Thursday was Tip a Cop at Urth Caffe, so we headed to the Arts District do our little bit. Tip a Cop is an event a public safety event involving LAPD and Special Olympics. Usually the police officers will be taking orders and serving up the food, with all tips going to Special Olympics.
We were wondering how this would work at Urth Caffe, which is a cafe that doesn't really involve table service so much as they bring the food out to the table after you order and pay at the counter. It turns out the cops weren't serving when we were there.. but we did get talk to the folks out front and ended up making our donation.
Lunch was really good.. For drinks Sean had the iced tea and I ordered a Spice Chai Boba.. We both ordered lunches that involved salad:
"Light Lunch Combo" which is a soup and salad combo..
Sean opted for the vegetarian chili... He said it was good but the consistency was more like 'soup' than traditional chili. He really enjoyed the fresh bread that accompanied his lunch.
My lunch was the Heirloom Tomatoes and Burrata Salad..
I had to leave 2/3 of the cheese behind so I didn't get in trouble on my diet, but I did sample the lower half of my bread accompaniment.. and I agree the bread is yummy! I wished I'd eaten the entire piece.
We got dessert and that's what really blew our lunch for us.. but can you blame us?
Urth Caffe Banana Cream Pie!
sliced.. with detail of the amazing graham cracker crust..
LOVED the banana cream pie! Definitely too much for one person.. and if you just want to try it, have 3 friends with you and you'll still get more than 2 bites worth.
We hadn't been to Urth Caffe in quite some time, so Tip a Cop gave us a good reason to trek out there (it's about a 20min walk from Main Street) and going off-peak lunch we were able to find a seat.
The only downside,(and this was the same problem the last time we came here together) is that we already had our food and were eating before my drink showed up. Our bill for lunch, dessert & the two drinks came to $45, another reason we don't go out of our way to eat here.. When you do, it's worth it. The food is excellent.. the service.. not consistent.
Urth Caffe
451 South Hewitt Street
(Hewitt and 5th)
Thursday night after Kogi, we headed to Urth Caffe for coffee & dessert.
PROS: Pastry is good & they have wifi, & convenient if you are in the Arts District.
CONS: Pricepoint was a bit much, location wasn't that convenient, dining space was a little cramped, and there are no bike racks.
VERDICT: Nice but unless I have a reason to be here, I doubt I'll be coming back soon.
Ok.. so the following is the complete review if you'd like to read the details of our visit:
This was my most recent visit since Urth Cafe's ground breaking around this time last year (and the first time since they opened for business in December 2008).
My first impression was how incredibly small the seating area actually was given the actual size of the land used.
A photo I took on ground breaking day, you can see the sheer size of the space.. at several thousand sq ft.
This Urth Caffe houses offices and bakery, and only a small portion was actually used for a retail location.
The cafe is across the street from the Barker Block and was touted as a neighborhood friendly location, and indeed there are many folks who partake in a coffee at this location (I didn't run into anyone I knew this particular night.. oh well!)
The menu board is fairly easy to read and isn't near as pretentious as some of the other cafes Downtown. Still, I'm kind of spoiled with places like GroundWork Arts District which feels more like an old shoe than this food & drink location.
Yes, food & drink.. Urth Caffe serves sandwiches & salads as well as baked goods and coffee. So that could be a plus if you're looking for food.
We were just wanting coffee & a pastry.. and the staff at the counter were pretty friendly.
They have many pastries to choose from, and they all look pretty good. The price points might be a little surprising, however.
Louisiana Pecan Pie was about 6inches diameter. We of course split ours, but easily could have split it with a third person.
Coffee:
I ordered a Medium Cafe Au Lait and SeanYoda had a single French press. As you may be able to see, the pie was $6.25, so the total came to about $14.00.
After our purchase we got a number and then went to sit down. The immediate dining space to the right of the counter is a small, candle lit room with tables close together. Close enough for intimate dining, but a little too intimate in that your fellow diners are almost on top of you.
collage of images along the wall above the bakery/cashier area.
We didn't have our laptops with us, but I looked around to see how difficult it was to use an outlet if needed for the 'free wifi' and spotted one outlet on the wall and in another location high up on the wall, just as a review on BlogDowntown stated. I can't see anyone going out of their way to use that outlet unless they really had the need. Later before we left we finally spotted the "counter seating" to the left of the entry as you walk in. As far as where the outlets might be there, we never found them.
Eventually my cafe au lait was delivered, and a few minutes later SeanYoda's French Press arrived.
Cafe au lait from Urth Caffe. The (steamed milk is charged separate at 50cents)
SeanYoda's French Press arrived at the table already plunged.
There were a choice of about a dozen coffees to choose from and while SeanYoda can't recall which he chose, he said it was good.
NOTE:
While the coffee showed up pretty quick, we had to inquire a couple times about the pie. I would have thought it would take some time if we had chosen the option to have the pie heated, which we didn't.
So when Sean's coffee showed up and we still didn't have our pie, Sean inquired and we continued to wait. While we waited, we enjoyed our coffee, warming our hands on our coffee cups, and taking in our surroundings. It seemed some time had passed, and so finally I went up to the counter and inquired regarding the pie.
Being my first time, I was starting to wonder if we were supposed take the pie to our table when we sat down rather than wait for it to come out. I was advised that yes, the pie was to come out with one of the servers. So the fact that we'd been there about 20min and still had no pie, it seemed a little awkward.
PIE:
Once it got to the table though, we cut the pie in half an immediately dug in. The pecan pie was baked to perfection, firm and meaty. We were so glad to have our pie that I forgot to take photos once it got to the table. =) I would gladly try this pie again if I had opportunity in the future, despite the rather high-end price point.
The fact is though, I don't know when I would go to Urth Caffe anytime in the future. I don't get to the Arts District that often, and when I do at $14 for a couple cups of coffee and pie, I would rather go to GroundWork on Traction. It's a much more affordable 'every day' sort of location vs. Urth.
OVERALL:
I may want to try lunch here sometime but again, the price point puts me off a little. Also, I doubt I would use Urth as a wifi hotspot unless it was a convenient time, as the dining area didn't really lend itself to relaxation or a 'hangout' sort of spot. Perhaps a few more visits might change my point of view on that. I'll keep the option open.
I think it would be a good place to take friends for lunch or have a business meeting, though I can't imagine it being a good place to discuss any sort of sensitive information, rather a "closing" or "lunch break" sort of place.
Another downer,(and it's not something that is Urth Caffe's problem alone) is that there are no bike racks. It doesn't encourage such environmental commuting other than walking if you are in the area. If you are out of foot traffic range, it's a drive (with parking) or a walk from Hewitt & Traction. Then again, if you are stopping off at Hewitt & Traction, might as well stop at Ay Carumba! for lunch or GroundWork for your coffee and sandwich. The coffee is just as good (if not better at GroundWork) and the pricepoint at either location is more affordable.
Urth Caffe (arts district)
451 South Hewitt Street
Los Angles, CA. 90012
213.797.4534
located right across the street from the Barker Block
