Camel Coffee

There’s nothing inherently cool any more about either coffee or coffee shops. To the extent third wave cafes were once hip places to work or hang out with friends, the ongoing rot of Starbucks as a “third place” killed that vibe for many if not most people. But the first U.S. outpost of South Korean coffee shop Camel, located in the Silver Lake neighborhood of Los Angeles, is somehow burning the cool vibe back. From its deserty color scheme and casual, handwritten-styled font choices to a 1970s/1980s retro interior design, the old school cool energy is super strong here – as are Camel’s coffee and tea.

The Camel Latte atypically (and wonderfully) mixes espresso, chocolate, and orange flavors, while Camel Coffee and Camel Matcha distinctively mix either espresso or green tea with both milk and sweet cream. You’re either told to enjoy the cream separately as a distinct layer, or mix it in depending on the drink, creating interestingly silky textures and variations in flavor. The drinks are delicious, but finished quickly enough that on each of our visits, we wish we had ordered more.

A small selection of pastries are also available for purchase on a first-come, first-served basis, and start to run out before the lunch hour arrives. Camel’s croissants are super flaky, and its sweet items (including kouign ammans) are Korean-style “not too sweet.”