Yala Coffee — Restaurant in Los Angeles

This place has been open for four months and is the new instagram-famous coffee darling of Studio City. Given the buzz, I was a little skeptical but this coffee spot is 100% worth the hype serving unique beverages and pastries that you can’t get elsewhere.

Everything is flavored with Middle Eastern flare and they have a viewing window where you can watch them make their unique sand coffee where they brew espresso in small metal pitcher over, well, hot sand. The barista‘s are super nice and walked us through the menu when we got there. They work incredibly fast considering the long line and we got our pastries and drinks in less than 10 minutes.

There are seating areas along the edges of the storefront, including bench and high top seating as well as some outdoor benches. There is Wi-Fi and plenty of people had their laptops out to do work, but the atmosphere is so bright, exciting and fun - it really lends itself to more of a social visit if you want to do it right.

We got the Yala latte, with espresso, brown sugar and sweetened with a cardamom cream top and a coffee grounds. The cream top is what did it for me - iced, it comes in a lightly sweet cold micro foam that had a very airy/creamy texture. We got our pastries at the end of the day so they weren’t as crisp as I would’ve liked but the flavors were great and they will heat them up for you, which is nice. The candied pistachio croissant had a sweet topping with a crushed pistachio paste interior, and the everything bagel za’atar cheese danish was a play on savory and sweet with a very lightly sweetened cream cheese filling.

One thing to note that might not be obvious if you came across the viral Instagram video is that not all of the lattes are made via the “sand coffee” method. Those are a special preparation and come in 4 ounce cups. I would still be very interested to try them as they looked very unique and it’s fun to watch them make your coffee which you can do right at the main bar!

Overall, this is a coffee shop that blows past the Instagram buzz, and as well worth the visit. We will...

Visiting on weekend was doubtlessly a true patience (and prolly bit of luck) test. From the challenge to find parking, standing in the long line to place your order, until waiting for awhile before being able to sip your coffee. Not to mention the petite aesthetic venue was packed with people that you might barely find a space to stand, let alone sit.

Like most first-timers here, I went for their Evil Eye as the sand coffee concept certainly triggered my curiosity. It's basically coffee heated with sand, topped with cardamom cream top with rim of sugar on the 4oz espresso cup. It might look tiny, but trust me it's surely a strong wakeup call. For me personally, first half of the cup tasted awesome. Super bold coffee balanced with the cream and sugar; feeling like enjoying deconstructed latte blended together as you took a sip. Despite being not a fan of cardamom, the cream was surprisingly delightful. That sugar rim being the sweetener was also brilliant idea IMO. However, remaining half of the cup turned challenging for me to finish as it became extra thick with 'grainy' coffee (IYKYK). Next visit might be a go for...

I’ve had my eye on this spot for a while and finally got to try it! I ordered:

Fig Vanilla Matcha Latte Apricot Espresso Tonic Evil Eye

The space has such an aesthetic, unique vibe and the staff were friendly. The barista at the counter was super friendly and explained the sand coffee, which made the experience even better. It was the weekend, so there was a short line and limited seatings, but the wait wasn’t bad!

We sat outside, which had a really cute seats. The Fig Vanilla Matcha Latte was a total standout! Probably one of the best matcha drinks I’ve had recently. I’m not a matcha expert, but this one had the perfect balance for me: not too bitter, not too sweet, and the vanilla blended in beautifully. I loved that I could taste the little bits of fig in the matcha and the apricot bits in the espresso tonic (Best part) For reference, my friend likes her matcha sweeter, so for her it leaned a little less sweet than she prefers.

Parking was surprisingly easy for a weekend, with plenty of street spots nearby.I’ll definitely be back for the matcha and to try more of...