LaB Coffee & Roasters

Love supporting small businesses. The turkey sandwich was yummy and the coffee was great considering im not exactly a coffee drinker!

I always get the vanilla latte w/​almond milk and I have yet to be disapointed. It’s always roasted well, never burnt. The size is a bit small for the price, but they have a frequent buyer’s punch-​card to help offset the cost.
I have tried every pastry in their display case and all of them are great. I used to worry about what I would get if they were out of strawberry crossants, but now I don’t care so long as they have anything at all.

Hidden in a plaza, this is such a great little spot to study. The drinks are so good (JASMINE GREEN MACCHIATO) with an ample seating area with outlets and free wifi of course. The baristas I’ve met are super friendly and will give you recommendations based on your preferences.
Parking might be a little difficult because it’s a small lot. Valet starts at 5pm, but there are a lot of neighborhood side streets where you can find a spot.

Do they know people wake up before 8am on weekdays? Most of the world has had at least a cup by then

Omg. The hot cocoa. All of the coffee, tea and juices are great options, but a bear hanging out in your hot cocoa makes your night on a chilly evening! The service here is great and free wifi is the whipped cream to your hot cocoa!

I decided to visit Korea Town because this business is called Coffee Lab and Roaster.
Considering their name, I figured any Barista working here could easily explain which of their coffee beans should be brewed as a pour over, aero press, French press, etc. and which bean should be extracted properly to identify its best flavor profile… With a name like COFFEE LAB, I would think that the Barista would have a clue as to what I was asking.
Unfortunately, she had no idea and was extremely rude about it. To top it all off she was slightly insulting. Maybe she was mad because someone not working behind a coffee bar might actually have a clue how coffee should be brewed.
If you work at a Coffee Roaster, you should expect to have customers asking questions about your effing coffee beans and not be mad about it.

This is my new favorite neighborhood coffee shop. They have a great space inside and a small outside. The hospitality is great and the prices are fair.
I had their Ethiopia today and it was like drinking chocolate blueberries.
The food is simple but very crafty and delicious. The ricotta and jams toast is something I always order with the ham and cheese.
If I could come everyday I would. Checkout this place. They have pastries, food and great coffee.
Cute little shop! Enjoy!

I came here after eating brunch and was looking for a cup of coffee to keep me warm on a cold rainy day. This is a nice local coffee shop that has their own speciality drinks so why not try some!
Parking was horrible, the little lot was filled to capacity and I doubt you will be able to park your car inside. Your best bet is to find street parking if there is any. The coffee shop is hard to miss and it had a very nice modern décor that was very welcoming. After quickly looking at their menu, we decided to go with the classic Americano and a Jasmine green tea macchiato. The Americano was your straight forward coffee drink, rich and smooth. The real surpise was their macchiato, it had a interesting blend of jasmine green tea mixed with coffee.
Overall, I would come here again if I was in the area for a cup of fresh quality coffee. They had other drinks on their speciality menu, so maybe I’ll try the out soon. Price for the speciality coffee was $ 6 for a small cup, so a little on the pricier side, but still the drink was good!

The interior is beautiful and I can tell they put a lot of thought into everything, which I love! There are high chairs by the windows and the walls, tables in the middle, and then on the side there’s a long bench kind of thing with books behind it about coffee and all that. It’s awesome. Everything’s aesthetically pleasing and the coffee is really really good, get the affogato so so worth it.
I like this place a lot. For LA, the coffee actually tasted like real coffee.
:)

Came here specifically to try their coffee flight, and it did not dissapoint!
The interior space of this café is pretty cool. Plenty of cute cool décor on the walls mixed in with wooden and metal. I wish the café had better lighting though, even in the early afternoon with natural light flooding through the windows, the overall space seemed a bit musky.
But now for the coffee. The coffee flight consisted of 3 drinks, an Ethiopian, a Columbia, and a single shot espresso with sparkling water. And of course it came in a very scientific test tube arrangement. Pretty cool menu item if you have never seen anything like it.
My only gripe is that it took about 10 – 20 minutes for my order. The reason being there was only one person working behind the counter. It would have been nice to have faster service, but there was a line of people waiting for their drinks. Poor lady had a lot of work to do.
Pros:
–cool coffee space
–coffee flight menu item
— great drinks!
Cons:
–somewhat dim interior lighting
–long service time

Cute place with a cute concept! I stopped by here with the husband on the way back up to Norcal and we got the coffee «tasting» menu. The beakers were cute and I could totally see myself meeting girlfriends here and talking for hours. I’m taking away one star for the coffee though … I don’t know what the craze is about sour coffee, but I like my coffee like I like my men … strong, well-​rounded, and buttery. ;)
So warning to those who don’t like tart notes in their coffee either, put in a lot of cream and sugar!

