Harlem Place Cafe

After visiting the Downtown Los Angeles Artwalk (usually held on the second Thursday of the month), my friends and I went to Harlem Place Café as one of my friends already knew about this place and thought that we should try it out.
This place is in a «hidden» location at the end of a short alley next to the Museum Of Neon Art. I like the fact that there are art work (graffiti art, paintings, and photography) on the wall. It’s also a «hip» place for the young crowds. While they play «cool» music, the music was very loud, making it hard to have a conversation with your friends and/​or when ordering your food. How do you enjoy your meal and conversations with your friends if you have to yell over the music just to be heard?
Since this was my first time here, I had only tried the pulled pork sliders. My friends ordered the same, so there wasn’t much to try out or get opinions on other foods or get photos of other food. The pulled pork sliders were pretty good though and it was reasonably priced for the portion with a soda. Each plate came with two sliders and cole slaw. The customer service was generally good, but we thought it was strange that they didn’t give out numbers so that they could remember who ordered what. We had to remind our server once or twice about our orders, but he somehow forgot about one of my friend’s order and he returned with three sliders for forgetting my friend’s order which was awesome. Each plate of sliders usually came with two, but my friend got one extra on the house for the inconvenience.

Came here for lunch for the first time and second time for coffee. I got the pesto turkey bun with a ice tea and it was amazing. There was a good amount of pesto sauce and the turkey wasn’t chunky or thinly sliced. They actually slice the turkey meat when you order it. The turkey pesto bun has turkey of course, spring greens, pesto sauce, tomatos and this sauce thats homemade. The bun isn’t a bagel but looks like a bagel (in other words, its a bun haha) and its perfectly made.
The ice team was good and I wouldn’t mind drinking this all day. The regular coffee is decent and cheap no more than $ 2 considering other places for coffee can be pricy.
The décor is dark but cool and very laid back. There is a bar table and you can sit there and talk to the servers there and they are very friendly. There is also a stage for performing singers/​bands.
I definitely would and will be coming here often for breakfast/​lunch.

On the cusp of being too cool for itself. Dive-​y and hidden in the back of an alley attracts the «i’m a local and I like to pretend i’m writing my novel in the corner but really i’m just updating my tumblr.»
But based on the splendid drinks alone it’s a stand-​up joint.
— Coffees always great and full flavored.
— Island Fresh Smoothie is bangin, yeah i know an awesome smoothie here?
— Dirty Chai latte is a little decadent cup of heaven. They have a fresh cow on ice back there or something, but this thing is guuud.

I hadn’t been here since they switched from being Lost Souls to Harlem Place. However, after having a pretty delicious coffee here the other day, I am happy to say that I am still a fan. I like that you have to walk into the alley a bit past strings of lights and potted plants to get to this tucked away little café. While the interior is a little drab, the people are really nice and the prices (food and drink) are quite reasonable.
I ordered a vanilla latte and it was actually quite good. Not award-​winning Spring For Coffee or Intelligentsia good, but very much worth the $ 3 for a 12 ounce. The espresso was decent, the foam was perfect, and the vanilla syrup wasn’t overdone. Temperature was just right and the nice man who made it even tried his hand at a rosetta, but I don’t think they’re trained for that.
The artwork on display inside was also really cool. I saw a Six taste food tour walk in– I think they were there for that. I’m not really a huge fan of hanging out inside (there can be some weirdos from time to time), but I did love hanging out in the alley (they have tables and chairs out) on a nice, sunny afternoon.

Yes, it’s hidden and located in a small alley, and that’s cool… once! After that, it’s all up to the food, service, and ambiance isn’t it?
Service is good, the food is mediocre and I personally don’t care much for the dungeon-​esque ambiance.
So far I’ve had the «Hit on all Sixes Salad» for $ 6.50 with chicken, mixed greens, cranberries, and diced tomatoes with an Asian Sesame Dressing. The chicken was juicy but it tasted like it was boiled first then finished with some grill marks. The salad as a whole is not really worthy of more of a description.
I’ve also tried «the Capone» for $ 9.95 which is a meatball sandwich and quite ordinary. I hate to say this but for the money I’d much rather have a meatball sandwich from Subway.
The last thing I’ve tried was «Puttin’ on the Pesto.» It’s a Turkey Pesto sandwich for $ 9.50 with Pepperjack cheese on a Cranberry Walnut Bread. It could have used some more pesto; it really could have used some more excitement.
Maybe I ordered the wrong things. Maybe I should have ordered the Ube Shake and I would have had a better meal. But I gave it a good shot and everything was pretty flat.

