3.50 and certainly was just what I craved. It is served with some nice healthy Sun Chips.
The 5 stars are for the ambiance. This place is as comfortable as it gets. There were three occupied tables when I walked in, all with parents who brought middle school aged kids in for a treat and a quiet place to do their homework. Oneyda, one of the owners treated them all like regulars, but she treated me like a regular too, so who knows?
The music was just right too. When I walked in they were playing a Marc Cohn CD, but switched to some Spanish soft-​rock when that album ended. Both were appropriate.
I spoke to Oneyda after my meal and she explained that Xela is named after the 2^nd largest city in Guatemala, an area known for its coffee and coffee drinking culture. Oneyda’s actually from El Salvador but her husband, the other owner, is from Guatemala City, (not Xela either).
It would have been nice if Xena the Warrior Princess popped in to use the free wifi, as that would have made for a really neat opening paragraph.
This is the 24^th in my string of 26 reviews A to Z in the Los Angeles area. If you want to suggest a place further down the alphabet you want me to try, feel free to drop a note.

OK… After reading other peoples remarks and now knowing that they sold Colombian empanadas here for a buck fifty I wanted to try it for myself since its local to me.
The place is very clean and appears to be a nice place to possibly hang out in. Especially since they due provide free WI-​FI.
I was extremely saddened to see when I asked for my empanadas they pulled them out of a fridge microwaved them and handed me two very tasty but soggy empanadas. Apparently they don’t make them themselves. They get them from another restaurant and heat them up in the microwave as ordered. VERY SAD :(:(They were tasteful but very soggy. The empanadas that they sell there are made of potato and shredded beef. But as all Colombians know ALL EMPANADAS HAVE TO BE EATEN FRESHLY FRIED WHILE THEY ARE CRISPY and NOT soggy. I guess if they had a toaster oven it would of helped. I didn’t try anything else there but I still plan on going back to give it another chance some day. Although I currently give them only 2 stars for the one item I ate and since I do plan on going back ‘llI reevaluate them once I have eaten more then just that one item.

I really like Guatemalan coffee. I even grind my own beans at Whole Foods. It’s great. This particular coffee place is concealed inside of a strip mall. There’s a sign on the storefront window that advertises free wifi. I’ll take their word for it.
I ordered a small coffee and a small Guatemalan cookie. It was more like a sugar cookie. I sat down and just looked around a minute. Apparently, Colombian empanadas are sold here for $ 1.50. The sign claims you just can’t have one. I’ll try one next time and give you my final verdict. The coffee was bold and flavorful. It was pretty good. The sugar cookie was excellent.
They package and sell their own coffee bags here. I’ll be purchasing a bag the next time too. It’s quite clean inside, too. Small family owned operation. Based on my observations. They have some comfortable looking chairs near the entrance. Good music. Yes, I’ll be back.

I went here with a friend last week. It was Friday night and we were trying to do some hw. We were exploring cafes and Xela was the pick of the night. We got there, it was basically empty, except for the family working there (family owned). That was fine with us.
I judge every café by how well they make their mochas. So, I got a mocha. I was expecting great things from this place and my drink was somewhat disappointing. It wasnt bad, just way too watery for my taste. My friend had a lemonade blended drink. she liked it.
We also got hungry and I ordered some small vegetarian tamale thing and my friend got a tuna sandwhich. The food was bomb, which is why this place is getting the 4 stars.
The really friendly owner and her daughters also made the experience very pleasant. My friend and I ended up staying for a few hours. The place was comfortable and cute on the inside and there was free wifi to help me procrastinate
I’ll definitely be back to explore the other drinks.

Great guatemalan coffee house with a genuine chapin feel. Tried the regular coffee with a tamale and some pan dulce… delicious. Service was great and apparently they have free wifi.