Super small coffee shop compared to other local coffee shops around K town…
The pictures on Unilocal looked promising so i decided to grab some coffee from here.
Went in and ordered a caramel mocha (hot)
The service was really great. No complaints
The coffee however tasted nasty!
Brrr
–limited seats
–valet + open plaza
–great service
–great interior design
–super clean A+
–stamp card option. Buy 9 drinks-​10^th drink free
–reasonable prices
Still debating if i would go back! That Maple Turkey Delight Sandwich looks promising. So i might have to go try it: p

I can’t give these guys five stars yet, because the shot the always pull is pretty bitter. I don’t know if it’s because their machine isn’t calibrated correctly, or they let the shot sit, being exposed to air for too long while they steam the milk. But speaking of their steamed milk, their «wet foam» technique has improved significantly over time. It went from a half, light fluff cloud wet foam, to a proper, dense, creamy wet foam. They’re only getting better here. It’s exciting to watch a business grow and learn. They don’t have much of a selection as far as pastries and eats go, but I’m hoping this improves as well.
Sometimes it’s weird coming in here because they don’t always play music. Only when their are enough people it seems. But I can’t totally hate on that. If no one was in there and I didn’t want to listen to music just to enjoy the silence, I would too. I’m a huge fan of silence. Especially in a bustling city. So I appreciate that they’re not blaring it! How can anyone work with bumpin coffee shop music on?
Super quaint spot, lots of natural materials with a simple contemporary design and tucked into the corner of a K-​Town plaza. Might be easy to miss if you’re not from the area! Lucky it’s close to home.

my new favorite café. Everything, from the ambience to the parking to the drinks were just right up my alley. Parking was surprisingly easy, and because I came before 5, it was free!
Inside, it’s really well-​lit, and although it’s small, it’s super cozy and I didn’t have trouble finding a spot. There’s also a good number of outlets, wifi was fast, music wasn’t too clubby. The atmosphere is just perfect for studying.
I got the drink with the jasmine tea, espresso and milk. You can get it sweetened or not, but m I think sweetened might compliment it better. I personally hate sweet tea so I had it unsweetened and it was good, although slightly bitter. My bf had the affogato with sweet cream which was just delicious. Not stingy at all!
I plan on becoming a regular! Seriously got a lot done, and prices are typical Ktown prices!

Chemistry is not my forte, but they definitely captured my heart with the Ja. eso au lait.
What is a Ja. eso au lait you ask?
It was a combination of both of my loves: tea and espresso and milk of course. It was pretty mild in sweetness but you can add more sweetener syrup at the side table.
Super study friendly! I was here on a weekend and it was super quiet. Background music consisted of instrumentals/​kygo so it was pretty relaxing and allowed me to concentrate on my work. Seating is pretty limited though… there were a couple seats at the booth and two communal style tables.
Tips: Parking is $ 2, but the store validates so you are covered.
Final Verdict:
Thumbs up.

First off, interior super cute.
And they had little dog treats and a doggie water bowl outside for your pets needs which I really liked.
Had the «Mad for Caffeine» (Good for two people) $ 12) — drink which came with 3 different 7 oz pour over coffees with a 7oz LaB blend americano with sparkling water, and sugar syrup and vanilla syrup where you can mix and match to create your own coffee drink. It came in laboratory equipment which made things extra fun.
The barista also gave us biscotti and chocolates for service (thank you so much!)
My review of the coffee is that you can actually taste that it is GOOD coffee. I forget exactly what each test tube of coffee was, but you could significantly taste the difference in each coffee. One other thing I really liked was that this wasn’t just «another korean mom and pop store» that didn’t know what they were doing. The barista did explain to us exactly which coffee each tube contained… but it was just too much information for me to remember at once. I really can’t wait to come here again to try out something else.

LaB Coffee & Roasters looks a lot like an Asian Tea House and very unlike a typical American coffee house like Starbucks and Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf type places. I actually discovered them, when I attended a CoffeeCon; a consumer coffee convention. I was unexpectedly pleased to have found them among the many local micro (small batch) coffee roasters who attended as I very seldom see a local Korean-​owned coffee roaster let alone one with an independent coffee house that breaks out of the neighborhood and into the mainstream of serious coffee drinkers from all over Los Angeles. So today’s morning trip to Koreatown was to finally check out this place and to drink some locally roasted coffee.
LaB Coffee & Roasters pretty much makes all of the typical espresso drinks like a latte, a cappuccino, an americano, a macchiato, a mocha, and an iced coffee. They also have espresso shots and a variety of milk that can suit anyone’s taste preference. However, for the serious coffee drinkers, they roast their own roasted coffee beans and will make you a cup of coffee from your preferred brew method like pour over, siphon, or french press. They roast Ethiopian, Columbian, and Costa Rican coffee beans. They also sell bags of their coffee beans in case you want to grind and brew your own cup of coffee at home. It was just as interesting to see that they also had a Kyoto-​style Cold Brewed Coffee and a fairly decent selection of teas on their menu. In other words, they have the template of a typical coffee house.
I was in the mood for an Ethiopian pour over as my caffeine fix. LaB Coffee’s Ethiopian is unique in that it is more of a lighter roasted coffee with all the typical tasting notes of an Ethiopian coffee; citrusy with floral aromas. From the color of the brewed coffee, I can tell that not a whole lot was extracted from the coffee grounds. I think the grind was not right. It should have been a lot finer. Anyway LaB Coffee roasts a decent Ethiopian coffee, but the brew is without the richness and acidity that one would normally expect from an Ethiopian coffee.
As for the coffee house itself, it’s a nice space to hang out with friends for drinks and a little something to eat. LaB Coffee carries the pastries from Farmshop and they make affogato coffee drinks with ice cream from McConnell’s Fine Ice Creams. I was very impressed that they serve quality food items. I was equally impressed with the various coffee accessories that they sold too. They have a variety of coffee pour over brewers and french presses for sale. Each item appears to be decently priced too.
In my book, LaB Coffee & Roasters is a respectable 3-​stars for now. I will most likely return for another cup of coffee so I can also check out their other varieties of in-​house roasted coffees.
Note free wifi. That’s a good thing!

