Kaldi Coffee

The glories of what could have been…
I love the ambiance here, it’s a sweet place to be. My cappuccino tasted like it could have been fantastic, but the barista let the shot hang out for over a minute before hitting it with the milk. Alas.

This is a great café. Well located in the middle of Atwater Village this is a comfortable place to socialize, read or laptop. Great espresso and pastries. Really good. Recommended.

Everyone who has helped me here has been super polite. The interior is clean. The espresso is amazing. Best almond milk (Califia Farms) The cardamom cold brew is excellent. My new favorite coffee shop :)

Great neighborhood coffee shop. Quiet with cool minimalist décor. And a great chai tea…

I wish I had more to inform on Kaldi Coffee but my thoughts are limited, given that my visit was only a short one. On top of that, all I had from this shop was a cold brew. I can’t base much on a cold brew. So I rather refrain from jumping to conclusions about a shop I could unintentionally misconstrue.
From the looks of it, it seems like they roast in house. That’s certainly a positive!
Moving on to the menu, it offers an interesting selection of specialty drinks. Creations that seem specific to this shop, like the pirates chai and the cardamom cold brew I indulged in. It gives me the impression that there is some creativity to their methods, and who doesn’t appreciate creativity?
For now, I think three stars seems fair though, because there was no stand out moment or item I could speak of. Yes, the cold brew was good, one in which I definitely tasted the herbal nuttiness of the cardamom. That’s all I can say for now, but I know there’s got to be more to be said about this unobtrusive little shop.
Ultimately, the experience left me with a little more to be desired — in a good way. One that will likely prompt a second visit whenever I find myself back in that part of town.

The good: barista was hot and very kind. Took his time to make the drinks ahead of me with care. I’m not in a rush– I didn’t mind.
Flavor or the coffee was delightful.
The bad: Though flavorful, the coffee was cold. How can you serve cold coffee? Didn’t realize it until I left already but I’m sure hot barista would have made me a fresh batch if I noticed in the shop.
The pastries looked good, but there was no glass casing around the pastry trays so there were little flies crawling all over them– yichh.

Atmosphere and Service. The barista really went out of his way to be nice to me. He demonstrated how he makes latte art and explained why my milk made at home wasn’t cutting it. Jazz music in the background, clean tables large enough for a laptop, and electric outlets for work are available in two spots. Outdoor tables with umbrellas are available for a nice day, which is every day in California.
Food and Beverage. I drank a cappuccino. The espresso shot lacked the rounded flavor of other coffee shops (a little toward the bitter side) but otherwise was nice for a Saturday morning. For all the foodies out there, I’d split my time between this place for the coffee and Proof Bakery across the street for pastries if I were you.
Enjoy!

Nice spot to get some work done. I ordered a hot Americano as usual and a vanilla almond latte in my way out. Pretty simple orders and both turned out just fine. They have artsy, abstract books out on display to sell. There’s a sign that clearly says «buy the book before you sit down» or something along those lines. It makes you not want to even give it a look because that sign is the equivalent of a librarian telling you to shut up and stop running.
Aside from that I appreciate the big tables. There’s a lot of space to lay out all your shit (papers, books, laptop, purse, etc.)

The staff was SO incredibly rude. I arrived early for a meeting early so I wanted to wait for my friend before I ordered. I asked for the wifi and he rolled his eyes saying it was for customers only. I told him I was waiting for a meeting and I was going to order coffee and he gave me a wrong password! SO RUDE. The place is also really small and uncomfortable

The coffee at this place is truly excellent (doesn’t hurt that it’s roasted on-​site). They do not have much in the way of food, but there are plenty of great food options on that block, anyway. Service could be friendlier, but in my experience… the better the coffee, the worse the service. My taste buds are willing to deal.
There is a decent amount of indoor/​outdoor seating, and free Wi-Fi…not the most comfortable chairs, but they make up for it with a very interesting Orthodox Rabbi wallpaper decorating scheme…

Do you like the smell of leather? I do and this place smells just like leather due to their wall décor of straight leather fabric. Lol
If that alone isn’t enough for you to wander in, I recommend it for their Mexican Mocha. I had it iced and added a little honey, it was delicious and so smooth. Be careful of the Pirate Chai which I see is recommended, it has a strong ginger flavor that was off-​putting for us. I think added sugar or honey would help but that thing is potent!
I recommend this spot and walking around this area in general, perfect sunday stroll location!

I LOVE their pirate chai and mexican mocha! Seriously, the pirate chai (I get it iced) is so tasty. I get the jitters from drinking straight coffee, but the combo of chai/​matcha is just enough to keep me energized without getting jumpy. Not a huge selection of pastries, but that’s ok — it’s a coffee shop!
I haven’t gone here to work, but it seems like a nice quiet and peaceful place to do some writing. They have free wifi too.

I don’t drink coffee, so this might not be the most informative review.
The iced tea is pretty basic. The chai latte is very good in my opinion, but a little flowery, so if that’s not your thing, you will not like the chai!
IMPORTANT NOTE:
Kaldi coffee is down the street from Tacos Villa Corona, so it’s a great place to go while you wait for your breakfast burrito.

