After some average coffee in downtown Los Angeles, we visited Endorffeine in Chinatown. The name, Endorffein, is an amalgam of "endorphin" and "caffeine." In their words, "La Cabra, Drop, Heart, Prolog, Sey, and Cognoscenti Coffee are the foundation of the program." The owner, Jack Benchakul, describes himself as a biochemist, pastry cook, and barista.

This is a small shop, and only two people were working there. Jack was making all of the drinks. And another person was taking orders and delivering them. Because there were quite a few customers, getting our drinks took about 25 minutes. But nobody seemed to mind the wait. We had an excellent La Cabra pour-over and a solid Prolog espresso. That's all the info I got because Jack was very busy, and I didn't want to interrupt him.

When you arrive at the address, it's not super obvious where to go. Endorffeine is inside a partially-enclosed mall with some small food establishments and kiosks. There is only outdoor seating.

For us, it was worth visiting.

Nice recommendation, I've added it to my maps next time I'm in SoCal maybe I can stop in. They're open Fri - Mon 9 - 6.

I still haven't visited this place, but everyone that has raves about it.

in this strip mall there is a nashville hot chicken place called 'howlin rays'. This is also a must if youre in the area. pre pandemic there were lines so long they were twitting the current wait times, sometimes going over 3 hours.

I wouldn't bother with Rays unless no line, it is easily the most overhyped place in LA. I've no idea why people would wait for it.

The only reason people rate it high is because the people are friendly so they feel bad for saying the sandwich is mediocre.