Hipster Coffee and that Raw Thing

When I first started commuting to Hollywood, I was told that there are no good restaurants anywhere in Hollywood. Now, with a few weeks under my belt, I somewhat disagree with this statement. With common foods like Thai and Sushi, this is totally true. However, where Hollywood wins is with the Raw/organic/locally sourced movement.

My tactic in finding good food was to look for packs of Hipsters around lunchtime and follow them to restaurants and cafes. This is based on past experience… and knowing that most of the Hipsters I know wouldn’t lower themselves to the level of eating the junk that tourists eat.

The end result of this was a list of obscure foodie and raw cafes that, for the most part, remain hidden gems along both Hollywood Boulevard and Sunset Strip.

Cafe Tiago (7080 Hollywood Boulevard)

This little gem is a complete surprise on Hollywood Boulevard. In fact, because of how the building is structured, you can’t see the Boulevard at all from Tiago (and vv). So, it’s a little slice of local, secluded, foodie heaven.

It also happens to be Hipster central. The coffee and food here is high quality, unique, and simply fantastic… completely unexpected amongst the Burger King, Subway, Taco Bell, and McDonald’s restaurants that tourists pack.

This is my early morning breakfast destination because I can sit here and work on French verb conjugations before heading to work (because I need to expel Spanish from my brain and be back to French bilingual by March).

Pro Tip: get here early in the morning (before 9am); it fills with locals pretty quickly.

Open Source Organics (7107 Sunset Boulevard)

Juice. Raw Juice. Shots of Raw Juice. This is the first place I’ve ever been where you can do juice shots at the bar… you order, they line them up on a little board, and you shoot each one in order… then start your day.

What I really like about this place is you can buy freshly made, belly-filling juice in little jars, and bring the jars back for re-using.

All the food here is derived from the raw food movement: cashew cheesecake, goji berry balls, kale and cranberry salads, and whatever is the whim of the people working that day.

Elderberries (7564 Sunset Boulevard)

I love this little place. When I first walked in I was transformed back to my free-thinking, hippy loving university days. It has everything I love in a restaurant: eclectic, mellow, intelligent, good food, good drinks, and a plethora of nice people. It’s the kind of place where you feel safe regardless of your mood, beliefs, gender, orientation, or food allergies.

It’s a fair walk for me to get to, but the avocado and Daiya melt with salad is worth it.