COFFEE IS BOMB. I ordered an almond milk cappuccino ($.75 for almond milk).
well they didn’t ask if I’d like to get my coffee to stay or go and I was with two friends. don’t like to drink good coffee out of a paper cup. so I asked if I could get it to stay instead — unfortunately it was already done. she was not happy to remake it — I get that. so before she made it I asked to make it with a little less milk. again: unfriendly response. when I got my coffee: it was cold! nope– sorry but didn’t ordered an iced one. so hot means to me hot! I apologized and asked if she could get me a hot one. she said: we don’t really do our coffees hot. hm: sad, because the coffee tasted really good! they roast in house, which I love! I’d come back though — good value for money. free wifi and nice outdoor seating.

If I’m grabbing coffee in Atwater, this is the spot! I’ve been here a number of times and it’s the kind of coffee shop that can be worth going out of your way for, if you’re looking for good service, a good cup, and a good place to work, this is usually my go-​to spot for the area.
My only beef as of late is that I’m not alone in this belief. Depending on the time of day, it can be a little hard to find an open table. But there’s usually spots outside and thankfully, we live in sunny LA, so I haven’t been too bothered by it. Plus you get to check out the toy dinosaurs in the nearby grass!

I want this place to be better. It’s just OK.
Coffee: It’s pretty much all they do, so you’d think it would be good. The iced coffee is weak and flavorless. The regular coffee is unremarkable. I haven’t tried anything else. If you can’t impress with these two staples, then what are you doing?
Space: Great lighting, and I want to like the sparse vibe. But the tables and chairs appear designed to prevent people from sitting in them. Some of them are so wonky and unstable that I suspect a conspiracy. One table looks like it should be on the set of Beetlejuice it’s so comically warped.
Staff: Disinterested.
Music: It echoes from the back of the place, like they have a $ 25 bluetooth speaker tucked up behind the counter. Spend a few bucks and install some speakers up front.
C’mon you guys. Stop phoning it in. I know you don’t have to be good because you’re in a cool enough place with enough foot traffic that I guess it doesn’t matter. Be a neighborhood coffee shop. Make me enjoy coming here.

TL;DR — What gives with such nonchalant service?
Noon-​ish, it was hot and I had already had 2 cups of coffee in the morning. I glanced over their menu and decided on an iced matcha tea. The guy ringing me up said that they can’t make it today, but they can make an iced matcha latte?
So… either they barely use matcha in the latte… or they just want more money from me. Both results suck.
Whatever, I ordered an iced matcha latte for $ 4 something. The guy who took my order never said sorry, or thank you. Nope, just took my money. The lady working with him (his manager?) didn’t correct him or say anything to me at all. I felt like I was in Siberia. Seriously… I’m the customer, why is it that I’ve said thank you 3 – 4 times and its SO difficult for the workers to say thanks?
What really rendered a 1 star review was what happened after I came back. My boyfriend needed to use the restroom so as I was waiting, I saw the lady who was helping me before ring up a customer (a regular I assume) for an iced matcha tea for only $ 2.75. Uhm… why did I have to get a freaking latte when I’m a little lactose intolerant… but this lady gets a matcha tea AND a discount AND NO RUDE ATTITUDE?
Anywho, the matcha was weak as hell (although I do appreciate that its not pre-​sweetened like Starbucks). To be honest though, at least Starbucks gives the same level or service to everyone and doesn’t just pick and choose customers for making certain drinks. Ew.

Chill unassuming coffee spot with solid de-​caffeinated espresso drink. More utilitarian than comfortable for a java joint, but still… nice.
Kaldi roasts their own coffee. Barista said the beans for my de-​caff espresso drink are probably from Mexico, while regular caffeinated stuff is from various other countries.
I counted no fewer than six Mac book campers and the one Dell laptop user at this small, very low-​key place. Nobody bothers them so it’s is an ideal spot to have some quiet solitude and/​or get work done.
What’s also helpful is it stays open until 8:00 p.m.– four hours later than Proof Bakery a block away. Extra star for Kaldi’s lenient closing time. Great for end-​of-​day meet-​ups.
If you need sophisticated baked treats, Proof has those. But there are goodies to be had here too, as long as you come through earlier in the day. They offer bagels, scones, muffins, croissants and danish.
Kaldi Coffee is directly across the street from Bill’s Liquor Market.

Unilocalin’ on the app for a coffee shop in the area, Cognoscenti popped up with 4.5 stars. Seems to be the new hotness in the neighborhood. We rolled up to find a line of hipsters and yuppies out the door. Looking around, we saw Kaldi across the street. My buddy A-​DT gave it high marks so why not check it out, and there is no line. Bingo! Let’s try that!
When my babygirl asked how many shots were in the large soy latte, the magic answer was 4. Normally I order small size at most places since they don’t always give you more espresso shots in the latte, just more milk. Since we had a long drive, large was the way to go.
Our lattes were smooth and well balanced. Much better than I was expecting as the milk to espresso ratio often gets out of whack when ordering larger sizes. The friendly barista here made it perfectly.
This was one of the better tasting lattes I’ve had in a long while outside of the SF Bay Area. We all know finding great coffee is easy up there. However in LA, coffee doesn’t seem to be as big of a deal. Kaldi is helping to change that image. This is as good as you’ll find in the LA area.

My first visit here and the place was full. Good sign as always with no coincidence. There are other coffee shops nearby, including a Starbucks. I like to support local vendors and mom and pop shops so we came here.
They were in the middle of a shift change so I told them no hurry. They were courteous and helped me ASAP. In and out in two to three minutes. Great service!
Even though I am not an avid coffee drinker, I will refer others who are, here.