Maru Coffee — Restaurant in Los Angeles

As I moved to LA and keep coming back to Maru Los Feliz, the great impression from my first visit started to disappear. The problem: there is always a line, and sometimes the coffee feels rushed.

In the morning, there could be a long line of a couple dozen cyclists at the shop, causing some commotion even rowdiness; even in the afternoon, people would line up at Maru as if it's cool to wait in the sun for a cup of Maru coffee. When I did stay, sometimes the coffee came out a bit too casual, not bad, neither perfect. The whole experience might fit the vibe of the neighborhood, but not my standard.

Original / Nov 2021 / 5 stars

Fantastic coffee experience at Maru Coffee. I've been wanting to check out Maru for a while and finally made it during a trip to LA.

The small sunny shop in Los Feliz is still take-out only, but I'm super impressed by the way Maru makes even grab-and-go a grand ritual. The service is amicable yet professional, every order is served with a tray carrying the drinks at the window and it always looks perfect. A lot of efforts are made into the small details and I really appreciate that.

I decided to get some beans to take back home and it turns out I get a free drink (literally any drink) with each bag, so I tried their signature espresso tonic. The bubbly, energy infused drink is wonderful, just wonderful for this beautiful sunny afternoon.

Very memorable experience and I'll sure be back next...

In short, great coffee and specialty drinks but the pastry display cabinet looked sad and lonely and unappealing. Too many flies inside and service also was dead as if it was a funeral.

With a few more details, First, the coffee was awesome. That gets all the stars. Cream Top looked heavy but delicious. Bonbon was amazing! I can have that every day! I might become diabetic because of it but it might be worth it. Lol iced Matcha was fantastic too. I wanted to see if I could pair our drinks with some pastries but the cashier guy did bot loom very amused and had no patience so the moment I looked at the display there was like 3 pastries in there randomly placed looking old. It looked sad and unappetizing to me. Later I learned that they usually have good stuff but maybe they need to work on their display. There was a lot of flies inside also for some reason. Maybe on that flat window to let them out because people hold the door with the long lines…so they’re not trapped. I understand the decor was a bit minimalistic and going for a certain vibe but it felt a little dirty to me. Service was quick and easy but no one was enjoying it. Anyway I told you the stars were for the drinks. The line wasn’t horrible and it moves fairly quickly. No parking so park somewhere on the street and stumble down the...

There's always a huge line of people outside this coffee shop waiting to get in and order, so I never got the chance to stop by. Figured since it was raining the day I went, the line would be a little shorter, and I was correct. Waited only about 10 minutes to put in my order for a cold brew and started hunting for a place to sit.

The great thing is that the turn over is pretty good, so I never had to wait too long to find a seat. There's also decent WiFi in the store. However, the popularity of this place means that there's a constant hum of people coming in and out, which can be super distracting and there aren't any actual tables to work on, only short coffee tables to place your drinks on, so I ended up working with my laptop on my lap for about an hour or so. People tended to be talking a lot more at this coffee shop than others (maybe because it was a small space, I noticed it a lot more)

Great place to hang out and get some decent coffee, not so great place if you're looking to get...