COFFEE SHOP

Co ee Shop MOST LOVED

2020

WINNER

DOGTOWN COFFEE

Dogtown Co ee

Santa Monicans sure love their java, and there is no shortage of superb co ee shops for residents to get their ca eine fix. Dogtown Co ee, a small Santa Monica business on the corner of Main Street and Bay Street has been a community staple for many years. Assaf Raz says that with Dogtown you “come for the story and stay for the quality” citing the history of the location and the Munchies Burrito and Salty Dog respectively. Assaf is extremely grateful for the support of the community through the Most Loved award. He says that “the community is what saved us from complete ruin. Just like back in 2012, the locals carried us through this and patiently held in as we worked the challenges of this new system. The fact that we got this vote, is just cherry on the top. We’re dedicated to continuing to honor this bond with the neighborhood.” Assaf says that the community is one of the shop’s greatest assets in this unprecedented time.

The shop has taken a number of steps since the beginning of March to ensure the safety of its sta and customers. 2003 Main St. 310-310-3665 dogtownco ee.com

Initially, the shop closed its doors and laid o the entire sta e ective March 13th to avoid hemorrhaging capital. They then began to re-imagine the shop as a “stationary food truck” and turned the patio into the customer service space, only o ering pickup and delivery. They adopted a cashless system so payment could be made through apps and the website to avoid contact. Along with this, they altered the menu to include more “finger food” and limited it to help with “production line e ectiveness.” More recently they have opened up an outdoor seating area in the parking lot and have hired a security guard as a safety measure. Assaf says that the “food truck” model has proved to be labor and production e ective and that their enclosed outdoor area is a great asset as well.

Assaf thanks the sta for all of their e orts and says that they are the people who truly run the store and deserve the credit for its success. He also thanks the community for their immense support.

Thanks for making us Santa Monica’s Best Coffee Shop

Come enjoy our greatest hits menu items on our outdoor patio, where American skateboard and surfing history was made.

Salty Dog

Gary Chau, co-founder of Ca e Luxxe says that the business is a co ee shop with the goal of creating a comfortable place for friends and family to get together to socialize. The two co-founders, Mark and Gary, have been best friends since school. The business was founded on friendship in 2006 and nearly 14 years ago friendship remains its core value.

The business has shifted to online business due to the economic challenges of 2020. They are also providing email, phone, and video chat support for anyone who would like to learn to make co ee at home. Since the business was classified as essential, they chose to remain open for the duration of the pandemic. Gary says “We felt strongly about continuing to provide warmth and comfort in a cup for our neighborhood friends and family so that people could still experience a little bit of normalcy in their disrupted lives. It has honestly been very challenging for us to remain open due to the economics of operating a cafe with significantly less sta , and supporting Covid-19 health code guidelines which evolve at a moment’s notice as more knowledge becomes available.” Gary says that the support of the community through a most loved vote means the world to the business “all of the love, care, and attention we share with our community is indeed appreciated. Every cup and every interaction for us is really not about a transaction, but a close-knit relationship with our friends and family in the neighborhood.”

Gary says the Ca e’s greatest strength lies in being more than a co ee shop “We’re actually a business of people who are getting together in a place to socialize, meet, and catch up with one another. Amidst the current pandemic as social beings, we’re able to foster continued social engagement and interaction which is so important to help us all still feel like human beings who care about each other. Social and digital media can only take us so far to stay connected with one another, as it often lacks the warmth of facial expressions, tonality, and warmth of in-person engagement. So we focus on reconnecting ourselves in a neighborhood space that is open for everyone to come enjoy and appreciate being together.”

925 Montana Ave. 310-394-2222 ca eluxxe.com

FINALIST GROUNDWORK

2908 Main St. 310-452-8925 groundworkco ee.com

anksforthelove andsupportSantaMonica

Ca e Luxxe