Dallas has lots of cute coffee shops, and exploring them is one of my favorite pastimes. I've been to quite a few, but today I found what I think is the best one yet: La La Land Cafe.
Located in Lower Greenville, La La Land is in a super cute, artsy part of Dallas. It's across from a colorful tattoo shop and right by a food truck park. My friend and I drove up and were immediately in love with an old yellow truck in front of a bright white house, its green lawn and red-brick walkway encircled by a white picket fence. The gate was open, inviting us in, and yellow flowers greeted us as we climbed the stairs to the front porch, where people sat sipping coffee and chatting.
Inside, an excited torrent of sound greeted us as we opened the door. People everywhere smiled at each other or at their laptops. Everything was white and yellow. The coffee bar was expansive and we didn't know which side to come in on! As we tried to figure it out, we admired the merch by the door. La La Land sweatshirts were hung up next to a coatrack with an old Polaroid camera. Hats saying Make America Kind Again added to the collection.
The menu itself was printed on recycled paper, and the coffee was all organic. We had an almost impossible time trying to decide what to order! My friend was torn between a s'mores latte and a creme brulee latte; I was looking at one called the Perfect Latte (with La La Land's secret syrup) and the Buddha Latte (with cardamom, milk, and espresso). The cashier smiled and said the Buddha Latte had been her favorite for a long time, so that's what I went with. We also bought a chocolate chip cookie to share, which was probably the size of both of my hands.
(Slight exaggeration, but it was enormous. They served it warm.)
The inside of the coffee shop being full- all couch seats and table seats taken- we went to the front porch. We learned later that they had a back porch too, with string lights overhead, but we didn't realize that at first. We grabbed a free table, looked out on the lawn, and felt like we were living in a different time.
We got our coffee pretty quickly, took a quick second to snap some photos, and enjoyed.
There are lots of times I get coffee and I'm slightly disappointed in what I ordered. Not this time! I am by no means versed in coffee reviewing, but I can say I absolutely loved both the flavor and espresso of my coffee. Not too sweet, but not too bitter, and with that tasty hint of spices. Milky but not watery! This is quite possibly the best latte I've had in the city, if not the best I've had ever!
But one of the sweetest parts of this shop was how well they embodied their mission. Their full name is La La Land Kind Cafe, and they employ youth in the foster system who are aging out to provide a family and community in the shop and different skills from working there. When we paid and went to sit outside, the cashier said, "we love you!" in an even cuter version of Chick-fil-A's "my pleasure." They aim to put the people first and encourage kindness, to the environment, the community, and to each other. And the environment at La La Land was exactly that.
So if you want tasty coffee (or even avocado toast) and a sweet spot with a beautiful mission, La La Land is a must-see in Dallas.