Lowkey chill comfortable study coffee spot.
A lot of times in dtla things get complicated with all the scarce/​expensive parking, too many people/​lack of seats, etc. and sometimes Starbucks coffee just isn’t good enough. And this spot is the perfect spot to bypass all that.
If you come early before around 3 you can get by without paying for parking validation but may get scorned at by the valet guy if you stay too long, but otherwise get your ticket validated and pay $ 1 for parking. The inside of this café is cozy. One side has this long seating area with soft blankets to sit on and table big enough to spread all your papers out on if you wanna be that rude person taking up all the space. Haha I was allowed to at the time since there was nobody else there besides my friend. The lattes are yummy as well as their pour over coffees and they have some really interesting signature drinks I have yet to try.
They gave me and my friend some coffee cake on the house the day we were there which was pretty good too the kind with sugar/​cinnamon crumbles on top :) there’s a plenty of outlets. The staff is really polite proper and friendly, in that super Korean type of way.
Side note: if a man comes in to sell you fruit. Don’t be sketched out, his pineapples were so freaking delicious.

It was around 8:35 PM on Wednesday night when I got a hankering for a latte, so I decided that I will satisfy my craving and grab some caffeine with a friend. Now, all of us Los Angeles coffee lovers know that most of the coffee shops (besides Starbucks & Coffee Bean) close by 9 or earlier. I also was in a mood for something new, therefore I turned to my fellow Unilocalers and found a place in Korea Town called LaB Coffee & Roasters. Not only does this spot have great reviews, and superb pictures, but it closes at 10:30 PM!!! PERFECT!
Arriving at the location, the parking lot for the mini-​mall in which its located was pretty full and there was valet but there was plenty of parking at the meters. The first thing I noticed upon walking through the doors was the fascinating décor, and the comfortable pillows and blankets to sit on. I took a brief look at the menu and then asked for any suggestions. The employees were really really helpful and asked what my preferences were and made a few selections based on my answers. I got a latte, and my friend ended up with a Vanilla Latte which I heard was delightful!
We took a seat near the door and thumbed through some of the many books they have to read while enjoying our coffee. I also noticed that they put a decorative candy cane type straw along with their iced beverages. I thought that was really cute, and fun. We had a friendly conversation with an off the clock employee named Nick, who was really nice and made sure our first visit was memorable. Finishing up our lattes, we were thanked by the entire staff, and to stop by during the daytime hours. I wasn’t able to get the young lady’s name that took our order but she gave us a complimentary pastry.
LaB Coffee & Roasters was very impressive, with the friendliest employees, and a relaxing vibe. I will be coming back here very soon! Thank you all for the hospitality.

I wanted to hate this place, I really did. I paid almost $ 7 for a vanilla latte with tip. Almost $ 7!!! I’m not one to back out of a drink once I’ve ordered it but I certainly thought about it.
LaB is tucked away in this little strip plaza on Western with little, compact spaces that are oh so typical in this area! I luckily snagged a space in the lot. They have a cute mini patio for a couple of people to sit and a really cute lobby with room for about 10 people to fit on various chairs and benches and such.
LaB emphasizes a molecular understanding of coffee and the best ways in which to brew it. They carry a nice selection of blends for pour overs and even make traditional Kyoto cold brew coffee. I ordered my $ 7 vanilla latte and prepared to write my awful review because I knew I would be salty after paying that much for a latte… but that never happened because my latte was damn good.
The lovely barista brought my latte over resting on a pretty saucer and tray looking perfect for a latte Instagram. The foam was flawless which was already a tell tell sign… from first sip this latte was perfectly executed. I wanted to hate this $ 7 latte but it was SO good. Easily one of the best lattes I’ve had in a long time. Now could I convince myself to pay this much on the regular? Probably not. But LaB is serving up some fine drinks and that I just cannot deny.