Talk about hidden gems and «in-​the-​know» places! This prohibition-​esque café/​bar is cooler and grittier than a normal westside café, but prettier and more day-​friendly than your typical lounge/​bar in the day. Fits perfectly with the dtla revolution.
Went on a 6 taste food tour here and everyone loved the location (hidden off a side alley of 4^th street, with beautiful old school seating and christmas lights strung up above), décor (gritty chic), and most importantly the FOOD.
UBE shake was all-​natural and ridic. The pan de sal (filippino sweet roll) and condensed milk was a fluffy bite of heaven.
Now that they have morning happy hr AND awesome night events, i will be back over and over!

Looking from the outside of this place, you would not imagine how this hidden gem looks in the inside. It is huge with an ambiance of a chill-​back jazzy kinda place. People here are either conversating amongst each other or artist on their laptop or writing the next big screen play. It is like a hidden club because it is tucked in an alley with no big store front or anything. very unique. A place I would go to if i want to hide from people…=P Just kidding.
I got to try to the Ube shake and thought it was yummy and some breakfast pastry to taste. I just love the ambiance of this laid back place — check it out alone or with friends. It is a nice surprise.

So, as most regulars have noticed by now, this place has changed a bit. Not sure exactly why, but there’s now a new name as well as some new signage. Although I try to be a person who embraces change, I have to say I don’t love these changes. I have no good reason for it — although I do think the new signs scattered about look a bit too corporate and don’t go with the overall funky, artsy vibe of the place.
However, some things have stayed very much the same: lots of places to hole up and work, friendly employees, cool artsy events that happen all the time. On my last visit I got to explore the menu a bit and tried the morning crêpe, which was fresh, hot, sweet and delicious except maybe a bit too sacharine for first thing in the morning due to the generous smothering of condensed milk on top. Next time I’ll be sure to ask them to go easy on that.
Another thing that hasn’t changed — atrocious cell phone service and wireless connectivity! I keep forgetting what a black hole that place is until it’s too late — even my wireless card doesn’t work in there! It must have something to do with the big old concrete building it lives in!
So there are a couple hurdles to making this the all-​time most perfect working spot, but somehow I keep coming back for more, so they must be doing something right!

This place is the perfect coffee house and it starts with the fact that it’s hidden from the obvious. I met 4 other members of my group there and several actually got lost finding it despite their being virtually in front of this place. I love it!
Harlem has an edgy feel to it, which I love, and while it’s perfect for a group to meet to work on projects it’s also big enough for people to hang out, socialize, read, or take in a football game. The nice surprise for me was the unexpected happy hour! I’ll take it. And if coffee doesn’t do it there are some beer options as well.
I scoured Unilocal looking for that perfect spot to meet, a spot that I’d find in a city like Chicago (or New York in this case) and I found it. I already have told me group we’ll be meeting here for the remainder of our project.
Did I mention the sandwiches are good? Well, they are! And I heard the $ 1 tacos are as well although I didn’t personally have one.

We went as part of a Six Taste tour so we didn’t stay long and only got to taste a little Pan de Sal and some Ube shake. The Pan de Sal was spectacular and the shake was wonderful. I want to come back when I can linger.
Hmm …now I need an excuse to head downtown.
Update 9÷30÷10
Lost Souls is closed.
Website reads:
Lost Souls Café will be closed until further notice. New Location coming soon.
The ‘Speakeasy’ open mic is also being cancelled and will resume in October.
Stay tuned for HARLEM PLACE CAFE (
)
I DISCOVERED THIS PLACE A MONTH AGO, LOVED IT AND NOW IT’S CLOSED!!!
Brutally cruel.

