Cuisine
Best Cafés & Brunch in Los Angeles
Cafés & Brunch spots pulled from our Los Angeles guides — picked by taste, price, and vibe rather than crowd averages. Here's who each one is for.
Cafe Dulce
$Cafe / Bakery · USC / South LA
Cafe Dulce does great coffee and inventive, affordable pastries — bacon-cheddar twists, green-tea donuts, churro donuts — that make for cheap, satisfying study fuel. It's an easy, low-cost way to caffeinate and snack without committing to a full meal, and a nice change from the campus coffee lineup.
The Original Pantry Cafe
$American Diner · Koreatown / Westwood / DTLA
Open continuously since 1924, The Original Pantry in DTLA doesn't have a lock on the door. The food is simple — eggs, steak, sourdough, strong coffee — and cheap, and it's a short ride from USC. The T-bone steak and eggs at 4am is one of the defining LA late-night experiences, in a room that feels like the last honest diner downtown.
Highly Likely
$$Cafe / Brunch · USC / South LA
On Jefferson in West Adams, Highly Likely is the cafe USC students actually use to get work done. Good coffee, breakfast sandwiches and brunch plates that are better than they need to be, and enough space and outlets to camp out for a few hours. It's the rare spot that's equally good for a productive solo morning or a weekend catch-up over a real meal.