How Coffeehouses Stack Up Against One Another

The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, Hillhurst Avenue at Ambrose Avenue, Los Feliz

WAIT:5 to 15 minutes

COST:$1.40 and up

TASTE*:4 (on a scale of 1 to 10)

OPTIONS:Dry pastries and moist cakes; bagels with tubes of cold cream cheese impossible to spread with plastic knives; fruited iced teas. Coffee by the pound and expensive ancillary coffee items.

CLEAN?*:Inside, 6; outside, 0.

THE VIBE:Do the slacker locals on the nasty--if spacious--patio realize that they’re whiling away their youth in what is essentially an Albertson’s parking lot?

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Starbucks, Vermont Avenue at Prospect Avenue, Los Feliz

WAIT:5 to 10 minutes

COST:$1.40 and up

TASTE*:5

OPTIONS:Hard, dry and/or bloated baked goods; several dozen spins on coffee and tea drinks. Coffee beans and a gazillion coffee-related and/or complementary products.

CLEAN?*:Tidy or a wreck, it’s always under-lit and a bit gloomy.

THE VIBE:What, are they trying to save money on electricity? The place is just sort of depressing; one imagines droopy coeds buried in Sylvia Plath being ogled by screenwriters manque.

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The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, Barrington Avenue at San Vicente Boulevard, Brentwood

WAIT:10 minutes

COST:$1.40 and up

TASTE*:4

OPTIONS:Identical to all other Coffee Beans (see above).

CLEAN?*:Fairly clean, inside and out.

THE VIBE:Meat market meets coffee shop.

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Peet’s, Ventura Boulevard, just west of Laurel Canyon Boulevard, Studio City

WAIT:A minute

COST:$1.30 and up

TASTE*:10

OPTIONS:A few pastries; teas; coffee beans and coffee products.

CLEAN?*:There was exactly one crumb on the slate floor.

THE VIBE:The mood is casual and friendly, but don’t let the chipper, helpful salespeople fool you: They are coffee fanatics who know more about coffee than you ever will. Be grateful.

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Starbucks, the Farmers Market, Fairfax Avenue at 3rd Street

WAIT:5 minutes to eternity

COST:$1.40 and up

TASTE*:5

OPTIONS:The usual (see above).

CLEAN?*:Very clean, despite swarms of customers.

THE VIBE:Though a few folks hole up in a less-trammeled side area, the place is often so packed it feels like steerage.

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The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, Robertson Boulevard at Beverly Boulevard

WAIT:5 to 10 minutes

COST:$1.40 and up

TASTE*:4

OPTIONS:So much paraphernalia (and your chair) is for sale, one wonders if the Coffee Bean is plugging a lifestyle or going out of business.

CLEAN?*:A sty, at least during peak hours.

THE VIBE:Charmless. Period.

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Aroma Coffee and Tea Co., Tujunga Avenue south of Moorpark Street, Studio City

WAIT:2 minutes

COST:$1.45 and up

TASTE*:7

OPTIONS:Very good pastries and full meals; coffee and teas to take home.

CLEAN?*:Sparkling.

THE VIBE:Elegant and lightly funky, as if operated by bohemians who take Martha Stewart Living seriously.

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Cafe Tropical, Sunset Boulevard at Parkman Avenue, Silver Lake

WAIT:Less than 5 minutes

COST:$1.89 and up for cafe con leche

TASTE*:9

OPTIONS:Excellent Cuban pastries; less stellar cookies and cakes. Fresh-squeezed juices.

CLEAN?*:Dim and well worn.

THE VIBE:Want to arm-wrestle?

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*Evaluations based on an informal survey of patrons and on-site inspections.