This is one of the most laid back/​hipster places you can be in downtown. The environment is relaxed and friendly. There are tons of new artwork from local artists.
Make sure you try their COOKIES! They’re super delicious! The sunbread chicken sandwich is pretty good. The bread basically tastes just like hawaiian bread. They also place your sandwich in this heater to melt the cheddar (I think) cheese onto the chicken. I also like the fact that they use mixed greens instead of regular lettuce.
They also have these poem nights everyweek. I haven’t checked it out yet, but it’s nice to know.
Goodluck finding it! Just look for an alley.

This place is pretty hidden… in an alleyway… so if you don’t see it on the street, it’s down the alley next to Urban Noodle. It’s a cute place with a random red chair hanging from the ceiling and it’s a little warm inside, but I enjoyed it! We came here for their awesome happy hour and awesome it was! They have half off their sunbread sandwiches, $ 1 tacos and $ 3 sangrias and beers! I ordered the sun down chicken sunbread sandwich, two tacos and a balance drink. I got a whole meal for roughly $ 7! I was happy! I ordered another two tacos after cuz I was still a little hungry and I also got a tiramisu for $ 3…it wasn’t bad! We stayed for their comedy show at 8pm… some acts were definitely better than others. My fav was Terence Leclere who sings «girl songs,» haha. Look him up… he’s pretty entertaining!

HOW DOES THIS PLACE HAVE OVER 200 REVIEWS WHEN YOU CAN BARELY FIND IT! if it weren’t for my friend’s iphone telling us we kept passing it as we drove by, i would never have found Lost Souls! what a befitting name!
this place is hidden in an alley with NO SIGN directing you towards it whatsoever! I just asked one of the workers at a store nearby and he pointed me down an alley decorated by christmas lights.
Lost Souls gets 4 stars for CHARACTER. when we came in on a wednesday night, they were having their comedy night, but we ordered our drinks and went to the back lounge area so that we could chit chat together!
of course i got the ube shake, which was good! and Sophia V. got the green macha tea and Patty W. got a tea which she claims tasted like Disneyland’s unbirthday tea!
in the back they’ve got board games and such to entertain. we decided to play with the JENGA set. or at least what was left of it.HAHA.
a cute place to get drinks and catch up, they’ve got lots to choose from!.. i definitely must try their food though! i hear lots about their pandesal
I wish Lost Souls were open late everyday! their hours are weird so double check before you make the trip out there! sometimes on twitter they announce late hours for friday!

I discovered this alleyway café smacked in the middle of Downtown LA thanks to Unilocaler Lei B who put together the most resourceful taro and ube list on Unilocal:
. There is a small sign on West 4^th Street to give direction to this obscure location on the side of the Farmers and Merchants Bank Building, and décor is industrial rustic coupled with an edgy, warehouse-​like interior filled with antiquated sofas and wobbly tables. The arrangement is evolved around their open kitchen with two flat screen TVs and a small lounge area in the back where the work of local artists are being displayed. The place has a dark, divvy feel as lighting is sporadic and dependent on where you choose to sit. Despite its hidden location, foot traffic has been constant throughout the day even though the rest of the area seemed to have gone into hibernation for the long holiday weekend.
Like several others, I’m here with my open laptop to get some work done. I managed to try their Soulful Salad ($ 6.50) which arrived with soft, tender chunks of chicken layered atop of sweet dried cranberries, tomatoes, crispy rice noodles and fresh mixed greens. The degree of freshness was decent for the salad as it was delightfully dressed with an Asian sesame dressing that gave a depth of sweet gingery flavors with a surprising kick. Generous chunks of chicken were served warm and delicious. It was a solid tasty salad and something I would order again. My medium size Ube Shake ($ 4.35) was put together with ube ice cream, whip cream, and I requested for soy to substitute for milk. The result wasn’t too sweet but dreamy creamy refreshing with a strong reminder of the ube ice cream from Mitchells. They definitely have one of the better café foods around.
To top it off, they offer super fast internet that is reliable and free of charge for customers. Service has been swift, responsive, and straight forward. At the bottom of every receipt says «What do you have to offer the world that the world hasn’t already seen?» I believe my experience of being surrounded with local artwork, good food, and an environment that is conducive to studying sums up the generative elements that make this café a great place to visit. Limitations worth noticing are their lack of wall plugs in all parts of the café and the lack of windows can make the place stuffy at times. Even though they tend to close earlier than other cafes, they also have happy hours and draft beers for those interested. As someone who wanders across LA looking for wifi cafes, I’d be interested in making this place one of my home offices as long as they continue to serve ube.

Who would have thought to set up a little café in the middle of some random ally. But I’m glad they did — I love this place.
After getting over the fact that I have to walk through the ally to get here, I made up my mind about my order pretty quick. A sweet crêpe (double strawberries, banana and nutella) and a Soul Latte. Instead of stuffing all the ingredients into the crêpe and folding it up, they actually just laid the fruit in between the crêpe so that it folded over like a sandwich. It means the fruit was not messily nutella-​ed, and the nutella was spread evenly in the crêpe. Wonderful! The coffee was great too. It is sweetened with «Soul» — a combination of condensed milk and half½ a perfect touch to the coffee. They also had pandesal (a sweet/​salty Filippino style bread) for $ 1. It comes nice and toasted with the same condensed milk concoction spread in the middle. Such comforting food.
Staff were really friendly and there are lots of couches and comfy seats to sit. It’s a great place to just sit with a cup of coffee and read a book. There is also live music and comedy at night, and they change the artwork on the wall on a regular basis. The only thing is that metered parking around the café is really expensive and limited. The joys of downtown LA.

I came here one night during the Downtown Art Walk, specifically for the ube shake. You don’t find this drink at your typical café so I was quick to come here when I heard about it. The vibe in here was pretty relaxed and a DJ was spinning some awesome 90’s RnB, ahhh brings back memories!
The ube (purple yam) shake on the other hand was pretty good, I asked for no whip cream but they still gave it to me anyways.argh. But a definite plus on the pinipig (crisp rice flakes). I think I prefer the ube shake from Oinkster in Eagle Rock, but that’s because they use Fosselman’s ice cream.
Overall a pretty cool place to hang out that’s hidden in an alley in downtown LA.

I come here A LOT. I even have a frequent buyer card. It’s conveniently located near the office so no wonder you can find me here during the morning breaks. Notably, with the new year, they added more furniture to this place. There were new couches, thus more comfy places to chill and have a drink. They still have interesting, rotating art on the walls and good vibes playing, though maybe too noisy for those trying to study.
Their Traditional Start, or toasted sunbread with butter, condensed milk, and half n half is only $ 1. Good deal. Try it with a coffee for breakfast.
Still a downtown favorite.

Not that hard to find once you’ve found it. It’s quaint the coffee is good and super strong. The pastries are okay.
Just good ambiance overall.
The bathrooms are clean, always a plus.
Funky art on the wall makes for interesting conversation.
Funky artsy people drinking coffee makes for interesting conversation.

This is probably the most hard to find place in LA I’ve ever encountered. After circling around for some parking and parking almost right next to the Alley way, it took me a while to figure out where this place was since I already saw the right number on the buildings that were not it at all. It’s also good to note that they’re planning to film in this area at some point in the near future so look for some celebs soon!
This café is tucked away in a tiny alley way with a small sign on the street that says «Lost Souls Café». They had a number of breakfast and lunch specials on the menu as well as crepes! and specialty sandwiches that they make out of a special Philippines’ bread. I originally booked this place for coffee but since they served such yummy sandwiches, wraps and sweet /​savory crepes I decided to eat here as well. I got their chicken salad crêpe without the feta cheese and the bf got their chicken sesame wrap in tomato torilla. Both were extremely delicious, hot and made me feel healthy and not all greased up like some places. Their coffee could use a bit of work as I wasn’t the hugest fan of their lattes and they ran out of soy milk when I got there.
They also have delicious breakfast items including oatmeal which I had … MMM walnut banana oatmeal! Absolutely wonderful. This place is pretty big once you’re inside and has definitely a contemporary artist reading, poetry corner type of feel. RECOMMENDED.

The café manager (one of the owners) was more than accommodating in correcting the amount that my credit card was overcharged.
I revisited Lost Souls Café and had a sandwich that was a special of the day — roast beef, mixed greens, pesto, mustard, tomato and onion on a long roll. It was pretty good. And it was also what the co-​owner, Meli, ate for lunch, so that’s always a good sign of good food.